I realized that I said I would get to Trinity TX in my last article, but I guess it just wasn’t in the cards. Shots of Belvedere are enticing ya know what I’m saying? Elite 8 starts tomorrow, so I better get this thing out before everyone starts going crazy on the blog. We’ve got 4 joint previews for you guys later! That’s pretty insane, so keep coming back to the blog to get all of our Elite 8 action. We’re just as excited as you guys, and hey, maybe a few of us will catch the live action. You know the digs for this clutch article, but I’ll link you to the previous two here.
http://www.division3tennis.com/eyes-asouth-elite-8-whos-clutch-whos-part-1-3/
http://www.division3tennis.com/eyes-asouth-elite-8-whos-clutch-whos-part-2-3/
Without further ado, let’s go for the boys.
#7 Trinity Texas
Coach MacMindes – Coach MacMindes is one of the least experienced of the remaining coaches from a tenure perspective, but that is not to say he is not experienced from a NCAA perspective. The dude has made the tournament 4 of his 5 years, and 3 of those have resulted in Elite 8 appearances. Unfortunately, despite making 3 quarterfinals, the Tigers have not reached any further in his tenure. While MacMindes is definitely a big-time coach, we can’t count him amongst the elite just yet. Could this be the year that he flips the script?
Overall Clutch Rating – Average – Tough to give an “average” rating, but he’s going up against the best.
#1 Singles, Paxton Deuel
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (1 Year, 0 Years) – This sophomore did not play for TU last year.
Clutch Experience – The Tigers have been in their fair share of close matches this year, with multiple 5-4 victories when they played on the West Coast as well as some close matches at Indoor Nationals. Deuel definitely has some quality experience this year.
Clutch Performance – Paxton has been legit in the clutch this year. In a 5-4 win over Whitman, he took down Malesovas in three sets, winning 6-1 6-1 in the second and third sets. He beat Ross Putterman of Wash U in three sets at Indoors, Scandalis of Cruz in three sets in a 6-3 victory, and took down Weichert in a clutch first set tiebreaker when they beat Pomona 5-4. He does have a loss to Wood of CMS in a third set tiebreaker and Lipscomb of Redlands in a super tiebreaker, but I think those were low-pressure matches by the time he was done.
Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good – The experience worries me as this is his first Elite 8, but the performance this year means that the dude is clutch.
#2 Singles, Greg Haugen
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (4 Years, 2 Years) Haugen is a senior.
Clutch Experience – As a senior, Haugen has seen so many close matches that Trinity has played that there really is no point in listing them out here. Trust me on this one.
Clutch Performance – Haugen has done incredibly well this year in the clutch and that’s probably due to his senior experience. He’s notched wins in close matches against Whitman, PP, and Cruz this year. One thing to note is that he was down 4-5 to Smith-Dennis of GAC in the Sweet 16, where he probably would have lost. Now one match shouldn’t factor so heavily into a clutch ranking, but it is important to note. Haugen has definitely learned a lot from his time at #2 singles last year where he lost a lot and now he’s back in the thick of things.
Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good
#3 Singles, Nicholas Moreno
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (4 Years, 2 Years) – Moreno is another senior for TU.
Clutch Experience – See Greg Haugen.
Clutch Performance – Hm… this is where things might get a bit dicey. I love Moreno as a player, but he’s had losses to Wash U and Whitman this year along with the last loss coming against GAC in the Sweet 16. That one was in three sets and really meant a lot to the Tigers. To his credit, Nick has also notched a big win against Pomona Pitzer but also didn’t play in the close match against Cruz. I’m starting to not like Moreno’s clutch performance this year, which is surprising because he is a senior with a ton of experience. Last year also was littered with three set losses.
Overall Clutch Rating – Below Average – Here’s to hoping Moreno breaks the mold and takes a clutch match!
#4 Singles, Aaron Skinner
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (2 Years, 1 Year) – Skinner did not play much his freshman year.
Clutch Experience – Anything from the past two years, which is a lot.
Clutch Performance – Last year, Skinner was a champion of clutch, where he pulled out countless matches at #1 singles no matter what. This year as he’s been dealing with injuries and such, Skinner has been moved down to #4 where he is obviously much more comfortable. He has a good amount of losses from the beginning of the year when he played #2, so it’s hard to take those results into account. When it comes down to it, I’m probably okay with taking Skinner at #4 against anyone.
Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good
#5 Singles, Jordan Mayer
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (3 Years, 2 Years) – Mayer is a junior who’s played all years.
Clutch Experience – He’s got a few quarterfinal runs in him and has basically been through it all.
Clutch Performance – This dude is clutch! Starting from last year, he was leading Bryan Chow of Williams in 3 sets in a big match, won matches against CMS, Hopkins, CMU, CLU, and GAC. He took some hits early in the year against Emory and GAC but was able to use that to come back with more experience. He’s seen the benefit this year as he’s won every match that he’s played (essentially) and just capped off an easy win over GAC in the Sweet 16. I’d love to have Mayer on my team at #5 if I were a team in the quarters.
Overall Clutch Rating – Best
#6 Singles, Charlie Curtis
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (3 Years, 2 Years) – Curtis is a long time starter.
Clutch Experience – The dude has the experience, but the thing is he’s missed a lot of time this year in singles.
Clutch Performance – He’s only played one true “clutch” match this year against GAC and he lost 6-4, 6-4. That was actually just last week, so that’s a bit worrisome for any Tigers fan. He does have a fair share of losses from last year as well, so really Curtis is up in the air in terms of clutch performance. What do y’all think?
Overall Clutch Rating – Below Average – The verdict is still out for this junior, and the Tigers will need him big time if they want to beat Wash U.
Overall Team Clutch Rating – Average – The Tigers have a lot of goods and a lot of bads in terms of clutch ratings throughout their lineup and their history tells me that they are less clutch than the average Elite 8 team. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t, but they need to step up their game and really take it to someone before we can say they’re truly clutch.
#8 Hopkins
Coach Willenborg – Willenborg has been coaching Hopkins since 2005 and he certainly has a ton of experience in the NCAA. Despite making it virtually every year (8 times) he has only made 1 Elite 8 appearance. That’s a small number compared to some of his counterparts. Willenborg also has coaching experience with the women as well, something to watch out for. Since he’s only been to one Elite 8, it’s hard to determine how much of a factor he’ll be. Hopkins has had its fair share of failures in the past as well.
Overall Clutch Rating – Average – Willenborg doesn’t get a below average because hey, they’re here.
#1 Singles, Michael Buxbaum
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (1 Year, 0 Years)
Clutch Experience – Buxbaum is limited in his experience since he is a freshman, but has played in Indoor Nationals as well as a few other big matches this year.
Clutch Performance – For the most part, Michael has come up big in big situations, as he’s beaten Krimbill in 3 sets at Indoors, Putterman at Indoors, and split sets with Ruderman. He did lose a second time to Ruderman and took a head-scratching first set loss to Tyler Carey last week in the Sweet 16. Whether that may have been first time NCAA jitters is definitely a question to be asked. Let’s stick a TBD on Buxbaum because hey, freshmen can make their own legacies.
Overall Clutch Rating – TBD
#2 Singles, Ben Hwang
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (3 Years, 1 Year)
Clutch Experience – Hwang has seen the heartbreaker Elite 8 loss to Emory two years ago, heartbreaker loss in the Sweet 16 last year, and all the matches this year as well. Kid has a lot of experience.
Clutch Performance – When we’re talking about Hopkins past NCAA failures, don’t put that on Ben Hwang. He stepped up his game in the Sweet 16 last year as he pummeled Palmer Campbell in straight sets. This year he’s suffered a little bit as he’s lost twice in three sets to Eric Halpern of Emory. Both times, he won the first set. At Indoors, he was unable to finish off Halpern despite serving for the match. He also lost fairly handily against CMU in what was a pretty big match. Hwang has historically been a rock at whatever position he’s played at, but this year has me a bit anxious.
Overall Clutch Rating – Average
#3 Singles, Tanner Brown
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (3 Years, 1 Year)
Clutch Experience – See Ben Hwang.
Clutch Performance – Tanner Brown has historically been beast in the clutch. I remember when he took it to Chris Goodwin in the Elite 8 of the 2012 season, where Hopkins almost beat the eventual national champions. Last year, he was quality in the clutch despite taking a few losses to GAC, CMU, and being down against Middlebury. Unfortunately he’s fought a lot of injuries this year and has losses to Wash U and Case Western at Indoors despite playing at the #3 spot in the lineup. He also got beaten fairly easily by Rafe Mosetick when Hopkins lost that match after beating him earlier in the year. When Brown is going well, the Jays are going well. That being said, I don’t have the faith I used to have in Brown when it comes to clutch situations.
