Through The Eyes of ASouth: Elite 8 – Who’s Clutch, Who’s Not? (Part 1 of 3)

Hello!  I know that I’m very late on this “Through the Eyes” article, but I wanted to do something a bit differently this time around considering we have 4 writers this year.  I know you guys don’t want to read the same shit over and over, so I decided to do an article about the “clutch” discussion that seems to come up every year in sports.  Determining a “clutch factor” is obviously not an exact science and it always brings up discussion.  Last year, it seemed to be a given that Bryan Chow’s clutch factor was extremely high, as everyone remembers his amazing match against CMS at 4-4 a couple of years ago.  He backed that thinking up by winning 0 and 0 in the final, something that probably no one saw coming.  Playing in the clutch is something that this year’s players will inevitably have to do, so let’s break it down.  I’ve broken the segments down into a few things – coaching, NCAA experience, NCAA Elite 8 Experience, Experience in “Clutch” Matches, and “Clutch” Success.  This article is going to be a work in progress as I go, so let’s see where we come out!  I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on how this goes.

Before we get to the ratings, I’ll take you through how I’m going to break it down.  Each coach and player will get a rating out of five possibilities.  They are pretty straight-forward, and here are the choices:

• Best – this player/coach receives the best rating for clutch performance
• Very Good – this player/coach usually performs well in the clutch
• Average – this player/coach has had successes and failures in the clutch
• Below Average – this player/coach has an opportunity to flip the script this postseason
• TBD – this player/coach has limited experience in the clutch and this will be a fun ride!

Okay, got it?!  Again, this is a work in progress so I hope this goes well.  Remember, at the end of the day, coaching plays a huge part in a players clutch success. Personally, I think that the coach’s clutch rating should factor into the team’s full clutch rating more than any of the individual players.  Let’s get started and we’ll see how this goes.

CMS Stags

Coach Settles

NCAA Experience – All in all, Coach Settles has been coaching CMS for 10 years now.  He’s had 8 SCIAC titles, countless NCAA appearances, and 5+ NCAA Elite 8 appearances.  He’s seen it all in his time in CMS, and experience still plays a factor in the “clutch rating.”  You don’t get many more coaches that have seen more experience than Settles, so that’s a feather in his cap.  However, Settles is the coach that can’t seem to win the big one.  I believe CMS has only made one national championship in Settles career and that’s a blemish on what’s a great career.

Overall “Clutch” Rating – Average

#1 Singles, Warren Wood

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (3 Yrs, 1 Yrs).  You’ll remember that last year Wood had to miss the Elite 8 due to unforeseen circumstances.  He’s been to the NCAAs every year in his career and this will mark the third year he is participating.  You can’t really ask for much more experience than that.

“Clutch” Experience – This year, there haven’t been many clutch opportunities for Wood.  That’s because CMS has been dominant.  They did beat Amherst 6-3, which I consider a “big” match.  Last year, they beat Williams 5-4 in the regular season, beat CLU 6-3 twice in the same season, and 5-1 in the postseason.  The year before, CMS lost 5-0 to Kenyon in NCAAs, lost to Williams 5-4 in regular season play, lost to Amherst 6-3, amongst a ton of other matches when Wood was a freshman.  I guess you can say Wood has A LOT of “clutch” experience.

”Clutch” Performance – Wood has gotten a lot better over the years with clutch performance.  Let’s start with his freshman year, where he had a lot of “clutch” results.  In a 5-4 loss to Swarthmore, Wood was one of the last to lose in three sets to Zach Kelm.  In a 6-3 loss to Cruz, Wood lost 2 and 0 to Alex Nuremberg.  However, Wood came back to beat Hersh of Hopkins in 3 in a 5-4 victory, Sam King of Bowdoin in 3 in a 5-4 victory, Trey Meyer of Williams in 3 in a 5-4 loss, and Austin Chafetz of Amherst in a 6-3 loss.  Unfortunately, he ended the year losing to Burgin 6-4 6-4 in what was a 5-0 loss to Kenyon.  In 2012-2013, Wood beat Trey Meyer in straight sets in a 5-4 win over Williams in the regular season.  In the Sweet 16, he had a set lead over Nick Ballou of CLU in what was eventually a 5-1 win.  This year, he easily beat Joey Fritz of Amherst in a 6-3 win for CMS.  Overall, Wood has drastically improved since his freshman year in terms of clutch performance.

