Weekend Preview Take 2: Central and ASouth

I am starting to realize that being the Central region’s representative means I have to write about a million teams each and every week. At least they pay me well to do it. The following are matches this coming weekend that have some significance as well as a mention of some smaller matches with individuals that may be of note. First up:

Whitewater @ Kenyon

This is a huge weekend for Whitewater. They play Kenyon first on Saturday which will be tough, but immediately after they will play a pesky Earlham team coming in fresh. Then they make the long trek to Kalamazoo to play at their place on Sunday. This will be a test of endurance for sure and could provide for some close scorelines if they aren’t ready to go. As for the Kenyon match, I think the biggest headlines will be if the Warhawks can compete in the doubles and if Shklyar and Humphreys can win at the top of the lineup. Kenyon showed that they are still going to be a great team last weekend so I don’t expect them to have too much trouble, but if Whitewater can get two of the doubles points like they did against Wash U, they might make the Lords sweat a bit. Best case scenario would be for Whitewater to sweep and then lean on the two horses in singles to win. Unfortunately because Whitewater doesn’t have the depth, that really is the only chance they have in winning this match. That is with or without Raz back in the lineup. I would expect him to sit again and save his energy/body for Indoors. The Heerboth vs. Shklyar and Geier vs. Humphreys matchup should be interesting to see how they pan out for individual ranking purposes. I am going to say Kenyon takes this 7-2 with a win at one of the doubles spot and Humphreys over Geier.

Wash U @ Depauw

This match will be a good rebound match for a somewhat disappointing weekend for the Bears. Obviously they came away with two wins against nationally ranked opponents so one may question how that is disappointing, but they need to strike a little fear in their probable opponents for Indoors next weekend. Depauw is a great team to be able to do that. Wash U matches up very well against this team and as long as they bring the doubles they had against Gustavus, this should be a 9-0 sweep. Putterman matches up well against Miles and Bush hopefully bounces back to take on another freshman in Farrell. The rest of the lineup should take care of business without much of an issue. I am going to say Wash U wins 9-0, but could see an 8-1 score line.

Denison, Coe, Chicago, Case, Whitewater, Earlham

All of these teams have matches this weekend that may not necessarily be national news, but have small things of note so I think they are worth mentioning. Denison is back at it and hopefully can show they are a team to watch by easily defeating Allegheny. They should have no problem doing this, but Guerra must beat Cole from Allegheny at 1 to show he could be a big time player. I expect Cole to prevail. Coe plays UW-LaCrosse and Sprinkle may have a challenge at 1 singles, but Coe should win 9-0. Chicago plays Augustana and if they want to ever be mentioned again, they better win 9-0. If Sabada doesn’t win against a solid opponent in Lawrence Palmer, it is clear he is no longer playing up to his abilities. Case opens up against Oberlin which won’t be difficult, but we can get a preview of what the lineup (particularly doubles) will be heading into Indoors. Whitewater has matches against Earlham and Kzoo as mentioned earlier. They should win both easily because their weakness of depth happens to be where both Kzoo and Earlham are weaker. It will be interesting to see how the top half of the lineup fairs with Rothstein and Metzler from Kzoo and Bartashevich, Locklear, and Levin from Earlham all able to get wins against good opponents. Rothstein didn’t play in Kzoo’s first match of the season. Metzler had a solid fall ITA. Bartashevich beat Guerra last season 1 and 1 and peaked at 13th in the region with other wins against Miles (Depauw) and Karki (Luther). Locklear beat Veltman (Denison) and Galbraith (Coe) with ease. Levin returns after a year off and beat Guerra this fall at the ITA.

Mary Washington @ Stevens Tech

Damn, my first preview of the year.  I get to ease in the year with a matchup between #26 Mary Washington and #27 Stevens Tech.  What’s that, you say? Stevens isn’t in the Atlantic South?  That’s totally correct.  But I cover for D3Northeast while he’s busy writing absurdly detailed Preseason Individual predictions.  This is a match that probably won’t mean much to both teams in the long run, but it’s a very good match to see what lineups both these teams throw out there and where their strengths are.

In my previews, I picked Stevens Tech to win this one.  I’m going to go back on that prediction, as I suddenly don’t have much faith in the Ducks depth this year.  I really don’t, actually.  Where the Ducks can win this match, however, is in doubles.  They have a very solid #1 and #2 team, and they may be the favorites at both of those positions.  Mary Wash doesn’t have the tandem of Charles and Rizzolo at #1 anymore, so they’ve been trying to find their lineups I’m sure.  I think the real swing match here is going to be #3 doubles.  Mary Washington has much better depth than the Ducks, and they will need to take advantage of that at this last doubles spot.  Any team they throw out there will have more talent.  If Mary Washington takes that, it puts a ton of pressure on the other 2 Ducks teams to get that point.  That’s not even saying that Stevens will take the first two points, because those aren’t sure bets by any means.  Evan Charles is a stellar doubles player with great touch, and I think he can take over the match and steal a win for the Eagles at #1 doubles (if he plays there, obviously).  Once the Eagles go up 2-1, I think this one’s over.  I see the Eagles winning #4-6 singles without a problem, much like many teams last year.  Doing the mathematics here…. That means at least a 5-1 headstart based on my prediction.  The other match to watch is obviously Matthew Heinrich vs. Tyler Carey at #1 singles.  Heinrich has taken some heat on this blog, and the #1 singles spot is no joke.  Carey is a legit #1 player who is probably around the average.  If Heinrich can win this match, we can officially say he’s a #1 as well.  Right now, it might be due to circumstance.  I say he comes out on top here on his home courts, and Stevens takes another of the #2 or #3 matches.  This leaves us with my prediction, a 6-3 win for the Eagles and a good start to the season.