NCAA MEN’S REGIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: February 16th-22nd
Welcome to the first Player of the Week (POTW) article of 2015! For new readers, this is something the writers will do weekly, as we all enjoy giving props when props are due (even D3West). For old readers, how much have you all missed my nicknames??? Seeing as last night was Oscar night, I decided this week’s theme should be best picture nominees. Note: I know Interstellar wasn’t nominated, but A: it should have been, and B: it’s a far better sounding nickname than Grand Budapest Hotel. Although we will continue with our POTW articles, we also will be selecting a Player of the Month from each region. Winners of our POTM selections will receive a dope blog t-shirt. The first POTM will likely come out next week, so get pumped. One other note, Women’s POTW will likely come out tomorrow. Without further ado, your Men’s Players of the Week…
A-SOUTH
Players: Rafe “Mega-watt” Mosetick and Kunal “Cash Money” Wadwani
Team: Emory and Carnegie Mellon
Results: Mosetick 3-0 in singles, 2-1 in doubles. Wadwani 3-0 in singles, 0-1 in doubles.
Recap: Sorry, I had to cheat and pick two players here, because these two stood out to me the most during #IndoorsWeek. Mosetick’s successes this weekend were well documented, as he closed out Zheng after being down 6 set points and 5-0 in the second to clinch a 5-4 victory against CMU. He wasn’t done, as he roared back against Bush of Wash U and won that match in 3. Not to mention his dismantling of Jordan Mayer in the championship match. Mosetick was his usual, gritty, high-volume self this weekend, which leads me to my proposed nickname of “Mega-Watt.” There’s maybe 1 or 2 players that can match Rafe’s on court volume and fire in all of DIII.
Wadwani of CMU was also another standout performance for me. He lost 0 sets this weekend in singles, and played TWO spots above his normal position. He took out Wagner, Huber, and Eckstein with ease. “Cash Money” Wadwani, as I like to call him, salvaged a disappointing weekend for CMU that could have been much worse due to injury. Imagine the things he can do at #5 or #6 singles if this is what he can do at #4.
What’s next: Emory hits Hawaii in March and CMU hits spring break in Claremont, CA
Honorary Mention: Mike Buxbaum, Hopkins and David Lunding-Johannson, UMW
D3AS’s Favorite Indoors Moment: Kenyon’s comeback against Case Western. Down 4-1 and not even close on #2 and #4 singles, both Geier and Huber came back from multiple breaks in the second set to send the Kenyon #BenchMob (got you guys) into a frenzy after every point. It’s nice to see the bench players make a difference in a match, especially against a team known for making a rowdy atmosphere.
D3AS’s Least Favorite Indoors Moment: The moment I realized two of my teams would have injuries for the tournament. CMU played the whole tournament with basically no #3 or #4 player (Duncan and Kirkov). Hopkins played the tournament with a hobbled Tanner Brown at #6. Tough for those guys because this was a tournament where every match was 6-3 or closer. Oh, and the anonymous trolling in the video. Get a life, whoever you are. Seriously. Hop on OKCupid, maybe you’ll have some luck with yourself there.
Central
Player: Kevin Chu
Team: Wash U
Results: 3-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles
Recap: There were a number of standout performances at Indoors, but I have to give the nod to Kevin Chu for player of the week because he essentially saved his team from complete disaster. With the match tied at 4-4 against Kenyon, Chu made short work of his opponent to clinch the win for Wash U. Indoors is always fun because it puts pressure on the guys are the bottom of the lineup as the matches typically come down to them. Chu delivered when he was needed most. While the Emory match wasn’t as close as we all would have liked, Chu moved up a spot to #5 and won their proving that he has the goods to win against anyone at the bottom part of the lineup. With Wash U’s issues at the top, they are going to need to lean on Chu and the other guys around him to help carry the season.
What’s next: Wash U will head out to California in a couple of weeks to take on Case before having a rematch against Kenyon in the first round of the Stag-Hen. I am sure Kenyon is looking for another shot to take the Bears down and Case is sort of a wild card with ups and downs all season.
Honorary Mention: Chris Krimbill (Case), Viswajit Simhadri (Case), Wade Heerboth (Kenyon)
D3Central’s Favorite Indoors Moment: When Alla and Heerboth’s match was over. Watching that match made me hate tennis a little bit.
D3Central’s Least Favorite Indoors Moment: The most hyped match of the tournament between Emory/Wash U not really living up to the billing. While the score finished 6-3, Emory had the result tied up well before things could have gotten interesting.
