Regional Roundup – Week Ending 3/26

Hello again! With RPI, George Fox, and Pacific taking trips to southern Cal, and W&L, CNU, and Sewanee gathering in the Atlantic South to play some matches, I have no shortage of great matches to recap. Luckily for my sanity, it is a little slower over the next week, but there are still a few excellent matches coming up, especially in the northeast, with a couple UAA and NEWMAC gems. With that, I’ll get right into it, starting with recaps and finishing with previews, with a fun little analysis stuck in the middle. Let’s do it!

The Week That Was (using last week’s power rankings, of course):

Friday

#35 Washington & Lee def. #42 Christopher Newport 6-3: This was a big Atlantic South win for W&L as the Generals have lost to pretty much everybody they have played so far from the AS. Coach Detwiler made the move and put Michael Holt (W&L) at #1 ahead of Jordan Krasner, and even though Holt fell at #1, Krasner came through with a big three set win at #2. The Generals lost 0 and 0 at #3 singles, but won 0 and 0 at #5 singles. I wonder how often that’s ever happened before! Besides those two blowouts, the rest of the matches were relatively tight, with W&L taking two three-setters and ultimately being just a little deeper than CNU, as they took #4-6 singles. This was a must-win match for W&L to save their regional ranking, and they won it. From CNU’s perspective, this was a missed opportunity, but they competed hard and proved that they are definitely a relevant team in the AS. They have 3 very difficult AS matches the rest of the season (Mary Wash, Carnegie, Johns Hopkins), and one tough but winnable match, 4/12 against NC Wesleyan.

#26 Cal Lutheran def. #40 Chapman 5-3: I was right on with this prediction, but I was also really off on some others, so I won’t brag too much. Chapman plays solid doubles, and they came out and proved it by taking 2 out of 3, despite falling 8-0 at #1. In singles, Moises Cardenas (CLU) won in straights over Justin Thompson the elder in a great matchup. Charlie Werman (CHAP) continued his fine season at #4 with a straight set win, and Gio Valdez (CLU) won in straights for Cal Lu at #3. The #5 and #6 matches both went 3 sets, with Cal Lu taking them both for the 5-3 win. Great effort by Chapman, but Cal Lu was just a little better in singles on this day. Is Cal Lu better than Chapman? Sure, I’ll give them that, but Chapman is much improved from last year and at this point, I clearly put them ahead of Whittier, Oxy, and Cal Tech in the SCIAC.

Saturday

#38 Sewanee def. #42 Christopher Newport 5-4: Sewanee started their Atlantic South weekend by taking out CNU in a 5-4 battle. None of the doubles matches were all that close, with CNU winning at #1 and #2, and Sewanee taking #3. Connor Winkler being back in Sewanee’s singles lineup made all the difference, even though he was killed at #3 singles. Pushing everyone down a spot allowed Sewanee to take #4-6, and it had a huge impact at #6, where Alex Cooper (SEW) won at 6 over Michael Dodd, 7-5 in the third, to clinch the match! Rand Jackson and Connor Winkler (SEW) both losing at #2 and #3 is a little alarming for Sewanee, and so is losing #1 and #2 doubles both 8-4, but they got the W and that’s what matters.

#32 Swarthmore def. #33 DePauw 6-3: This match was more of the same from Swat, but in a very good way!! Swat actually took 2 out of 3 doubles, which really contradicts that last sentence because it was not what I was suspecting. They really only needed 1, however, because #1-4 singles came to play! John Larkin, Mark Fallati, Ari Cepelewicz, and Blake Oetting (all from Swat), who I have been hyping all year, all won tight matches, with Fallati and Oetting both winning in 3. Sure, Swat got destroyed at #5 and #6, and this is definitely a concern, but when a team like Swat is so strong at #1-4, at least in comparison to teams in the #30-40 range, that’s okay. As I’m going to get into in depth in a future article, it is important for a team to know their identity, and Swat knows theirs, it’s #1-4 singles. Swat takes on Johns Hopkins this Saturday, and actually has all Centennial Conference matchups the rest of the way, with the showdown against Washington College on 4/22. Boom.

