Well, it looks like the blog is up and running for the year, and since I can’t get in touch with the new guy, I’m just gonna go ahead and do the 5 burning questions for the West region. I know you all missed my snark ever-so much, so I’ll try to give you all the snark you could ever ask for while I still can.
1. Can CMS get across the finish line?
I know this was one of the 10 burning questions of the year, but it really is the big question this year, and it’s in my region, so I’m taking it. For the last two consecutive years, the Stags have followed up an undefeated regular season with a loss in the national title match to a team they had previously beaten. That’s not meant to be a slight. In each case, they ran up against a team that seemingly had a little more to play for. Williams had their deluge of seniors playing in their last team match together, and the Jeffs were playing with fire under their tushes for Coach Garner who left after the season. (The Jeffs also had a completely different lineup, which obviously played a big part in the different result considering Solimano went out there and played like a rich man’s Stan Wawrinka).
Ultimately, the Stags are returning their seemingly indomitable top 4 of Wood, Dorn, Marino (all seniors), and Butts. I’ve always been a huge fan of senior-heavy teams, and Settles is a class act, so I hope they get it done this year. I think a little bit more fire in their game would be beneficial.
2. Can Trinity build on its breakout season?
Everyone laughed at me when I picked Trinity to finish 4th in the country pre-season, and then they laughed some more when I picked them to beat Wash U in the Elite Eight of NCAA’s. Well, I guess I screwed that one up because they ended up finishing 3rd. If they’re going to repeat the feat, they’ll have their work cut out for them, as they lost a formidable 2-3 punch in Haugen and Moreno – also loosing perhaps their two best doubles players in the process. They don’t appear to have gotten much out of the recruiting trail (unless they brought in another transfer, which is very possible), so the onus of responsibility for replacing those two will fall squarely on the shoulders of Connor Dunn and Clayton Niess.
Dunn played well in stretches last year, while Niess played like a full-grown man in the team championships. Both will have to step up their games on the singles court for Trinity to be successful. The Tigers will also need Skinner to have a bounce-back year to fill out the top of their singles lineup. It should be a very interesting season in Texas.
3. Can Redlands finally put it together?
Redlands has basically always been the West region’s version of Chicago. They have a ton of talent, but they lose a lot of it to disinterest and transfer. Go to one of their matches, and you’re likely to see some sign of mediocre team chemistry, whether in the form of distant doubles partners or open tiffs with coaches. Nevertheless, on paper, this year’s team should be fantastic. They return one of the best 1-2 punches in the country in Lipscomb and Cummins. They will also hopefully have a healthy Parker Wilson and Taylor Hunt (remember him?) for the whole season. Throw in at least one solid recruit and the plethora of other contributors on their roster, and they truly have a complete team. Once again, on paper, they look fantastic, but it will be very interesting to see how it all unfolds when the racquets start doing the talking.
4. Will Pomona-Pitzer take the next step?
Unfortunately for Pomona, their ultimate fate is pretty much sealed before the season even starts. Being in California, they’ll likely to come up against CMS in the Round of 16, and though they will work harder than almost anyone else out there, it would be stunning if they could bridge the gap of talent and experience with their efforts. Despite that, I really think P-P has the makeup of a top 10 team this year. The Hens will miss the leadership of Weichert on both the singles and doubles court this year, but they’ve got too many good players on their roster to be that upset about it. They’re returning at least 10 players who have seen significant time in the starting lineup (Maassen, Bello, Josh Kim, Yasgoor, Low, Jon Kim, Chang, Sutton, Hudson, and K. Wei), and are bringing in yet another talented freshman class headlined by Malech, who has himself in the top 170 on TRN heading into the season.
There is really no predicting how this lineup will come together, but I’m very eager to see what happens in the fall tournament to see who has been working hard over the summer. Bickham has a lot of raw material to work with, and we’ll see if he can pull it together into a coherent team.
5. Will the Whits be able to recover from their heavy losses?
Belletto did an excellent job keeping his team competitive last year, but this year he’ll have his hardest job yet. He lost Schommer to graduation and Konstantinov to professional tennis (lulz), and doesn’t appear to have gotten much in the terms of recruiting to replace them. Instead, he’ll be forced to try to build from within. Some of his freshmen (Chavez, Linscott, and Kenney) were really coming along at the end of last season, but it will be hard to turn that roster into a top 25 team. The return of Matty Herron would certainly be a boon, but we’ll see what he can do.
In the Northwest, the Squirrels lost the heart of their lineup to graduation, including their all-time winningest player Andrew La Cava. In their wake, the seniors left a group of untested individuals. Rising senior, Colton Malesovas, will have to do a lot of heavy lifting at the top of the lineup, but what Whitman really needs is a Malesovas-esque breakout year from one of their 3-star sophomores, Jake Hoeger or Petar Jivkov. They also need Rivers to return to form, and to get a ton of production out of their best-ever recruiting class, which features a 2-star ranked like a 4-star (Zach Hewlin) and a trio of 3-stars. They’ll also be receiving some help in the form of a transfer, but this team will have a completely different look to it this year, and it will be interesting to see what unfolds.
Bonus Question: What does Bizot have in store for us this year?
The Pats are always kind of a wildcard anyways, so I figured it would be fitting to make them the bonus question. Will they bring in a pair of DI players to spring themselves into relevancy, or will a couple internationals come in and scrape out a top 20 ranking? Or will the transfer roulette land on 00, leaving the Pats SOL this year? I don’t know, but it sure will be fun to watch.
Cal Lu and Santa Cruz, I didn’t forget about you, I just only have five questions. I’m sorry. Next time, you’ll get double mentions.