The First Look at our Defending Champs

We got our first look at our National Champion Williams Ephs over the weekend, when they were paid a visit from a young Wesleyan squad. They did what they did all of last year (except of course against Nichols in the tournament) and started hot by sweeping doubles, and ended with a fairly comfortable  7-2 team win. Here were the results:

                                    DOUBLES

1.  Harron&Micheli (Will) def  Monk/Hicks (Wes) 8-5

2. Schidlovsky/Astrachan (Wil) def Brint/Lyon (Wes) 8-5

3. Raventos/Shastri (Wil) def King/Rudovsky (Wes) 8-1

                                    SINGLES

1. Roberts (Wes) def Micheli (Wil)  6-3, 6-4

2. Weiss (Wil) def Monk (Wes) 6-0, 6-1

3. King (Wes) def Shastri (Wil)  6-1, 5-7, 10-6

4. Harron (Wil) def Rudovsky (Wes) 6-1, 6-1

5. Astrachan (Wil) def Liu (Wes) 6-4, 6-0

6. Schidlovsky (Wil) def Lyon (Wes) 7-6 (5), 6-4

Let me start off by saying this was not a bad result for either squad. We all know Williams won’t be the same team we saw last year, because…well that’s what usually happens when 5 of your top 7 singles players graduate (Meyer, Sun, Weiss, Chow, & Page.) Let’s start with the doubles. We know not to put too much stock into William’s fall doubles teams. Last year the team of Meyer and Micheli won not only the New England ITA but also all of Small College Nationals, beating an excellent CMS team of Wood and Dorn in the finals. But Greenberg, in all of his infinite wisdom, split up his champions, put Meyer with Schidlovsky and threw out one of the best 2 doubles teams in the history of DIII in Micheli & Felix. I remember questioning the move at the time, but should’ve known better. So while we shouldn’t fall in love with these particular doubles teams, the fact that Williams played one senior and 5 sophomores or freshmen AND cruised by a dangerous Wesleyan team is pretty darn impressive. I’m not discounting Williams’ shot at repeating (though it would be the tallest of orders) but can you imagine how good these guys could be in a couple of years? Scary good. As for Wesleyan’s doubles this was not the display they had hoped for. This team was up 2-1 after dubs on Midd, Trinity, & Tufts, and was points from taking a 2-1 lead against both Amherst and Bates. HOWEVER, their 3^rd team is now playing 1, and while they did win the B flight at Middlebury last weekend, it was the B flight at Middlebury. Not to totally degrade the B flight at Middlebury, but it was made up of 3^rd and 4^th doubles teams (as B flights often are.) Winning matches against 3^rd or 4^th teams does not make you a legitimate #1 doubles team. Again, I’m not gonna put too much stock in the doubles for now, we’ll see what these coaches do to their teams over the rest of the fall and winter.

In the singles we’ll go position by position. Roberts is a freshmen from Wesleyan and this was quite a way to go about a first dual match. Micheli hits one of the biggest forehands in the entire country, is an All American, was shafted by the committee last year by being selected as the NE alternate for both singles and doubles. Not too shabby of a dual match debut for Mr. Roberts. Roberts lost in a super to Branter Jones in the quarters at last weekend’s Middlebury Invitational after serving Bogard (Bates) a breakfast of bagels in the 1^st round.

At #2 Lil’ Weiss (henceforth this is how he will be referred to) smoked the junior captain, Monk, 0&1. Look, Zach was a great player, and a gamer who knew how to win. But everyone has always said that Lil’ Weiss was always going to be better. That must be exciting for Greenberg, he was a great addition to the bottom of the Ephs lineup last year, but to transition up to 2 and beat up on a player like Monk is a great result.

There are positives for both sides at 3. Obviously props to King for pulling out a tough match. This was a good win for King as he had lost in the quarters to a Trinity freshman (Mantingo) in straight sets the previous weekend. King is a sophomore and like most of his teammates has a lot of potential. On the flipside, this was a decent first match for Shastri (Williams’ hometown hero.) The 4-star fought back from a quick first set loss and managed to take the 2^nd from a more experienced (if only by a year) player. In the spring when it matters most, there won’t be super breakers to decide this match (this brings up my main issue with fall tennis is the constant use of supers. I know they quicken up tournaments where many matches are played each day but it’s such a cheap way of determining the winner of what has supposedly been a fair and even contest. But I digress…)

William’s other big recruit; Harron (5-star from Chicago) made quick work of Rudovsky, in an imposing debut at #4. Astrachan and Schidlovsky, the doubles specialists of last season’s national champions, seemed to transition well to #’s 5&6. Neither dropped a set to their respective freshman opponent and they played tough though untested opponents. They should remain tough outs at 5 and 6 through the year.

All in all this was a good showing from our reigning kings, but not good enough that I was wowed. I do not believe they will be able to sail smoothly through the treacherous waters of the NESCAC elite, but as I have learned, never discount Greenberg. As for the Cards, it seems they need to work on their doubles. We know they have young singles players who can beat good opponents; however, going into singles down 2-1 or 3-0 each match is not the recipe for team success. Both teams can take positives from this match, and both coaches will undoubtedly work on the negatives over the coming weeks before the off-season. We’ll see both these teams at the New England ITA this weekend, which in my totally unbiased opinion is the the best weekend of Fall tennis in the country (save for that little tournament in Flushing over Labor Day.)