Vassar def. George Fox 6-3: I was wrong with this prediction, but I was not completely wrong. I had GFU winning 5-4, with a doubles sweep and 2 singles wins. Sure, GFU didn’t sweep doubles, but they did take 2 out of 3, and they didn’t win 2 singles matches, they only won 1. Being close has to count for something, right? Oh wait. Anyway, really good singles effort from Vassar, a team that has underachieved this year, but is still a dangerous team to play, especially with their low regional ranking. Vassar won in straights at #1, #2, #4, and #6, and won in 3 at #5. As for GFU, we know they play good doubles, but they just don’t have the singles working right now. Vassar has a New York showdown against NYU on 4/11, a match that I think could come down to the wire. GFU has had some close losses this break, but has another chance against Pacific on 4/2.

#8 Middlebury def. #40 Chapman 6-3: In the battle of the Panthers, Chapman really came to play, winning 2 out of 3 doubles, and actually competing very well at #1-4 singles, taking a set at #1, and the match in 3 at #4. From Midd’s perspective, this isn’t a concern, it was their first match out in Cali, timing was off, they were tuning up for future matches, blah blah blah. For Chapman though, there are some definite positives to take away. Chapman has proven time and time again that they can really play good doubles, and they showed it again here. Also, at #1-4 singles, they might not be as strong as Swarthmore, but they are not too shabby. By not too shabby, I mean that on the right day, I could absolutely see them beating a top 35 team. It’s Thompson the elder’s senior season, so he’ll be gone after this year, but Chapman graduates nobody else, so look out for them next year, if they can get a couple good recruits to bolster the bottom of that lineup.

#27 Stevens def. #25 Wisconsin-Whitewater 6-3: Ducks have depth! Seriously, though, they really do. Really, I mean it. This match went very much the way of the Brandeis match, with Stevens getting down 2-1 after doubles. Even though Jake Humphreys (UWW) came to play and took Matthew Heinrich (Stevens) out in straights at #1, Stevens swept #2-6, with all but #4 in straight sets. Is Whitewater the deepest team? No. Did Ben Shklyar play at #5? Also, no. Still, I’m really impressed with Stevens and the way they are coming together. I would call #5 singles with Danny Polk one of the strengths of their lineup, along with Heinrich at #1 and Ben Foran at #3. Stevens takes on Case Western Saturday in a chance to once again get the biggest win in program history.

#19 Gustavus Adolphus def. #34 Coe 7-2: Coe had 2 really good singles wins in this one, Noah Sprinkel beating Mohaned Al-Houni (younger Al-Houni) and Brady Anderson beating Brad Entwistle at #3. Besides this, the Gusties won the rest of the matches rather easily. For the Kohawks, they just aren’t deep enough to really battle with a top 20 team in singles. They’ll have to take some doubles matches, and that unfortunately was not in the cards against Gustavus, who obviously plays fantastic doubles. Coe plays a bunch of conferences matches in the next few weeks, but will take on Wash U 4/18, and Whitewater 4/26. Look for that Whitewater match to be great.

Sunday

#38 Sewanee def. #35 Washington & Lee 6-3: In the AS battle of W&L, CNU, and Sewanee, Sewanee took the crown as the top dog with this victory. Starting with the positives for Sewanee, they took 2 out of 3 doubles, and played well throughout the singles lineup. Avery Schober (SEW) won again at #1 singles, beating Michael Holt, and Eric Roddy (SEW) moved ahead of Connor Winkler up to #3, and both of them won in straight sets. Alex Cooper also caped off his strong weekend with another win at #6 singles. With every positive comes some negatives, unless there aren’t any, but unfortunately today there are. At #2, Rand Jackson (SEW) lost another match. Since the easy four matches to start the year, Jackson has lost 7 out of his last 8 matches at #2, with the one win being over Salisbury. Sure, the rest of those matches have been against solid schools, and he’s had a few good three set matches, but still. As for W&L, this has to be a disappointing loss against a team that they were ranked 2 spots ahead of regionally in the previous rankings. W&L won at #2 and #5 easily, but really didn’t compete well at the other spots, not forcing a single third set.

#15 Wesleyan def. #28 Brandeis 9-0: Wes creamed the Judges in this one on their home courts, and I unfortunately mean creamed, in the truest sense of the word. Wes dominated #2 and #3 doubles, and #1 was close-ish, but in reality not all that close. Singles was even more of a blowout, as we know how good Wes is in singles. Brian Granoff (Deis) and Michael Liu (Wes) had a decent match at #1, but Liu pulled away in both sets. At #3, Ryan Bunis (Deis) played a great first set against Steven Chen (Wes), but it wasn’t enough and he fell off in the second. I don’t know if the Judges have very many positives to draw from this match, but they do have seven really good matches the rest of the season before UAAs. They can rebound Friday with a match vs. Wheaton (Mass), and then travel up to Bates for a match vs. the Bobcats. Brandeis improves every year, and I still have faith they will this year, but they’ll need every guy in the lineup to step up.

