Welcome to another Spring Break Preview! What’s that? You thought our spring break coverage was only limited to Stag-Hen week? Silly reader, in case you haven’t noticed, we go hard. Today we find not one, but two Northeastern teams who have the luxury of jetting west to sunny California. Neither the Tufts Jumbos nor the Trinity Bantams have current ITA rankings, but I believe both will be on the ITA’s radar by the end of the spring. Neither team has opened their spring seasons yet, but both will do so in the next 24 hours. Tufts will debut their lineup tomorrow against the Denison Big Red, and play a schedule that also includes, Sewanee, Pomona, Occidental, and Trinity Ct. Trinity’s first match, Chapman, should be finishing up soon. The Rooster like winged thingies will also take on Denison, Bowdoin, Occidental, and Tufts later this week. While both schedules may a little light on the traditional West Region juggernauts, this week should act as an early season measuring stick for the both squads. Here are their full schedules, and all times listed should be East Coast Time.
TUFTS
Monday: Denison 4pm (@CMS)
Tuesday: Sewanee 2pm (@CMS)
Wednesday: @Pomona-Pitzer 4pm
Wednesday: @Occidental 9:30pm
Friday: Trinity Ct 12pm(@Oxy)
TRINITY CT
Sunday: @Chapman 4pm
Tuesday: Denison 5pm (@CMS)
Wednesday: Bowdoin 6pm (@CMS)
Thursday: @Occidental 6:30pm
Friday: Tufts 12pm (@Oxy)
As neither of these two NESCAC T’s have shown their regular season lineups, I’m not going to waste your time (or mine for that matter) by breaking down any individual matches. Instead, I’ll be testing out a different format…
What has to happen to consider Tufts’ week a success?
In order for Coach Kenney and the Jumbos to be over the moon about their break, they will need to go undefeated. Some of you may think this is totally out of the question, I’m here to tell you, well it’s not totally out of the question. Now, just so all you Pomona purists and Wayward Westies don’t get your knickers in a bunch, know that I’m not saying that Tufts will beat the Hens. I’m just saying that they’re significantly better than their unranked status, and won’t consider their trip a success unless they come back 5-0.
What has to happen to consider Trinity’s week a success?
As I noted in my team preview, Trinity has fallen off the DIII map of late. It wasn’t too long ago they were considered a NESCAC powerhouse. This year they’re predicted to finish 8th and they should be happy to end the season higher than predicted. If they do they will have a good chance to move back into the National rankings. In order for the Bantams to re-earn their national ranking, they have to avoid losses to unranked teams. So in order for Trinity to feel as though their week was a success, the Saucy Yellow Birds will have to beat Chapman, Denison, Occidental, and Tufts.
What is Tufts’ most important match of the week?
While the Jumbos will likely say that their matchup with Pomona is their most important match of the week, I would have to disagree. Tufts’ most important match of the week is in fact their spring break finale vs. Trinity Ct. Tufts and Trinity are both fighting for a spot in NESCACs. Whoever loses this match will automatically be on the outside looking in. If we assume that Amherst, Williams, Midd, and Bowdoin will lock down the top 4 spots, that leaves both Tufts and Trinity to battle for the last two spots in the conference tournament with higher ranked teams (according to our power rankings) like Wesleyan and Bates. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the loser of this match has little to no chance of making NESCACs.
What is Trinity’s most important match of the week?
See above…
Why Tufts might actually go undefeated this week
-According to our power rankings, Tufts will actually be favored in 4 out of their 5 matches this week.
-Telkedzhiev proved in the fall that he’s going to compete with any #1 in the country
-Bradley Wong has become the real deal
-Glickman spent the off-season pumping iron and has added a power element to his game
-Their 2-star freshmen (Rosen/Battle) have really come into their own
-Conrad Olson has whipped these boys into shape
-They have over 20 stars committed for next spring (Not actually going to help them but I figured it was worth mentioning)
-Austin Blau
Why Tufts won’t go undefeated this week
–First week of matches
-Not going to be used to the heat
-Two matches in the same day
-Two matches in the same day after playing a match on each of the 2 previous days
-Pomona is simply a cut-above
-People are really sleeping on this Trinity team
-Austin Blau
Why Trinity might actually go undefeated this week
–Having at least a 3-star at all 6 positions is more than most schools can say
–Carpenter is always going to be a tough out at #1
-Rutendo Matingo has the game to match his name
-Their team has great chemistry as it is mainly comprised of juniors who actually like each other and know how to have a good time
-Kayong Lee!
-Coach Assiante does know how to win (even if that’s more in squash than tennis)
-Rich Bonfiglio looks great in a pair of Jordans, and has whipped these boys into shape
Why Trinity won’t go undefeated this week
-They got smoked by Skidmore in the fall
-They don’t seem to have a legit #2
-Doubles
-Their recruiting seems to have taken an off year
-Kayong Lee? 🙁
Actual match predictions: Tufts
WIN Tufts 6 Denison 3
WIN Tufts 6 Sewanee 3
LOSS Pomona 7 Tufts 2
WIN Tufts 7 Occidental 2
WIN Tufts 5 Trinity Ct 4
Actual match predictions: Trinity Ct
WIN Trinity 7 Chapman 2
WIN Trinity 5 Denison 4
LOSS Bowdoin 8 Trinity 1
WIN Trinity 7 Occidental 2
LOSS Tufts 5 Trinity 4
While I believe that both of these teams have the potential to break into the top 30, I’ll go on record as saying I see Tufts as a top #22-26 team while I see Trinity as more of a #27-30 or even one of the first few teams out of the rankings. I will give a small recap of their spring breaks, along with Bowdoin’s at the end of the week. Check back tomorrow for the next installment in the Spring Break Chronicles, those pesky Lord Jeffs from Amherst.
I was misinformed, the Tufts/Denison match actually starts at 1pm EDT…
Great preview…should be interesting watching these two teams. The battle for the 5-6 spots in the NESCAC will be fascinating with Tufts, Trinity,Bates, and Wesleyan all with legitimate shots. Wesleyan had some nice wins against D2 and NAIA teams last week but hard to compare against potential D 3 competition….lots of emerging teams in that 15-30 range.