Hi everybody! With NESCAC teams starting their seasons, and other teams battling it out in Florida, and this little tournament starting up soon called the Stag-Hen (what is that?), you all may have forgotten that one of my regional teams is soon heading out to southern California. That’s right, the Sewanee Tigers have five great matches, starting on Friday with Carnegie Mellon, ending the following Wednesday with Salisbury, with Redlands, Trinity CT, and Denison in between. Sure, they may only be taking on one d3 California team, but that’s one more than they took on last year! (Biola, Trin, Tufts, and Salisbury was the extent of it in 2013-14). Anyway, Sewanee has some huge opportunities coming up, so I will digress no further, let’s talk about the Tigers!
Lineup Analysis 2.0:
I previewed the Tigers’ lineup in my season preview, but now that we have a few more matches to go off of, I wanted to quickly put together a more accurate analysis. Junior Connor Winkler has been out of every dual match so far so I’m going to work under the assumption he is still out. He likely projects to 2 or 3 singles if he is healthy. Let’s get it started!
Singles
#1 Singles: Avery Schober: Schober has looked great so far this year! In the four dual matches Sewanee has played so far, Schober has a 4-0 record, with a recent three set win over John Carswell of Wash U, who I know is having trouble beating anybody (though he did recently beat CJ Krimbill from Case) but still a great win. In the ITA tournament in the fall, Schober won his first couple of matches before falling 7-6, 7-6 to Ian Wagner of Emory. Schober is such a feisty competitor and he is going to be in just about every match he plays.
#2 Singles: Eric Roddy: Roddy also won a couple of matches at ITA’s, falling 6-4 in the third to Sebastian Sikh from NC Wes, the #2 at NC Wes behind Rob Kjellberg. Roddy won three easy matches in Sewanee’s first three dual matches, and lost 7-5, 6-3 to Ross Putterman of Wash U. Rod-Rod (as opposed to Putt-Putt) is a nice player who has improved a ton, after playing mostly #4 last year.
#3 Singles: Rand Jackson: Jackson is a huge x-factor for me in the Tigers’ lineup, as I think the Tigers’ drop off a bit after #2 singles. Jackson is certainly capable of taking this #3 spot, and I hope that he does. He had a good win over Ben Hirsch (Ogelthorpe #2) in the opening round of ITA’s this year, and lost badly to Kjellberg in the next round. He is 2-2 in dual matches this year, and has slowly dropped down in the Tigers’ lineup, playing a mix of 2 and 3 last season, and #1 the year before that.
#4 Singles: Scott Gallimore: Gallimore, similar to Roddy, is playing a couple spots higher up in the lineup than he did last year, playing a mix of 5 and 6 singles last year. Gallimore was a good 6, a pretty good 5, and an okay 4. He lost in the first round of ITA’s to a player from Methodist, and is 3-1 in dual matches so far this year, winning his first three and then losing quickly to Johnny Wu of Wash U.
#5 Singles: Davis Owen: Finally a freshman! I had Owen around the 6 spot in my season preview, but he has been playing 5 so far this year. He lost 2 and 2 to Kevin Chu in the Wash U match, and won in his two other dual matches.
#6 Singles: Sean Laughlin: Laughlin, a junior, played mostly #3 his freshman year, but lost about the same amount of matches as he won, and moved down to #6, where he bounced in and out of the lineup and found success when he was in it. He is a decent 6, and his experience should help out even more at this spot.
In the hunt for #6: Alex Cooper, Blake Wilde
Doubles
Doubles has switched around a lot over the course of the season, but below is the lineup that the Tigers used in their last match against Wash U. Sewanee only lost 2 doubles pro sets in their first five dual matches, but were swept by Wash U. Schober and Roddy are a solid team at #1, but #2 and #3 are big question marks for me. Jackson and a freshman, Chris Cooper (I believe the brother of senior Alex Cooper, though not confirmed) had the best performance against Wash U, only falling 9-8 (9!), so I’m betting we’ll see these guys back together in Cali. Still, they have so little experience playing together, as I believe Wash U was little Coop’s first career dual match start, so it’s hard to know what to expect. Anyway, here’s the lineup from the Wash U match, make of it what you will.