RPI def. Occidental: 6-3: Okay, there were a lot of matches this past weekend. Time for some turbo recaps. RPI played their typically good doubles in this one and swept Oxy. They lost at #1-3 singles, but had enough depth to take tight ones at #4-6. Luckily for RPI, their doubles was working right in this match, but they just are not as strong at the top as they were last year. I’m looking forward to their upcoming northeast matches vs. Vassar and Rochester!

#8 Middlebury def. #36 Pacific (OR) 9-0: Midd was on their game in this one after the Chapman match. Pacific did not get destroyed, per se, as Grayson Frazier (PAC) took Courtney Mountifield to a super at #3, and a few of the other matches had close sets. There isn’t a whole lot to say besides that, though. Pacific heads back up to Oregon to close up their NWC schedule, and has another matchup vs. Whitman on 4/12.

Monday

#36 Pacific (OR) def. Cal Tech 8-1 and #36 Pacific (OR) def. RPI 8-1: I’m going to combine these two Pacific matches into one recap, first of all because I have so many matches to recap, and also because these matches were very similar. Both of these matches were on the same day, and Pacific played excellent doubles against both schools, and especially RPI, who plays some good doubles. In singles, there were two three-set matches in each match, but Pacific pulled out all four (the two against RPI were superbreakers) en route to two 9-0 wins. Both matches were definitely closer than 9-0 in my book, but Pacific came to play and was very impressive coming off the tough match against Midd. For RPI, this match has to be a disappointment, although they did rebound well the next day against George Fox.

Wednesday:

Carthage def. #37 Colby 5-4 (rescheduled from Monday): #CTSBB was the theme of the Red Men’s spring break, and yes, it stands for Carthage Tennis Spring Break Baby! I initially picked Colby in this match, but baby, did my pick ever waver when Colby had a close match with Hamilton, and then was destroyed by UW-Whitewater. Carthage was good at just enough spots to score the upset, as they lost quickly at #1, #2, and #6 singles, along with #1 doubles. Even though Doug Mo (Colby) did get the win at #6, Colby is really struggling to find any type of depth after Carl Reid and Cameron Hillier, and missing Vlad Murad from the lineup just makes things worse. Despite this, hats off to Carthage on the big win!! They’ve had an up and down year, losing early to Carleton and badly to Coe, but they are improving and it’s great to see.

#33 DePauw def. #31 NC Wesleyan 5-4: I didn’t get this into my recap last week with so many matches over the weekend, but this was a fantastic match, and a painful loss for the Bishops. DePauw swept doubles, but NC Wes showed their surprising depth and took four of six singles, with Robert Kjellberg getting another big win at #1 for the Bishops. Unfortunately, at #2, Sebastian Sikh (NCW) lost to Alec Kaczkowski (DPU) 6-3 in the third to clinch the match. Definitely a painful loss for the Bishops, and one they definitely could have taken, but that’s how the black hole works! NC Wes has had a great bounce-back year, and has really reestablished themselves in the Atlantic South. They play Emory next Wednesday, and I’ll have a preview of that one down at the bottom of this article. Just keep reading, just keep reading!

Regional NCAA bids

Thought I’d try something kind of cool. With the new rankings coming out today, and my region not really being a region, I felt a little left out. So, what if all of my regional teams were in one region?! What top 8 singles players would represent my regional teams? Obviously this is all very hypothetical, but I thought it would be fun. Here are my rankings, with a quick sentence or two of my logic for each guy:

Top Regional Singles Players:

Robert Kjellberg (NC Wesleyan): Coming in at #1 is Kjellberg, who has killed it this year in his return to #1 for NC Wes. Kjellerg has wins over Grant Veltman (Denison), Tyler Carey (UMW), Pierre Planche (Bates), Chris Bertolini (DePauw), and Matthew Heinrich of Stevens. What a start to the year for Kjellberg’s senior season.