NE
Player(s): Adam “Cado” Schwartz and Ben Rosen
Team: Bates College
Results: 3-0 at 3 dubs, 2-1 at 3 singles, 2-1 at 5 singles
Recap: At this point in the young season I didn’t have too many options. Bates, Brandeis, and Stevens were really the only in region teams to play, and the latter two are technically in D3Regional’s corner. That being said, nothing should be taken away from Adam or Ben for the incredible start to their young careers. The two young guns swept their doubles matches vs. Pomona, Whittier, and CMS, in addition to winning their singles matches vs. Pomona and Whittier. I cannot stress how important these two guys were in the Pomona match alone. While they’re not as strong at the top, Bates has some depth for the first time in recent memory. We saw what happened to the Bobcats after their Pomona win two years ago, let’s see if they can keep their newly found spot in the Pool-C hunt. Props to Adam and Ben for winning POTW 100% of the time in their careers. Also, what the hell is Cado?
What’s next: Bates will head back from California to Maine before playing their next match March 6th at Babson.
Honorary Mention: Pierre Planche (Bates), Alec Siegel (Brandeis, they’re #31, Regional. I’m counting it)
D3NE’s Favorite Indoors Moment: Discovering you could watch all 6 courts on the same Youtube channel, and then reading the “fake” trash talk in the chat. Especially from the female tennis players supporting their school’s male counterparts…
D3NE’s Least Favorite Indoors Moment: Erik Lim taking a bathroom break at 5-1 down in the 2nd set breaker vs. Trinity Tx.
WEST
Player: Aaron “The Sleeve” Skinner
Team: Trinity
Results: 5-1 at Indoors with one HUGE momentum-swinging 3rd set against Halpern
Recap: This one really could’ve gone either way between Skinner or Krull, but I’m gonna give it to the Man With The Golden Sleeve because his big weekend represents something enormous for his team. Two years ago, he was among the best #1’s in the nation, notably winning Fall Nationals and beating Kjellberg while serving underhanded. Last year, he was supposed to be the best #2 in the country and ended up being a so-so #1, mainly due to injuries. Now, it looks like he’s back to his nasty self, and his re-emergence could do wonders to alleviate the pain of Deuell’s absence.
What’s next: “The Boys” ™ have two weeks off before their annual California pilgrimage where they’ll play fellow Indoors attendees Kenyon and CMU before starting the Stag-Hen
Honorary Mention: Adam Krull (TU) and Colton Malesovas (Whitman)
D3West’s Favorite Indoors Moment: I’m very sad that I missed the 3 AM finish to the Case/Kenyon rematch, and the end of the final was actually anticlimactic, so I would have to say my favorite moment was Charlie “The Two Hander of Destiny” Curtis’ come-from-behind win over Lim. Lim tried every piece of gamesmanship within the rules to get into Curtis’ head and appeared poised for victory twice (first when serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, and later serving at 2-1 40-love in the 3rd), but the senior weathered the storm and won a huge one FTB.
D3West’s Least Favorite Indoors Moment: The moment when Emory won the top three singles matches in three sets within 15 minutes of each other. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t really rooting against Emory, but everybody loves a comeback, and I wanted to see if the Wash U guys could actually bring that viewing platform down. Even the worst moment was still pretty cool, as it was great to see Rafe prowling the court with a frantic energy during his comeback while Bush cramped.
REGIONAL
Player: Robert Kjellberg
Team: NC Wesleyan
Results: 3-0 at #1 singles, 1-2 at #1 doubles
Recap: After missing all of last year, Kjellberg dominated the Mary Washington weekend, at least from a singles standpoint. His best win over the weekend was over Matt Heinrich of Stevens, 6-0, 6-7, 6-0 (score in the third set not yet confirmed). NC Wesleyan has fallen off the radar this year, but when Kjellberg is on, he has the ability to take down just about anybody in the country. He fell in the round of 16 at ITA’s to Connor Winkler of Sewanee, but he’s clearly starting to round into form.
What’s next: The Battling Bishops go on the road for a bunch of conference matches, but will soon take on Bates, where Pierre Planche vs Kjellberg should be a great match. They will later take on DePauw, Emory, and Christopher Newport.
Honorary Mention: Alec Siegel (Brandeis), Giancarlo Battaglia (Pacific OR)
D3Regional’s Favorite Indoors Moment: The thirty minutes at the end of the live stream of an old guy hitting with a ball machine.
D3Regional’s Least Favorite Indoors Moment: The thirty minutes at the end of the live stream of an old guy hitting with a ball machine.