Overall “Clutch Rating” – Best – Warren is an outstanding competitor who has proven himself in the clutch.

#2 Singles, Joe Dorn

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (2 Years, 1 Years). Went to Vanderbilt his freshman season.

“Clutch” Experience – Being a junior along with Warren, Dorn essentially has the same “clutch” experience as Wood but he also has the benefit of playing in last year’s Elite 8.  However, he does have a year at Vanderbilt which I’m sure was great for him.  Let’s take a look at his performance.

“Clutch” Performance – Dorn doesn’t have the benefit of playing for CMS freshman year when they had all those tough matches.  In a 5-4 defeat of Williams last year, Dorn lost to Felix Sun at #2 singles by the score of 6-0, 6-4.  In three matches against Ray Worley of CLU, Dorn had never won a set against his rival.  Worley won in both 6-3 losses in routine straight sets and was up a set on Dorn in the NCAA’s before CMS finished the match.  However, playing at #1 singles in the Elite 8, Dorn stepped up his game, beating Johnston of Middlebury, staying tight with Joey Fritz of Amherst, and eventually beating Trey Meyer in the championship.  This year, in the only “clutch” match, Dorn lost to Chris Dale of Amherst by a straight set score.  Overall, Dorn has had his ups and downs and CMS is hoping for last year’s Elite 8 Dorn.

Overall “Clutch” Rating – Average – Dorn needs to prove to himself in the clutch.

#3 Singles, Nik Marino

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (3 Years, 2 Years)

“Clutch” Experience – Basically the same as Warren, with the Elite 8 experience last year.

“Clutch” Performance – In 2011-2012, Marino was out for most of the year, causing him to miss valuable clutch matches in the regular season.  However, he turned it on at the NCAAs, beating Treacy of CLU handily and Parker Larsen of Cruz in a three set battle.  In 2013, Marino was a key in a 5-4 beating of Williams by taking down Matt Micheli in a three-set thriller.  He also scored three easy wins against Nichols of CLU that year, along with an Elite 8 win over Branter Jones at #2 against Middlebury.  He was leading against known clutch performer Mark Kahan of Amherst when CMS clinched over them in the Final 4.  However, in the finals, when CMS needed him most, Marino fell to the same Matt Micheli of Williams in a 6-2, 6-2 beatdown.  This year, he took down Zykov of Amherst in a straight set win over Amherst.

Overall Clutch Rating – Average – There’s not a lot of performance there for Marino.  He overpowers his opponents when he can, but that loss in the Finals last year sticks out.  This is probably a harsh grade but that’s where I stand.

#4 Singles, Skylar Butts

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (2 Years, 1 Year).  As a sophomore, Butts has only seen 2 years of NCAAs.

Clutch Experience – Something to note here is that Butts actually missed a few of the Stags clutch matches last year.  When they beat Williams 5-4, he wasn’t in the lineup.  However, he still has those other matches.

Clutch Performance – Butts has done his fair share in the clutch, but we might have some questions here.  He was able to easily beat Millet of CLU at #5 singles all three times against CLU last year in their somewhat close matches.  He beat Lunghino of Middlebury fairly easily in the Elite 8 last year, however when tougher competition arose, it got sketchy.  He was down a set against Fife of Amherst last year in the Final 4.  Against Weiss of Williams in the finals, He was up 3-1 in the third in what was probably the biggest match of his career.  This year, Butts crushed Andrew Yaraghi of Herst 2 and 1 in a 6-3 CMS victory.  Good finish for Skylar, but his limited playoff experience might worry some.  Not me, however.

Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good – At #4 singles with experience, Butts should have a great tournament.

#5 Singles, Daniel Morkovine

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (1 Year, 0 Years) – Freshman!

Clutch Experience – As a freshman, Morkovine essentially has no clutch experience.  He’s only got this year’s win against Amherst as his “big match” resume.

Clutch Performance – This year against Amherst, Morkovine came up big as he beat Aaron Rezvin of the Lord Jeffs by the score of 6-4, 7-6.  This counts as Daniel’s only true clutch experience, so it is definitely tough to get a gauge of what he’s going to bring in the tournament.  He also just beat Daniel Kim of PP in the Sweet 16, so there’s that as well.

Overall Clutch Rating – TBD – We don’t have enough data to determine Mork’s clutch rating.