#1 Doubles: Avery Schober/Eric Roddy
#2 Doubles: Alex Cooper/Sean Laughlin
#3 Doubles: Rand Jackson/Chris Cooper
Also a possibility: Davis Owen/Scott Gallimore
Storylines:
Can Schober keep it up in Cali?
As I’ve been babbling about for the past fifteen minutes, Schober is pretty darn good. After a terrific freshman year and an NCAA individuals birth, I was extremely curious to see how Schober would respond this year. So far, he has played great, but he has five tough matches in six days coming up. His hardest individual matches should be in the first two, against Abishek Alla (Carnegie) and Patrick Lipscomb (Redlands). If Schober comes through these five matches with a 4-1 record, or even 3-2, it’ll go a long way to helping his team pick up some big wins, and to Schober potentially qualifying for NCAA individuals for the second straight year.
Who will step up at 2-6?
So the Tigers have Schober, but then who? The Tigers aren’t going to win any matches if nobody else steps up, and this is a cold hard fact, because it is mathematically impossible. I think spots #2 and #6 will be the big places where guys can step up, due to Roddy’s success so far this year and Laughlin’s experience.
Can the Tigers win doubles matches?
I don’t think Sewanee will be sweeping any top 30 teams in singles this year, so it’s up to their doubles to step up and take 2 or 3 doubles matches. Schober and Roddy will compete hard against everybody, so I will focus more on #2 and #3. These teams have shifted around a bunch in the dual matches so far, as Coach Shackelfold searches for that perfect combination of guys. I don’t know a lot about Chris Cooper at #3, but him and Jackson look like they are playing well so far. #2 is the big question mark, as the Tigers have started three different teams at this spot in six dual matches. I expect Coach Shackelfold to continue to play the hot hand, maybe switching in Gallimore/Owen if that team is playing better. Should be fun to watch!
Can @USouthTennis step it up with the hash tags?
So far, we’ve gotten the very generic #bleedpurple, and unfortunately, Swarthmore has already stolen that with #bleedgarnet. As of today, however, the Tigers have stepped it up with #PurpleHaze. Can Sewanee continue to improve their Twitter game up and get some favorites/retweets from the Twitter world? They could go the pun route, like Stevens (#HeinrichManeuver), or turn towards funny exaggerations like Swat (“Heart of a legend and the backhand of djokovic”), or even throw all logic out the window like Carleton (“Mauri hobbling around the court like an octogenarian with back problems”). Whatever happens, I’m hopeful that Sewanee will be providing helpful updates of their five great matches out in Cali!
Previews and Predictions:
3/13: Sewanee vs. Carnegie Mellon @ Pepperdine University: Wow, what a sweet first match, playing the Tartans at Pepperdine’s awesome facility in Malibu. Not a bad deal at all. Carnegie has already played seven ranked matches this year, with Indoors helping boost that number. They have played every team close, but have lost to Amherst (in the fall), Emory, Pomona, and Bowdoin, although they had an excellent win earlier today over Trinity TX. Carnegie has had a lead after doubles in two of the seven matches, one of those being Amherst in the fall, and one of those being against #40 Rochester. The Tartans are a singles team, so Sewanee is going to have to get after them in doubles. However, as much as CMU has struggled in doubles, Sewanee was also just swept by Wash U. I think Schober/Roddy win at 1 over Will Duncan and big Chris (Heaney-Secord), but CMU takes 2 and 3. In singles, Carnegie’s depth is going to just be too much for the Tigers, but Schober vs. Alla should be a great match. ‘Shek has been up and down this year, getting some great wins along the way, but recently losing in straight sets to Luke Trinka of Bowdoin. I think Schober takes this one, but CMU takes the rest and the match 7-2. If Roddy can get CHS off his game at #2, this one could get close as well, but I don’t see it in Sewanee’s first match in Cali and Carnegie’s last.
