2015 Season Preview: #2 CMS

Claremont – Mudd – Scripps Colleges

Location: Claremont, CA

Coach: Paul Settles

Preseason Ranking: 2

Intro: Hey y’all, I’m back in action and today I have the pleasure of writing about the CMS Stags. If I were to summarize this preview in just one word it would be ‘depth’. I know, I know, every year (at least for the last 3) CMS has been everyone’s favorite to win it all, and year after year they have come up just a bit short. But if, at this moment, I had to pick the strongest team in D3 it would have to be the Stags. The way I see it, their top 4 guys could all be successful  #1 singles players and have proven themselves to be some of the top players in division 3. There just aren’t many teams who can compete with that kind of depth. What will make or break their title run is whether or not they can find solid doubles pairings that they can rely on in the 2 and 3 spots and if they are able to muster up enough fire to do the work necessary for a chance at the national championship. If Settles and the seniors can keep them on track though, I would pick them as a favorite in almost every match on their schedule. Now that I’m finished complimenting them, its time to dive into the lineup analysis.

Key Losses: Zhenya Pereverzin (Not once have I spelled his name right without looking it up) and Neel Kotrappa

Key Additions: None

1 Singles: Warren Wood

There really isn’t much to say about this pick, Warren has been playing #1 for the Stags since he showed up. He is clearly one of the most talented players in Division 3 and on the right day he can lay a beat down on pretty much anyone. Last year he was soo close to coming home with a singles national championship, with a loss in the finals to Joey Fritz and he had a fairly decent fall tournament notching a victory over Jake Yasgoor (to whom he had lost in last year’s Fall ITA) before going out to his teammate Glen Hull in 3. His play has become more consistent year after year and I expect good things from Wood in the spring.

2 Singles: Nik Marino

I thought long and hard about whether to put Joe Dorn here or not, but I am guessing that he is going to be a little bit rusty after his time abroad and I think Nik is going to take his spot in the lineup. Sporting both the worst and simultaneously the best backhand in D3, Marino is one of the most consistent players in the country both in his game and how he competes. I think that he will do well wherever Settles decides to put him, but I think merit-wise and play-wise he is going to be more battle ready of the two players in the Spring.

3 Singles: Joe Dorn

The senior transfer from Vanderbilt is going to be fresh off his Fall Study Abroad and although I don’t think he will initially be sharp enough to play higher than Marino, I don’t see Coach Settles slotting him any lower than #3 singles. He was one of the three Stags to reach the Semifinals in individuals last season and anyone that CMS has at the 3 or 4 spots are almost guaranteed to be some of the strongest  in the country. .

4 Singles: Skyler Butts

Butts has been a rock solid player since he started playing at CMS. He is solid from everywhere on the court and has one of the best one-handers in D3 (just barely edged out by Solimano’s Amherst). He is one of the hardest workers you will ever meet, and has been playing a number of Futures and Opens down in So Cal looking to get better and pass his teammates in the lineup. In some ways, its a shame that his teammates are so solid themselves because I would like to see Butts playing higher in the lineup. I am a big fan of the workhorse types of players and wouldn’t be too surprised to see him leapfrog maybe even Dorn and Marino.

5 Singles: Glen Hull

We were all blown away by Glen’s performance in the Fall ITA, and it truly was a great effort for him to grab that All-American status. I am fairly confident he will be present in the Stag’s lineup in the spring and will make a strong 5 singles player (ITA winners at the #5 spot usually make for a pretty solid team).

6 Singles: Daniel Morkovine

Many of us were skeptical of the decision to pull Morkovine from the lineup for the title match against Amherst last year, but as I look back I do understand the logic behind Settle’s decision. That being said, I still think Morkovine is still probably the best choice for #6, and his funky game is sure to frustrate anyone he will play at this spot. It’s possible that Bryan Mehall or any of the many other non-lineup Stags will be able to fight their way into this position, but since I am a betting man, I will have to put my money on Mork.

Doubles:

Doubles was the area where I was a bit critical of the Stags in my Regional tournament wrap-up article. Without Dorn, and with the loss of both Pereverzin and Kotrappa, their doubles could be the place where they will struggle the most. They tried out a variety of teams in the Fall ITA, but I don’t think Coach Settles will really keep any of them together come the Spring. If I had to make a guess it would be: Dorn and Wood at 1 doubles again, Butts and Mehall/Morkovine/Yeh at 2 doubles and Marino and Mehall/Morkovine/Yeh at 3 doubles. I think that Dorn will be ready to take the doubles court when he returns, and Butts and Marino will probably not play with each other (they both play the same side!) which leaves them to form some combination involving the next 3 best doubles players; Mehall Morkovine and Yeh. It is a very real possibility that the Stags won’t be nearly as dominant in doubles as they have been in the past, especially since it seems that a couple of their West region counterparts have stepped up their doubles game, namely Trinity (TX) and Pomona-Pitzer.

Schedule Analysis:

http://cmsathletics.org/sports/mten/2014-15/schedule-web

The Stag’s schedule has been up for weeks (lets go West!), they have the many of the usual competition from D3 as well as a spattering of D1 and NAIA teams. To start off their season and knock off the rust, they a couple of double headers in February which will be a good test of their fitness and get them ready for the gauntlet that is March. They have the La Jolla doubles tournament the first weekend, and then have 12 matches with at least 2 matches every weekend. The Stag-Hen is going to be interesting as it puts CMS on the same side as Wash U. I expect both CMS and Wash U to get through their first round matches fairly handily which would mean a match-up with the #2 and the #5 teams in the Nation. This will probably be the most difficult match of the season for CMS and will be a true test to see where they stand against other top D3 Competition since they will not be playing Trinity or Amherst in the regular season.

Also it looks like they will be taking a trip out east during their spring break to play a couple of teams from the East Coast along with UPenn and Georgetown. Besides the Stag-Hen, the matches to watch in March are going to be the Johns Hopkins match on the 20th, where CMS will play them at Hopkins, and the match against Middlebury on the 27th. Johns Hopkins will be tough at the top of the lineup with Buxbaum and Brown, who have both given CMS trouble in the past, but I don’t think they will be able to compete with the Stag’s depth at 4-6. So even with the home court advantage, I think Hopkins will go down in a fairly close 6-3. The match with Middlebury will be almost the opposite. The Panthers will have a hard time finding players to compete with the Stags at the top of the lineup since they graduated their top 2, but may have better luck at the 5 and 6 position. That being said, I doubt it will be any closer than 7-2 for the Stags on their own turf.

In April they have Williams, Redlands and P-P who will all be looking to secure themselves at least a top 10 spot with a victory over the Stags. Any of them could give CMS a little bit of trouble but, once again, I don’t think any of the three matches will be any closer than 7-2 Stags. This leaves  them with Ojai and the SCIAC tournament with another matchup against either PP or Redlands in the finals. All-in-All, if everything goes according to my predictions, going into the post season they with a ranking of anywhere from 1-3, depending on how the matches go with Wash U and Johns Hopkins. They will almost certainly earn a spot in NCAA’s where the will have some pretty good odds to win it all, barring disaster, of course.