Overall Clutch Rating – Average
#4 Singles, Jeremy Dubin
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (1 Year, 0 Years)
Clutch Experience – See Michael Buxbaum.
Clutch Performance – Dubin’s year started off amazing in the clutch with a three set win over Szczurek of Emory at Indoors. He also has a big win in a third set breaker over Kirkov of CMU. His clutch losses include a heartbreaker against Noack of Wash U in the Indoor final, a loss to Wagner in straight sets at Emory, and a baffling loss to Swarthmore. Dubin looked the part early in the year but being a freshman is tough in the NCAA tournament.
Overall Clutch Rating – TBD – Freshmen need to prove themselves and this is a big chance for Dubin.
#5 Singles, Erik Lim
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (3 Years, 1 Year)
Clutch Experience – See Brown, Hwang.
Clutch Performance – Erik Lim used to be Captain Clutch for the Jays ever since his epic win in the Elite 8 over Emory. He was sick nasty in three sets last year, going 5-1 in those opportunities. Not to mention, he was leading in the third set when the match was called against Middlebury in the Sweet 16. It was 3-2, but I mean he was right there. This year has been a struggle for Lim as he’s definitely had his fair share of big losses. Lim needs to find that old clutch gene in him if he wants to lead Hopkins to a Final 4 appearance.
Overall Clutch Rating – Average – This year speaks volumes about Lim as he hasn’t elevated his game.
#6 Singles, Sam Weissler
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (2 Years, 0 Years)
Clutch Experience – Despite being a junior, Weissler missed out on playing in the Elite 8 against Emory two years ago, so he really has no Elite 8 experience. Last year, he had to step in for Reiter after an injury and was unable to get the job done against Middlebury in the Sweet 16. He was able to pick up a big win earlier this year against Will Adams at Indoors, but he hasn’t played a real big match since then. There’s a lot left to desire in terms of Weissler’s clutch rating and experience.
Overall Clutch Rating – TBD – Weissler has a chance to give us a good impression of what he can do in the clutch this year.
Overall Team Clutch Rating – Below Average – I don’t like rating a team below average, but this team had the chance back in the day to take out Emory and couldn’t. They have guys that are definitely clutch, but they haven’t been playing well this year. Past NCAA failures have haunted this team and we can see that with this clutch rating.
#9 Case Western
Coach Todd Woj – Coach Todd is entering his fifth season as the Case Western Coach and this team has very limited experience under his tutelage. This will be their second NCAA tournament and their first ever Elite 8. He is a coach that is highly regarded around these parts, but the Elite 8 is a totally different beast. The verdict is certainly up in the air in terms of his clutch performance but Case has definitely won a ton of great matches throughout his career. You’ll see a lot of TBDs for this team, because NCAA experience is not this team’s strength.
Overall Clutch Rating – TBD
#1 Singles, CJ Krimbill
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (2 Years, 0 Years)
Clutch Experience – Despite not having much NCAA experience, Krimbill definitely has a ton of clutch experience. Case always plays a lot of close matches. This year alone, they’ve had tight matches against Emory, CMU twice, Wash U, Kenyon, and Hopkins. Not to mention last year’s NCAA Sweet 16 match against Kenyon amongst other close ones.
Clutch Performance – Despite losing this past week to Alla in three sets, Krimbill has brought the goods each and every time he’s been in the clutch. Last year in the Sweet 16, he took out none other than Paul Burgin in three sets, putting together a dominant performance in the third. This year, he came out and smoked Raz at Indoors, beat Deuel at Indoors, and took a three setter against Alla in a 5-4 loss to CMU. He does have a couple of losses to Ruderman but I don’t chalk that up to clutch performance. Krimbill steps up his game when needed and should be considered a top clutch performer.
Overall Clutch Rating – Best
#2 Singles, Will Drougas
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (2 Years, 0 Years)
Clutch Experience – Add an extra year to Krimbill’s experience as Drougas is a junior. Same NCAA experience.
