2015 Season Preview: #35 Coe Kohawks

Coe College

Coach: Eric Rodgers

Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Preseason ranking: #35

Coe College, located in Iowa, is a really tiny liberal arts school that boasts a really good tennis team! They play a large, Amherst-like schedule with over thirty matches, sometimes as much as three in one day. Two years ago, they almost ran the table, winning 29 straight matches until a heartbreaking 7-2 loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater on the last day of the regular season. Given their cupcake schedule and conference, the Coe Kohawks (so clever!) have made the NCAA tournament every year since the 2010-11 season, when Luther College was the tennis dynasty of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. (Eight schools, all in Iowa. Nice!) Nowadays, Coe dominates the IIAC, gets their NCAA automatic bid, wins a good match in the first round, and loses handily to Wash U in round two. In fact, that exact thing has happened the past three seasons. Sadly for Kohawks fans, I do not think they are competing with the Bears anytime soon. However, at #8 regionally, with a good schedule, they have chances to move up both regionally and nationally. With that said, let’s get into it!

Lineup Analysis:

Key Losses: Michael Janssen (#6 singles, #2 doubles), Sean Stokstad (#4 singles, #3 doubles)

Key Additions: Brady Anderson (freshman)

Singles: This is a little tough to predict, given that Noah Sprinkel didn’t play in the fall, and the freshman Brady Anderson had a better result in the ITA than Riley Galbraith. Despite the uncertainties up in Cedar Rapids, here’s my best guess…

#1 Singles: Noah Sprinkel (senior)

#2 Singles: Riley Galbraith (junior)

#3 Singles: Brady Anderson (freshman)

#4 Singles: Ryan Hickman (junior)

#5 Singles: Alex Bernt (sophomore)

#6 Singles: Mark Kroll (junior)

Doubles: Doubles teams are never easy to predict, and I bet you all that Coach Rodgers will be brainstorming doubles teams all winter. Given the strong ITA tournament of Galbraith and Anderson, making the finals and losing in a ten-pointer to Gustavus Adolphus (that would have been so sweet if they had made super-nationals!), I’m going to throw them in there at #1 doubles. Here’s what I am thinking for everybody else, based on the ITA tournament and my own knowledge of all things college tennis:

#1 Doubles: Riley Galbraith/Brady Anderson

#2 Doubles: Noah Sprinkel/Ryan Hickman

#3 Doubles: Alex Bernt/Mark Kroll

How can they get in the rankings:

Schedule: http://www.coeathletics.com/schedule/12/8.php

Last year, Coe ramped up the schedule for the first time, as they must have decided that winning 29 straight matches was a little repetitive. They had matches against Gustavus, Chicago, Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Case, and although they did not win any, nor were they all that close in any, there were some bright moments. Singles was a strength all season, splitting with Whitewater, sweeping against Earlham, and winning a couple matches against Chicago. Coe was right in the matches at the top of the lineup, as Sprinkel lost several tight matches, with close losses to Chris Krimbill of Case, Deepak Sabada of Chicago, and Jake Humphreys of Whitewater. He had nice wins over Mya Smith-Dennis and Motasem Al Houni of Gustavus, and Ryan Kreis of Wheaton. Galbraith improved as the season went along last year, losing early to every ranked team, but finishing the season with an easy win over Ben Shklyar of Whitewater. Ryan Hickman will likely be moving from #3 to #4 singles, which should help him out as well. I believe that Coe will be competitive at #1-#4 singles all season, dominating most of the teams that they play, and playing Gustavus and Whitewater tight. If Coe is to move up regionally, and possibly nationally, the top of the singles lineup will have to be their biggest strength.

What can keep them from the rankings:

Last year, Coe College lost to Clark University. CLARK UNIVERSITY!!! Clark, located in the northeast, is not regionally ranked, and I do not have any plans to write about them anytime soon. Coe did not lose to Clark with their full lineup thankfully, but this was because Coe decided that beating division two Eckerd College was more important than a match against another division three opponent, and both matches were scheduled on the same day. Look, Coe College, you are not Amherst and you are also not CMS! Don’t lose to other division three teams because you only played the bottom of your lineup! To be fair, this loss really did not hurt them regionally, since it was against a random school from Massachusetts, but it could certainly keep them from getting into the national rankings if it was between Coe and a couple of other teams from across the country. I do not know who Coe is playing on their Spring Break trip this year, but if they do happen to play Clark, or really any division three team, please, Coe Kohawks, and I am begging you, play your full lineup!

Along with questionable lineups and scheduling, Coe’s doubles and their depth can hurt them against strong competition. Alex Bernt struggled last year at #5 singles, really not getting a single win that I would classify as good. Who knows what Mark Kroll will do at #6 singles, as he did not start last year and lost in the first round of the ITA tournament to a player from Bethel University. Finally, doubles is going to be a concern all year. The squad simply was not good at it last year, winning one doubles pro-set in five matches against schools ranked higher than them. They also lost two out of three against Earlham, luckily sweeping the singles to advance in round one of NCAA’s. I do not care how good the top of the singles lineup is for Coe, they are not going to beat a team ranked ahead of them if they do not win at the very least one doubles match. Galbraith and Anderson had a nice ITA, so hopefully it is a sign of things to come.

Prediction:

The big match of the year for the Kohawks is against Wisconsin-Whitewater, who they typically play on the last day of the regular season every year, and they also typically lose. This year, I think it will be closer than ever before, but Wisconsin-Whitewater will prevail by a score of 5-4. They will lose their other big matches by a larger margin (Chicago, Gustavus, Washu). What I really want to see, and what would be a great opportunity for them, is a match against DePauw. DePauw is a couple spots ahead of them in the region, and I really think Coe could take it. Of course, this match is not scheduled so I can’t be wrong. Make it happen Kohawks, I don’t care if DePauw is five hours away from your campus! A division three tennis regional writer can dream, can’t he? Anyway, thanks again for reading, and I really do hope that some of these regional schools are enjoying the coverage. I will continue the small liberal arts trend next week when I cover Colby College, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Farewell!