2015 Women’s Season Preview: #13 Babson Beavers

Babson

Quick Facts:

Location: Babson Park, MA
Coach: Jim Berrigan, 16th year

2012 National/Regional Ranking: NR/#18
2013 National/Regional Ranking: NR/NR
2014 National/Regional Ranking: NR/NR
2015 Preseason National/Regional Ranking: #13/#5

Twitter handle: Some updates on @JimBerrigan

Intro:

Here is my second NEWMAC team preview in a row!  This time it’s the Babosn Beavers!!  With some nifty international recruiting by Coach Berrigan, Babson came out of relatively nowhere to take the NEWMAC Championships and claim a spot in the NCAAs via Pool A. They have always been one of the stronger teams in the NEWMAC but have fallen to either Wellesley or MIT in the semifinals for the past several years. This year, with the help of some strong freshmen, they stunned MIT 5-4 in the finals of their conference tournament.
Some interesting facts: The last time they won their conference title was in 2003. The last time they were in the regional rankings was in 2012 at #18. The last time they were in the national rankings was…never – this is their first time. SO, this is a really big deal! It seems to me that Coach Berrigan and Babson would want to capitalize on their accomplishments this year by keeping the momentum going for future years so it’s not a one and done kind of thing. One thing that I see that may help them is stronger scheduling. Looking at their fall schedule, aside from their mandatory conference matches, they played 6 out of conference matches:
Roger Williams, 9-0
Nichols, 9-0
Simmons, 9-0
Endicott 8-1
#37 Bates, 7-2
#16 Tufts 3-6
Bates (Babson and Bates have always had battles of EPIC proportions) and Tufts are great matches for them but Babson might use their dates of competition (limited to 20 in NCAA D3) more wisely by not playing so many matches where they clearly dominate their opponents.
Looking at their spring schedule, they play: Augustana (Division II), Sioux Falls (Division II), #25 Brandeis, #18 Trinity, #2 Williams, and #3 Amherst. Not a bad spring schedule at all for a school that has to play their conference matches in the fall, but again, I think what might be helpful for Babson would be to play more teams ranked in the 10-20 range by playing some UAA or SCIAC teams during spring break.
Again, for this year, they’ve done great and they have already secured a Pool A spot, so they don’t need to worry about the perils of Pool C, but I think if they want to stay in the mix for future years, their scheduling needs to reflect that.
On another note, their new assistant coach is former Tufts men’s head tennis coach, Jaime Kenney! She should make a great addition!

Lineup Analysis:

Babson lost Whitaker (#2 singles, #3 doubles) to graduation, and they brought in Akgul (#1 singles, #1 doubles), Quenard (#3 singles, #2 doubles), Kam (#2 doubles), and Foster (#6 singles). Four of the starting seven are freshmen!

#1 Singles: Akgul, (9.62), Freshman
Akgul is the real deal. She is ranked #1 in the NE region. I’m not sure if she will get to play against Eudice Chong from Wesleyan (another freshman), but in my opinion I think that would be the match for #1 in the region. She already has a record of 20-1 with her only loss coming to Raventos (Williams) in the quarterfinals of the ITAs. Has wins over Shin (Williams #1), Ferjanic (Trinity #1), Kohrs (MIT #1), Deb (Tufts #1), and Lee (Wellesley #1). Curious to see how far she can go in the NCAA tourney.

#2 Singles: Freeman, (7.64), Senior
Freeman is a strong #2. She has played #1 for Babson for 3 years until Akgul came along. Ranked #24 in the NE region.

#3 Singles: Quenard, (7.51), Freshman
Another strong freshman. Best wins of the fall were over Bondy of Middlebury and Das of MIT.

#4 Singles: Paolino, (5.80), Junior
This is where the lineup starts to fall off a little bit. But if one of the #4, #5, #6 can win a point on any given day, Babson has a chance of beating a good team, like they did MIT.

#5 Singles: Ferraro, (5.61), Senior
Ferraro has been a mainstay in the Babson lineup for all 4 years.

#6 Singles: Foster, (6.65), Freshman
Solid player at this position.

#1 Doubles: Akgul/Freeman – ranked #5 in the NE region.
#2 Doubles: Quenard/Kam
#3 Doubles: Ferraro/Paolino

Schedule Analysis/Pool C:

Here is Babson’s schedule, including relevant matches played in the fall:
Schedule: http://babsonathletics.com/sports/w-tennis/2014-15/schedule
9/23 #14 MIT 4-5 (up 2-1 after doubles)
10/4 #24 Wellesley 4-5 (up 2-1 after doubles)
10/10 #37 Bates 7-2 (up 3-0 after doubles)
10/15 #16 Tufts 3-6 (up 2-1 after doubles)
10/25 #24 Wellesley 5-1 (up 2-1 after doubles)
10/26 #14 MIT 5-4 (down 2-1 after doubles)
3/17 Augustana (DII)
3/17 Sioux Falls (DII)
3/31 #25 Brandeis
4/3 #3 Amherst
4/4 #18 Trinity
4/19 #2 Williams
It looks like Babson is heading to sunny Puerto Rico for their Spring Break to play a couple of Division II teams. While Puerto Rico is beautiful, and the team bonding gained from a spring trip in invaluable, most ranked D3 teams will use their spring breaks to play out-of-region nationally ranked D3 teams. While Babson has already made the NCAA tournament via Pool A, and therefore they don’t need to worry about Pool C, I think for the future they need to get used to the idea of scheduling other top 20/30 teams.
After Puerto Rico they head back home to play nationally ranked NE teams, starting with #25 Brandeis. Although Babson’s weakness is their depth, that is Brandeis’ weakness as well, so I think Babson should take this match 6-3 or 7-2. I would also give Babson the edge in doubles play in that match. The #1 match between freshman Akgul and senior Cooke should be an absolute slugfest. Then they play #3 Amherst. Again, a good match at #1 between the two freshmen Akgul and Ip, but Amherst should claim the rest of the points handily and take an 8-1 win. The next team they face is #18 Trinity. Trinity graduated a big chunk of their lineup (#3-#6), and is in a rebuilding year, so I don’t think they will be as strong as they have been in the past. Babson should take that match with relative ease. But look for yet another big match between Akgul and Ferjanic at #1. Then they play against #2 Williams. The match at #1 between Akgul and Shin should be super competitive, with Shin looking for revenge from NEWITTs, but Williams should take the rest of the points pretty comfortably.
Out of all the spring matches the match against Brandeis will probably be the closest either way. Akgul should have a good, competitive season at #1.

Babson Keys to Success:

1. For long term success, put together a stronger schedule. It’s time. It’s time to move up to the next level and play some more teams ranked in the top 20 in order to stay in the mix. Sure, your W-L record will suffer a bit, but your level of play will go up (as well as strength of schedule) as you get used to this kind of competition day in and day out, a la Bowdoin.
2. This year, Babson has 3 strong players that can combine for 4 team points. If any of the #4, #5, #6 singles or #2 doubles can squeak out a point on any given day, they are in business!

Well, there you go, I hope you enjoyed reading!!!!

D3NEW