Clutch Performance – Drougas is another guy who I believe does amazing in the clutch. There are only a few matches this year that I need to point to in order to prove that. First off, his win last week over Heaney-Secord while serving underhand is incredible. He’s beaten Eric Halpern of Emory in a 5-4 loss, and that match saw two straight tiebreakers. He beat Tanner Brown at Indoors in three sets as well. That being said, he does have a few blemishes as he lost to Heaney-Secord earlier in the year, lost to Heerboth at Indoors and Skinner as well. Either way, I think Drougas has been clutch dating back to his 7-6 in the third win against Alla last year in the UAA 3rd Place match.
Overall Clutch Rating – Best – Can’t believe no team wanted this kid coming out of high school.
#3 Singles, Eric Klawitter
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Exp – (2 Years, 0 Years)
Clutch Experience – Being a senior captain has Klaw with a ton of clutch experience. However, since Case has just started becoming a top team, his experience in NCAA’s is obviously limited.
Clutch Performance – The one they call the “Klaw” has a tough go of it in the clutch because his game doesn’t necessarily elevate. He has a certain ceiling and floor when it comes to his game style. We see that based on this year’s Indoors performance, where he lost three straight times to Geier of Kenyon, Hwang of Hopkins, and Haugen of Trinity. Add that to losses to Mosetick of Emory, Bush of Wash U, and Duncan of CMU just last week, and we’re talking about a guy who doesn’t necessarily strike fear in his opponents in close situations.
Overall Clutch Rating – Below Average – The results speak for themselves.
#4 Singles, Derek Reinbold
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (2 Years, 0 Years) – Senior Captain
Clutch Experience – See Eric Klawitter
Clutch Performance – Reinbold’s call to the clutch lies simply in the fact that he took down Jacob Huber at Indoor Nationals in a close match that I believe may have clinched it. Since then, Reinbold hasn’t really seen much success at either the #4 or #5 spot in the clutch. He’s lost to Wagner of Emory close both times, Noack of Wash U close, and Kirkov of CMU in three sets in what was a match-changer. His experience should help him out, but then again he’s never been to an Elite 8. He does have an amazing win last year in the Sweet 16 over Rosensteel, 6-4 in the third, so that proves that he can up his game when it counts.
Overall Clutch Rating – Average
#5 Singles, James Fojitasek
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (1 Year, 0 Years) – Freshman.
Clutch Experience – Anything that’s happened this year, which is a lot for Case.
Clutch Performance – This young freshman has been the man in the clutch for Case this year. Take last week’s 4-4 win over one of the best #5’s in the country, Kenny Zheng of CMU. Despite losing the second set while being up, he still came back with a great third set and easily took it to send Case to the Elite 8. That’s a clutch performance. Not to mention, he has a three set win over Szczurek of Emory, took Duncan of CMU deep into the third when they lost 5-4, and took down Rosensteel in their win over Kenyon at Indoors. This guy has proven this year that he’s got the game for tight moments.
Overall Clutch Rating – Best
#6 Singles, John Healey
NCAA Experience, Elite 8 Experience – (2 Years, 0 Years)
Clutch Experience – Healey has been through it all in his years playing for Case.
Clutch Performance – This is another guy where you can really look at last week and say wow. Healey stepped up his game when it counted in the Sweet 16 against a tough player in Wadwani. Despite being down a set, the guy won an easy second and third sets to really change the momentum from that match. He doesn’t have many other great singles performances, as he’s lost to Zheng, Adams, Chu, and Hawkins already this year. If he were a more consistent player I’d have him as a best, but it’s hard to do so based only on one win.
Overall Clutch Rating – Very Good – The senior gets the benefit of the doubt in what will be his final matches for Case Western.
Overall Team Clutch Rating – Very Good – After last year’s heartbreaker, Case has learned a lot in terms of clutch play and I can honestly say that I rate them as a very good clutch team. Their 5-4 win over CMU proves to me that they can bring it when the spotlight is on them and I’m looking forward to their match against Middlebury.
I’m finally done! It’s been a long journey and I hope you enjoyed the 3-part article on clutchness. I know it was a bit messy and certainly very long, but I wanted to give everyone that’s participating in the singles portion of the Elite 8 their own paragraph. These players have all worked really hard to get where they are today, and they deserve some recognition. I hope no one hates me after this if I rated you as a below average clutch player, but I just go based off of results. I hope you don’t take it personally. Check out our match by match previews coming later on today, as I’m sure you are waiting for those!