Triple-Take – D3Central, ASouth, and West Day 1 Indoors Preview

Here we go! Indoors are only a couple days away and needless to say the excitement is there. This will be a preview of the action on Day 1 as well as some predictions. I (D3 Central) have the two matches involving teams from my region, but I will also provide prediction scores for the other two just because. Enjoy the reading!

#1 Wash U vs. #8 Redlands

I will be the first to admit that I don’t know a ton about Redlands, but after some research a big question that comes to my mind is why didn’t Hunt play in the lineup yesterday against Brandeis? Hunt played 4 last season and had a 12 match winning streak with wins over Bowdoin, Case, Middlebury, Williams, Cal Lu, Whittier, and Gustavus. He basically went through the gauntlet that is their schedule and carried the team. If he is out, that will hurt their chances of upsetting Wash U. I do, however think this is a possible scary match up for the Bears as Redlands seems to have a good base in doubles at 2 and 3 to where they could be ahead going into singles. If this is the case, then things could get interesting as I would favor Lipscomb over Putterman at the top spot. At that point, I would say its a matter of if Wash U’s freshmen can pull their weight and take care of business. Because this will be played on only three courts (correct me if I am wrong), if Redlands goes up 2-1 after dubs and Lipscomb takes out Putterman, the Carswell and Bush matches become huge. If Redlands can pull out either one of those, they just need to find that elusive 5th point somewhere between 4-6 singles. I have no doubt that Wash U is not overlooking this team and knows of their vulnerability even as the top seed in the tourney. The more and more I delve in this match, the more and more I get nervous for the Bears. My fears will be lessened if they show up and play the doubles we have come to expect from them in the past years.

D3West aside: On another court, I would give Redlands about a 50/50 chance of winning this match. They always play their best tennis at the beginning of the year, before the grind of a brutal schedule in that dry heat takes its toll, and they have the doubles and singles depth to go toe-to-toe with the Bears. Unfortunately, this match is being played indoors. Other than the Northwest guys and Suchodolski, a lot of these guys probably haven’t seen an indoor court in years. Even if their coach did get them some indoor time to practice, it’s not the same as playing indoors every day. That edge gives Wash U a seemingly-insurmountable advantage in this first match. The Dawgs will have a much better chance in later mater

D3Central prediction: 6-3 Wash U

D3ASouth prediction: 5-4 Wash U

D3West prediction: 6-3 Wash U

#2 Kenyon vs. #7 Case Western

Needless to say I have been salivating about this match ever since the draws were out. Kenyon and Case met last year at Nationals in what turned into a 5-4 battle with four 3-setters. By simply going off of that and seeing what players Kenyon has lost and what players Case has back, you would think Case would have the edge. Oh, but the pesky Lords have proven with their early matches that they can’t be overlooked and the defending National Indoors champion looks to make a statement with this first match. Who knows if Razumovsky is going to play or not, but at this point who cares. This will be a match about grit and who wants it more. This will likely be the loudest match out of the four being played simultaneously (which I love that format btw) and Case will need to do what they have done in the past to take the win: lean on doubles and scrape out singles. The good news for Case is I think they match up very well against Kenyon in singles particularly (but what about Raz appearing?!?). Krimball and Heerboth should be a heck of a match. It will be an interesting match up as both are lefties and have a grind them out style so a three setter is likely. I am going to give Heerboth the edge, but honestly this match could go either way. Geier has been struggling at 2 so Drougas gets the nod there. Klawitter is exactly the type of opponent you don’t want to play if you are struggling a bit and that has been the story of Rosensteel. It is a tough thing to say a guy is struggling when he has yet to lose, but they have all been close matches. I give Haas and Huber the edge at 4 and 5 as Case’s 4 star freshman and Reinbold may not have the fire power to take them down. The six spot will be tough to call as I don’t know who plays for either team. I don’t think Case put out their actual 6 in their match against Oberlin and I would expect to see Healey play here as long as his foot is fine. He was in a boot all fall and didn’t play singles. If Healey plays, I give him the edge against anyone Kenyon throws out there. Now back to the tactic that could be employed. Do you put Raz in the lineup to make everyone better? Is so, where? I think you can make an argument of putting him at 2 and bumping everyone back a spot and that gives much better match ups for the Lords or you can put him at 6 where even a bit injured, I would say he has the edge over Healey. Will Kenyon play Raz? Time will only tell! I would assume that each team has to submit lineups well before the day of the match so that question may already be answered. Either way, I am still leaning towards a Kenyon win, but boy should it be close.

D3Central prediction: 5-4 Kenyon

D3 Atlantic South Prediction: Kenyon 6-3

D3West prediction: 5-4 Case Western

#3 Emory vs #6 Johns Hopkins

It’s nice to get your own general preview where you know both of the teams fairly well.  As I am D3 Atlantic South, I’ll be taking this firepower match-up that is Emory versus Johns Hopkins.  These two teams have met multiple times in the past three years, as they normally play at least one regular season dual match along with meeting multiple times at Indoor Nationals or the NCAA tournament at the end of the year.  Every time, Emory has come out on top.  Despite that fact, I still believe that this match-up will be the best of the 1st round match-ups on Friday. We’re featuring two teams here that have had a ton of success in recruiting the past two years and have built the depth necessary to run through a tournament like Indoors.  At this point in time, people seem to be overlooking Hopkins, probably because they have such a tough task getting out of the first round.  This match could honestly pit the best team at Indoors versus the 3rd best team at Indoors.  That’s some great television right there.