#6 Singles, Zhenya Pereverzin

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (4 Years, 3 Years) – Senior Captain

Clutch Experience – Despite being a senior, Zhenya has very similar clutch experience to his junior teammates.  He was not a huge factor in singles his freshman year and when he did play, he wasn’t as successful.  He was able to notch victories over Rosner of Cruz in a 5-4 loss as well as a victory over Humphreys in a 7-2 loss to Emory.  Let’s take note of that.

Clutch Performance – After the freshman year victories I noted above, Zhenya didn’t play singles in NCAAs.   In 2011-2012, he again didn’t play much singles expect in that dreadful loss against Swarthmore and a win against Whittier.  Both of those matches, he lost.  In 2012-2013, Zhenya again was not near the singles lineup, which seems to be a common trend here.  I’m getting a bit worried about his Clutch Performance.  This year, against Amherst, he got smoked by Justin Reindel.  Although Reindel is a quality player, a 6-2, 6-1 loss is not encouraging.  That being said he has come up successful against Pomona both times they’ve played, so you can hang your hat on that.  Zhenya also has years of doubles experience that should not be discounted.  Singles may be a different story.

Overall Clutch Rating – Below Average – The one they call “Z” needs to prove himself in NCAAs.

Team Clutch Rating – Average – Surprisingly, this is a singles team that doesn’t have as much experience as I had previously thought.  They have guys that are more talented than everyone else, but that takes away from their clutch performance.  They routinely crush teams, which obviously is a good thing.  But when the going gets tough… will CMS answer their detractors?

#2 Wash U Bears

Coach Follmer – This is going to be pretty self-explanatory.  Follmer has been coaching for 13 years and he’s been to countless NCAA tournaments.  He’s made Wash U the team to fear when you reach the Elite 8 and that stems from 6 straight Final 4 appearances.  If there is a Coach that defines the word “clutch” you might as well point at Coach Follmer.

Overall Clutch Rating – Best – Don’t argue with me on this one.

#1 Singles, Ross Putterman

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (3 Years, 2 Years) – Putterman has been in three NCAA tournaments including this year and has made the Final 4 twice.  Experience is not an issue for Ross.

Clutch Experience – This year, he’s played in close matches against Hopkins, Trinity TX, CMU, and Emory.  Last year, there were clutch matches against Kenyon in the Elite 8, Emory in the UAA Final, and two matches against Case (1W, 1L).  In 2012, he played three matches in the NCAA Elite 8, a close UAA Semi-final with CMU, a close match with Case, along with losses against Hopkins, Bowdoin, and a full Indoors tournament.  Let’s see how he performed.

Clutch Performance – Let’s start in 2012.  At Indoor Nationals, Ross notched three straight losses at #2 singles against Stefanski of Chicago, Koenig of Cruz, and Razumovsky of Kenyon.  Later in the year, he suffered a match-changing loss to Pena of Bowdoin and got smacked by Brown of Hopkins.  However, later in the year he stepped up big.  He had wins over Gerber of Case in a close victory, a match-changing win over Duncan of CMU where they came back from 3-0, and a huge upset of Rattenhuber in the Elite 8 to propel Wash U to the Final 4.  2013 was a much better year for Ross, as he notched two HUGE UAA wins against Drougas of Case and Ruderman of Emory to give Wash U the championship.  That last one against Ruderman was especially insane in a 5-4 match.  In the Elite 8, Ross was up to his old tricks again, leading Razumovsky after Wash U downed Kenyon in the Elite 8 and then eventually, a surprising win against Mark Kahan in the third place match.  Unfortunately, this year has been rough for Putterman as he seems overmatched at #1.  He has lost his big matches to Buxbaum, Alla, Deuel, and Sabada this year.  This might not be a clutch thing, but a placement thing.

Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good – You may not like him at #1, but he’s got two surprising Elite 8 wins in two years.  Watch out for a Putterman uprising.

#2 Singles, John Carswell

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (1 Year, 0 Years) – Carswell is a freshman.

Clutch Experience – All the same experience as Putterman for just this year.  That means Indoors, UAAs, and Emory.