3/14: Sewanee @ Redlands: Unfortunately I see this match going very similarly to the match above. Redlands plays better doubles than CMU and slightly worse singles, although I think the Bulldogs are playing very well at the moment. Lipscomb/Cummins are a very good #1 doubles team, and I believe Redlands takes all three going into singles. As for singles, Redlands is a consistent bunch, rolling out more or less the same singles lineup all season, as opposed to Sewanee and all the changes they’ve made at the bottom. The spots that Sewanee has the best chance to get a point are at #1, because of Schober, and at #4, as Tom Suchodolski has been up and down this season at that spot. I don’t know if Gallimore as the firepower to take out Suchodolski, but it’s certainly possible. Sewanee will take 1 of these 2 matches, and fall 8-1 to the ‘Dawgs.
3/16: Sewanee vs. Trinity (CT) @ Claremont: Here is where things get interesting, folks! This will be Trin’s first match of the spring season, and everyone loves a first match upset. The Bantams are going to be a very strong, experienced team this year, likely starting four seniors, one junior, and one sophomore. If Sewanee can take two doubles matches, the singles gets really interesting. However, Trin is solid but not great at all 3 spots, so I think Sewanee only wins at #1, with Schober/Roddy taking out either Ford Traff/Moose Mbithi (played #1 in the fall against Skid) or Dan Carpenter/David Myers (played #1 the majority of last season). Singles should have a few battles, starting with Schober vs. Carpenter. Carpenter started off his junior year great, then started to lose to everybody, and he also lost to Kit Green-Sanderson from Skid in straights in the fall dual match. I think Schober will take this one because of this. As for the rest of matches, it’s tough for me to pick against Trin because these two teams played in Cali last year and Trinity didn’t lose a set at 2-6 singles. Trinity’s lineup changes frequently due to Coach Assaiante’s challenge system, so I don’t think the lineup will be the same as in the Skidmore match, where Ned Mandel played all the way down at #6 singles. I think Roddy beats whomever he plays at #2, be it Ned Mandel, Moose, or Rutendo Matingo, but Trinity wins the rest of the matches. 6-3 Bantams.
3/17: Sewanee vs. Denison @ Claremont: If you guys thought the Trinity match was going to be interesting, you haven’t seen anything yet! Denison is currently #30 in the ITA rankings, and this is the Tiger’s big chance. Denison has had an up and down year, with their doubles not quite the same as in the past, and their singles struggling down at the lower spots. They took out Kalamazoo the other day, but this match was not without its struggles, as it looked like Kzoo was going to pull the upset after taking two doubles matches and a quick win at #2 singles. This time around, I think Sewanee puts it together and wins #1 and #3 doubles. Singles is going to be a battle, as these teams are very even. I see Schober having the upper hand over Grant Veltman, although Veltman has been playing well lately. At #2, Casey Cempre from the Big Red has really struggled this year, going 0-5 in dual matches so far without a set. Perhaps Coach Burling makes a switch, but if he’s in there, I’m going with Eric Roddy. Denison will need spots 3-6 to stay alive, and I think they get them all, as their depth will prove too much for the Tigers just like it was for Kzoo. 5-4 Big Red.
3/18: Sewanee vs. Salisbury @ Claremont: The Tigers and Salisbury played last season in Claremont, and Sewanee took it relatively easily, 7-2. Salisbury is starting the same #1-4, with a freshman and a senior likely playing 5 and 6. I think Sewanee plays angry in this match, sweeps doubles, and loses one singles match somewhere in the middle of the lineup. 8-1 to the Tigers.
There yall have it! Although Redlands and Carnegie will be tough, Sewanee has a great chance against both Trinity and Denison. I’m really excited to follow the Tigers over their break and I hope they have a great trip! Thanks for reading, D3Reg is outta here.