Matthew Heinrich (Stevens): The runner-up in my opinion has to be Heinrich, who is having another outstanding junior year. He has notched wins over John Larkin (Swat), Tyler Carey (UMW), Grant Veltman (Denison), Michael Buxbaum (Johns Hopkins), Adam Krull (Trinity TX), and Brian Granoff (Brandeis), among others!

Carl Reid (Colby): Reid has backed up his terrific freshman year with a solid start to this season. He did lose quickly to Jake Humphreys (Whitewater) this past week, but already has a straight set win over Pierre Planche (Bates). Reid is such a consistent performer, and even though Colby is down this year compared to last, Reid most certainly is not.

Avery Schober (Sewanee): I’m a huge fan of the way Schober competes, and he has backed it up with his play this year. Schober has a 4-3 record this year against ranked teams, with his best win being a three set victory over John Carswell (Wash U). Schober might not quite be at the level of my top 3, but he is very close.

Noah Sprinkel (Coe): Sprinkel is a very similar level to Schober, and his results have shown that. He had a great win in his last match over Mohaned Al-Houni (Gustavus), and he is primed for an NCAA appearance, as he’s currently ranked fifth in the central.

John Larkin (Swarthmore): These last three guys have the game to compete with pretty much anybody, but they have been a bit inconsistent so far this season. Larkin has really filled the #1 spot nicely for the Garnet, notching a big straight-set win over Chris Bertolini of DePauw in his last match.

Brian Granoff (Brandeis): Granoff has been struggling of late, losing his past three matches. However, he does have wins over Justin Thompson (Chapman) and Skyler Butts (CMS), securing his spot at #7 in my rankings. He’s also at #7 in the New England rankings. Go figure!

Josh Dancu (Occidental): Dancu, a senior for Oxy, is one of the most talented players in this list, and he’s backed it up with a solid season so far this year. He beat Justin Thompson (Chap) and Moises Cardenas (Cal Lu) in consecutive super-breakers, getting him this #8 spot. I’m excited to see how Dancu plays the rest of the year, with matches against Redlands and CMS coming up, as well as the SCIAC tournament.

What to Watch for this Weekend (with updated power rankings):

Friday

#20 Mary Washington @ #42 Christopher Newport: CNU is reeling just a bit after losses to AS foes Washington & Lee and Sewanee, while Mary Wash is having another fine year. The bottom of Mary Wash’s lineup is playing great, with Brandon Griffin (UMW) and Evan Charles (UMW) at #4 and #5 getting straight set wins against Bates. This poses a huge problem for CNU. If CNU can grab doubles matches, it gets interesting, and I definitely give CNU a shot at #2 and #3 singles, as I like the way Steven Boslet (CNU) and Justin Cerny (CNU) are playing. However, I have to go with Mary Wash, who is just playing too well at the moment.

Prediction: 8-1 Mary Washington (CNU win at #3 doubles)

Cal Tech @ #36 Chapman: Cal Tech has struggled this year, and Chapman has been playing great, but this could be the classic trap match for Chap to knock ‘em right out of the rankings. Even though Chapman does drop off after Charlie Werman at #4, Cal Tech drops off even more. There will be a couple three-setters, but I think Chapman prevails.

Prediciton: 7-2 Chapman (wins at #1, #3 doubles, #1, #2, #4-6 singles)

Saturday

#11 Carnegie Mellon @ #37 Washington & Lee: Unfortunately, Washington & Lee is not playing that well at the moment, and Carnegie is playing very well, coming off the big Cali win over Trinity TX and the domination of Sewanee. I think Abhishek Alla (CMU) is going to dominate whoever he plays at #1, Michael Holt or Jordan Krasner (W&L). Maybe some of the other matches are close, since this is a home match for W&L. I could see #5 singles being close, since Ethan Markman (W&L) has been playing well, but Kiril Kirkov (CMU) has had a great year at #5/6 as well.

Prediciton: 9-0 Carnegie Mellon

#36 Chapman @ #17 Redlands: Chap is playing well, and Redlands is coming off a loss to the Midd kids, so this match could get a bit tight if the Bulldogs aren’t careful. However, Redlands is just better than Chapman, and I think that will come out in this match. #2 and #4 singles should be the closest singles matches, and #1 could be close if Justin Thompson (Chapman) is striking the ball well. Redlands should be favored heavily at all of the other spots though, which puts the Panthers in quite the predicament. Chapman does play good doubles, but Redlands plays very good doubles, so I see Chapman potentially stealing a point (#3 doubles, Justin P. Thompson/Sam Mitteldorf have been a great combo), but definitely nothing more.