Clutch Performance – Carswell has not lost a DIII match this year.  That doesn’t mean he hasn’t had clutch performances though.  At Indoors, he went undefeated, including a three set win against Cummins of Redlands.  In the match against Emory, he had a win against possibly one of the most clutch players in Eric Halpern.  He has a tiebreaker win over Drougas in the UAA Semifinal and a three-set win over Duncan in the UAA Final.  Oh, and not to mention a straight set, double tiebreaker win over Dorn of CMS.  He’s 6-2 in tiebreakers this year and he’s a whopping 9-0 in three set matches.  GET AT ME.

Overall Clutch Rating – Best – Take a snapshot.  This will be the only time I rank a freshman as a best in clutch rating.

#3 Singles, Jeremy Bush

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 – (1 Year, 0 Years) – Bush is also a freshman.

Clutch Experience – All the same experience as Carswell

Clutch Performance – Bush started off the year very clutch, with wins at all three matches in Indoors without being challenged.  I tend to see that freshmen start the year pretty well and this might be a case of that.  From there, Bush started to show his clutch factor as he took out Mosetick of Emory AND Duncan of CMU in back-to-back three set wins at the Stag-Hen Tournament.  He followed that with two more three-set wins against Lubarsky of Brandeis and Klawitter of Case in the UAA tournament.  He did end the year with a loss to Kirkov of CMU in straight sets, but that’s a slight bump on his resume so far this year.  We’re talking about a guy who is 8-4 in tiebreakers this year and 6-2 in three setters.

Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good – The tiebreaker and three set record speak for themselves.

#4 Singles, Tim Noack

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 – (4 Years, 3 Years) – Noack is a Senior Captain.

Clutch Experience – Take Ross Putterman’s experience and add a ton of clutch matches from his freshman year in there as well.

Clutch Performance – Noack had limited exposure his freshman year, so let’s skip to his sophomore campaign.  That year, he was a rock at #6.  However, his clutch performance had left a bit to be desired.  He lost to Will Petrie of Williams in a close two-setter, was down against Huber of Kenyon in the Final 4 match, and lost to Ruderman of Emory in the UAA Final.  He never really was able to step up his game big to notch a surprising win.  Last year, he saw three set losses to Krimbill, Yaraghi, and also saw straight set losses to Sun of Williams, Dorn of CMS, and Golovin of Chicago.  This year has been a bit different for Noack as he’s been able to take a three-setter against Dubin of Hopkins at Indoors and took down Zheng of CMU at the UAA Final.  However, he does have losses to Butts in three sets and Kirkov in the Stag-Hen.  We haven’t really seen Tim come up with a clutch factor in his career, so let’s see what he comes up with in the NCAAs.

Overall Clutch Rating – Average – Noack has struggled in the past elevating his game, but the guy is a solid player and will give anyone trouble.  Can he notch the win that nobody expects?

#5 Singles, Tyler Kratky

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 – (2 Years, 1 Year) – Kratky is a sophomore with extensive experience last year.

Clutch Performance – Last year, Kratky went through a bit of the freshman jitters in the clutch.  He had two late season three-set losses to Mosetick of Emory and Klawitter of Case, both in big UAA matches.  His season also included straight-set losses to Klawitter and Marino on their spring break trip, and to add to that, a three set loss against Crawford of Chicago.  This year has not really told us much in terms of clutch performance from Kratky.  He had a good Indoors tournament, but in the Stag-Hen he notched three straight losses to Wagner (EU), Zheng (CMU), and Morkovine (CMS).  The verdict is still out on Tyler as he went three against Jivkov of Whitman in the Sweet 16 but it went unfinished.

Overall Clutch Rating – Below Average – Wash U is hoping Kratky can get some more experience and get a break-through win this year.

#6 Singles, Kevin Chu

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 – (1 Year, 0 Years) – Despite being a junior, Chu did not participate in any matches in NCAAs for the past two years.

Clutch Performance – We’re really only looking at this year for Chu, so let’s see what he’s done.  This year, Chu has been a rock at the #6 spot in the lineup and that’s been a key to why Wash U is one of the best teams out there.  He’s taken three setters against Wadwani (CMU) and Savage (Bowdoin).  He’s taken tiebreaker sets against Weissler (Hopkins) and Dunn (Trinity TX).  The dude has not split sets other than against CMU and Bowdoin, and he has one loss on the year to… Perevezin.  There isn’t much clutch data here but Chu manages to bring it every match.  That counts for something.

Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good – I like winning and that is exactly what Chu does no matter what.  I might be worried about his general lack of NCAA experience, but we’re grasping for straws in that one.

Overall Team Clutch Rating – Best – When I said in my opening paragraph that coaching would play a huge factor in the ratings, I wasn’t lying.  Coaching in my eyes acts as a clutch multiplier, moving down to every player on the roster.  In this case, each player gets an end boost from their player rating and the Bears come up with the most clutch rating I give.

#3 Amherst Lord Jeffs

Coach Garner – This is Garner’s 7^th season and I believe this will be his 6^th NCAA appearance.  Now, the Lord Jeffs haven’t made a ton of Elite 8s but they are definitely in the 4+ range, which makes Garner a fairly experienced coach in terms of nationals.  He is one of the coaches with a National Title on his resume, which is something that not every remaining coach can say they have.  In the past, Garner’s teams have notoriously come up big in the NCAA Tournament, which really helps his clutch factor rating.  He does have a few blemishes here and there, particularly the time Wash U swept an unprepared Amherst team in the Elite 8 en route to one of the biggest upsets in Elite 8 history.  I’ll mark that up to bad luck and I have Garner as one of the top coaches left in terms of clutch factor.

Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good

#1 Singles, Joey Fritz

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 – (4 Years, 3 Years) – Fritz is one of the most impactful seniors left in the tournament.  He’s blessed with a ton of Elite 8 experience at the top of the lineup.

Clutch Experience – Fritz is one of the kings of clutch experience.  With countless Elite 8 experiences, it would be way too long to detail every clutch match he’s played in here.  Trust me, he’s been through it all.

Clutch Performance – Let’s take a second to view some of Fritz’s tiebreaker and three-set records year over year.

• In 2010-2011, Fritz’s tiebreaker record was 3-3 and his 3-set record was 3-3.
• In 2011-2012, Fritz’s tiebreaker record was 3-3 and his 3-set record was 8-2.
• In 2012-2013, Fritz’s tiebreaker record was 4-3 and his 3-set record was 2-2.
• This year, Fritz’s tiebreaker record is 3-4 and his 3-set record is 3-2.

Damn, dude is consistent! Honestly, I doubt there is anyone with this much experience as Joey.  This is going to be a factor when it comes to the tough matches for sure.  His freshman year, in a 5-4 match against Williams, he beat Trey Meyer in three sets.  He went on to notch two more wins on Amherst National Championship run in the Elite 8.  In 2011-2012, Fritz struggled a bit in the clutch, losing a three-setter to Weichert in a tough match and also losing to Crampton of Bates in a three-setter in a 5-4 win.  However, he finished the year with three straight wins in the Elite 8.  Last year, Joey was basically unstoppable in NCAA’s where he beat Halpern, played very close with Dorn, and then eventually won a three set match over Adam Putterman that was key to their 3^rd place finish.  This year, he has a three set loss to Micheli in a 5-4 Amherst victory and a close loss to Johnston in their loss to Middlebury.  He came back and beat Johno in the NESCAC final, though.  What history tells us is that Joey will come up big in the NCAA Tournament.  He’s done it plenty of times, I’m looking forward to him proving it one last time.

Overall Clutch Rating – Best – Fritz’s performance speaks for itself.  With experience and results, we’re talking about one of the most clutch players in the tournament.

#2 Singles, Chris Dale

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (2 Years, 1 Years) – Dale is another senior, but he hasn’t always been in the starting lineup.  He only has 2 true years of NCAA Experience in the starting lineup.

Clutch Experience – Dale has played the past two years in a ton of big matches, including 5-4 matches against Bates, Williams twice, the Elite 8, as well a few clutch matches against Williams and Middlebury this year.

Clutch Performance – Last year was Dale’s first year getting any tough matches in and we can tell it as a good experience for him.  His big win was a third set breaker win over Jackson Frons of Middlebury, which is basically the epitome of clutch.  Later in the year, he lost in a 5-4 Williams victory in three sets to none other than Bryan Chow.  Funny thing is, he had beaten Chow earlier in the year in an equally close match.  In the Elite 8 last year, he was up 3-2 in the third set against Eliot Kahler of Emory and Alex Johnson of CMS.  In the third place match, he was up a set against senior Gary Parizher of Wash U.  This year, he has a three set win over Conrad Harron in a 7-2 Amherst victory and a three-set loss to Branter Jones in a 5-4 Middlebury win.  He didn’t play in the NESCAC final and Amherst actually won that match.