Doubles will be huge for the Blue Jays if they have any shot of winning this match.  Emory’s lineup in singles just so happens to line up strength against strength and the Eagles are just a better team at this time.  This doesn’t mean that this one will be over before it starts.  The Hopkins freshman team of Buxbaum/Walsh will most likely be the #1 doubles team for the Jays, as they had an incredible performance this past fall.  They’ll be playing the former national champion Wagner and Mosetick.  Both these teams are going to be great this year – this match is all about execution and is most definitely a swing match.  At 2, I believe that the Hopkins team of Brown/Lim (expected) will have the advantage over every #2 team they play in this tournament.  They don’t play the most fundamental doubles, but they get the job done.  Add that to the fact that the Eagles #2 team has always historically been their weakest team.  Hopkins can take this one at #2 for sure.  At #3 doubles is a bit of a different story.  The team of Ruderman and Halpern that played #3 in their last match is almost unfair.  It reminds me of when Colin Egan and Dillon Pottish played #3 doubles for a whole year. There’s just way too much talent for them to lose.  However, you can see that the #1 doubles match is going to be huge.  A 2-1 Hopkins lead could be a huge emotional win for them.  Unfortunately for the Jays, I’m going with experience here and picking the team of Wagner/Mosetick to give Emory that coveted 2-1 lead.

Moving to singles, I think Hopkins could have the advantage at the #1 and #4 spots.  This is assuming that Halpern is playing #3 like he did in his last match.  Even if he does play at #1, I still believe Tanner Brown gives the Jays a good shot and can definitely take that match.  At #4, it’ll be Erik Lim up against Nick Szczurek, who was my X-Factor player in the other Indoors preview.  You can see now why I chose him, because he’ll be involved in a lot of swing matches moving forward.  Both those matches are winnable and the Blue Jays will have their most consistent guys on the court for them.  Not much else you can ask for.  For Emory, the #2 and #3 singles spots look to be good spots for the Eagles.  You can’t get much worse than a Mosetick and Halpern middle of the lineup, and even if Ruderman is playing 2 or 3, that’s still damn good. Tough opponent, but I’m taking Emory in both of those.  At #5 and 6 is where the Eagles kind of pull away.  Wagner at #5 is pretty much ridiculous, he played an almost flawless #3 singles last year and I believe the year before as well.  Crazy that he’s at #5 at this time.  Lastly, there will be some combination of Will Adams/freshman recruit/someone else.  Browning will go for his best shot and this person will most likely be able to take a #6 match from any of Weissler/Schwartz/Garcia.  It’s crazy how these two teams are built so similarly, yet there’s just that Emory factor and a little bit of extra talent that gives us a potential 6-3 win for the Eagles.

D3Central prediction: Emory 7-2

D3 Atlantic South Prediction: Emory 6-3

D3West Prediction: 5-4 Emory

#4 Cal Lu vs. #5 Trinity

This one has D3West written all over it. I’ve been really high on Trinity so far this year, and that’s not about to change in this match. The Deuel/Skinner 1-2 punch is gonna be unstoppable. They have every imaginable experience advantage over Cal Lu possible: they’ve played more indoors, they’ve played more good matches this season, and they have more experienced players. Also, having uber-experienced guys like Mayer, Curtis, and Moreno at the bottom of the singles lineup will help immensely if they get in a situation where it’s 4-3 with the last two matches on. D3AS said that Trinity isn’t as good at doubles this year as they have been in years past, but that’s BS. Everyone knows that when we call someone a “doubles team,” it really just means that they’re not quite good enough to consistently win in singles, but they can get lucky in a couple of prosets and hold on. That’s what Trinity used to be. Now, they’ve got the singles depth to beat anyone and the doubles strength to put themselves out in front. Take a look at their wins over Midwestern State and Tyler JC; doubles wasn’t a problem there. I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that these guys might just win this whole tournament.

On the other side of this thing, you’ve got Cal Lu. I’m obviously not picking them in this match, but don’t sleep on Cal Lu. Their 6-3 loss to Westmont on Thursday shows that they have more singles depth than people are giving them credit for. (Westmont is a team that beat Santa Cruz last year and took Williams to 5-4, so this is a pretty good result). Cardenas won at #1 singles, illustrating that he’s a legitimate top-8 kinda guy at #1 singles. Nichols is gonna be solid at #2 and Treacy seems to be playing well at #3 so far despite struggling last season. The Nichols/Treacy doubles team is also a proven winner, and Cardenas is going to give them a chance at #2 doubles every team. The glaring holes in the lineup come at #6 singles and #3 doubles. That’s going to cripple them against the deepest teams, but don’t be surprised if they win a match in this tournament. Personally, I wouldn’t be stunned if they beat Redlands, even though they’re gonna be an underdog in every match this tournament. Nevertheless, they’ve got nothing to lose every time they step out on the court, and they have the guns to win 5 matches against any team outside the top 10.

D3Central prediction: Trinity 7-2

D3 Atlantic South Prediction: Trinity 8-1

D3West Prediction: Trinity 7-2

Hope you enjoyed this three headed monster of a preview.  We will be sure to include the bumbling D3NorthEast in a future preview, we promise.