Overall Clutch Rating – Average – If you look at the results, Dale has been in a lot of matches and there have been wins and losses here and there.  Dale has yet to prove a massive win but he has also yet to fail in a big situation.  What will happen in the NCAA tournament?

#3 Singles, Michael Solmiano

NCAA Experience – (1 Year, 0 Years)

Clutch Experience – Given that Solmiano has only made an impact in the lineup this year, he only has the matches against CMS, Williams, and Middlebury twice this year that I consider big matches.

Clutch Performance – Solmiano has had a very good year at #3 and he has particularly done well in big matches when playing at his preferred position at #3.  He didn’t play against CMS, but his wins against Williams and Middlebury were fairly routine at #3.  When he was moved up to #2, he split sets with Conrad Harron of Williams at #2 singles and was up 1-0 in the third against Brantner Jones of Middlebury.  Both performances tell me that this guy steps up big in big time moments.  There is a bit of lack of experience, so that brings his grade down a little as well.

Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good – Again, what I just said in the previous paragraph.

#4 Singles, Anton Zykov

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (1 Year, 0 Years) – Zykov is one of the Amherst freshman in the lineup for NCAAs.

Clutch Experience – They’ve had matches against CMS, Williams, and Middlebury 2x this year.

Clutch Performance – This year has been a tough year in terms of clutch performance for Zykov.  In his only “big” matches, Zykov has lost to Marino of CMS, Weiss of Williams, and Smoylar of Middlebury.  Surprisingly when he moved up to #3 for the NESCAC tournament, he beat Shastri of Williams and was down against Campbell of Midd but winning the 2^nd set.  Not much on Zykov’s clutch performance but it may look like he’s got to work through some freshmen things.

Overall Clutch Rating – TBD – I could’ve went with below average here, but I think Zykov deserves a TBD considering it’s only been 3-4 matches.

#5 Singles, Andrew Yaraghi

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (2 Years, 1 Year)

Clutch Experience – Yaraghi has been in big matches for the past two years against the regular NESCAC powers as well as the Elite 8 last year.

Clutch Performance – After starting as a hype freshman, Yaraghi has dropped his game off some since qualifying for nationals last year.  He’s clearly not at the same level as he was last year as he’s been dropped off to #5 singles for Amherst.  That’s been a boon for his production as he’s absolutely dominated the bottom of the lineup.  He’s won all of his super breakers this year and hasn’t gone three sets with anyone else other than Schidlovsky of Williams when he was playing #3 singles.  Yaraghi hasn’t really had any “clutch” performances, but dominating is good too.

Overall Clutch Rating – TBD – Yaraghi doesn’t have enough high-pressure results for me to say he’s clutch or not clutch.

#6 Singles, Justin Reindel

NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (2 Years, 1 Year) Despite being a senior, Reindel did not play many matches in the NCAA in his first two years as he was developing his game.

Clutch Experience – He has a few barn-burners against Williams last year, the Elite 8 last year, as well as any clutch matches that Amherst had to play this year.

Clutch Performance – Reindel has been a monster in the clutch in his two years of playing consistently in the lineup.  Last year in two 5-4 matches against Williams, he beat both Dylan Page and Howard Weiss on separate occasions and capped off the season with a clutch three set win over Will Adams in Amherst’s 5-3 victory in the Elite 8.  Let’s not forget to mention that he was up against Kareem Farah of Wash U in the third place match.  This year, the one blemish he has is a 7-6 in the third loss against Wolstencroft of Bowdoin, but has won every other big match in straights since.  Reindel is clutch.

Overal Clutch Rating – Very Good – Like I said, you want Reindel in your lineup in NCAAs.  Potentially the best #6 player around, Reindel is a senior looking to go out with a bang.

PHEW!!! That’s only taken a couple of hours, but I’ve gone through the clutch ratings of each of the top 3 teams.  I’m going to continue to work for the next three teams and post it in a Part 2 of this article and then eventually a Part 3 will come out after that.  Oh and by the way, how am I not winning the popularity contest on the left of the site?  Central does a mediocre rap for you and all of a sudden he’s a fan favorite?  We want the substance.  Vote ASouth.  Remember… I’ll be back with more clutchness later on today.