Prediction: 7-2 Redlands (wins at #1-2 doubles, #1, #3-6 singles)

Rochester @ NYU: Neither team is currently in our power rankings, but I had to cover this great UAA matchup. Both these teams are currently looking like the 7/8 teams in the UAA, but that is not certain with the way Brandeis has been struggling. Anyway, this match has been a terrific matchup in the past, and it definitely should be this year. Both teams are stronger at #1-4, with a pretty significant drop off after #4. However, if both teams drop off, is it really a drop off?! I’ll leave that answer to the reader, and I’ll just predict the matches. Sidd Thangirala (NYU) is coming off two tight losses at #1 to open the season, and assuming he stays at that spot, I like Ben Shapiro to get the win. At #2, I hope CJ Leong (NYU) has been training hard with NYU’s long layoff, and I’ll assume he has been. Leong vs. Jonny Baker ought to be a great match, and I’ll take CJ in three tight ones. Ian Combemale (NYU) has been the best singles spot for NYU this year, at #3, and I’m also taking him over Ian Baranowski. #4-6 should all be tight, and I’ll go with URM getting 2 out of 3 of these for the singles split. I don’t think either team is good enough at doubles to sweep, but I’ll take UR with 2 out of 3.

Prediction: 5-4 Rochester (wins at #2-3 doubles, #1, #4-5 singles)

#31 Brandeis @ #24 Bates: D3NE will also be previewing this match, but I had to give my two cents!  Both the Judges and the Bobcats are struggling right now, but one team has to rebound. Bates traditionally plays great doubles, although not lately, and Brandeis traditionally plays very okay doubles. Advantage: ‘Cats. In singles, I really don’t know what to think. Michael Arguello vs. Chris Ellis at #2 should be the best match, with some contrasting styles and both guys playing very well. Brian Granoff vs. Pierre Planche at #1 is another one to watch as well, especially for NE individual rankings, where Granoff is #7 and Planche is #11. Ultimately, the Bobcats should eek it out, but Brandeis will battle and keep it close.

Prediction: Bates 6-3 (wins at #1, #3 doubles, #1, #4-6 singles)

#25 Stevens @ #12 Case Western: Ducks back in action! My highest ranked squad, the Stevens Ducks, have headed out to Ohio to take on Case, and boy am I excited for it. If it wasn’t for an early season lost to Denison, which I think Stevens definitely wins now, Stevens could legitimately be a top 20 team right now. Anyway, back to this match, which Case is definitely favored, but Stevens can make it close. In doubles, I have to favor Case, who has played good doubles most but not all of the year. As for singles, it starts at #1, with an unbelievable matchup in Matthew Heinrich (Stevens) vs. CJ Krimbill (Case). I have to lean to the Spartan, just given the way he has dominated this year, but Heinrich will definitely make it close. I also favor Will Drougas (Case) at #2 against Michael Feldman (Stevens). Besides this, the rest of the matches should be very close. This is crazy, given that probably just a month ago, I would have taken Case 8-1 or 9-0 saying Stevens has no depth at all. However, given their results this year, I have to say Stevens is a pretty deep squad! Case has had some depth issues of their own, so this combination means good things for Stevens. I still have to lean Case, but not by a lot.

Prediction: 6-3 Case (wins at #1-2 doubles, #1-2, #4, #6 singles)

Sunday

#6 Amherst @ #40 Colby: Colby is coming off a loss to Carthage, so I have to heavily lean towards the side of Amherst in this one. Carl Reid (Colby) vs. Anton Zykov (AMH) should be a very good match, and I think Reid wins, but Amherst dominates everywhere else.

Prediction: 8-1 Amherst (Colby win at #1 singles)

#11 Carnegie Mellon @ #42 Christopher Newport: This match should be pretty similar to Carnegie’s match vs. Washington & Lee. Chris Newport can play good doubles, but I still think Carnegie will sweep. The one match CNU has a really good shot over CMU is at #3 singles. Justin Cerny has had a nice year there for CNU, although Kunal Wadwani, who is looking like the #3, is very good and has only lost one match all spring. His second won’t be against Chris Newport.

Prediction: 9-0 Carnegie Mellon

Wednesday:

#19 Tufts @ #31 Brandeis: Tufts is the more talented team in this one, but Brandeis has the home advantage and also has a few spots where they could have some very close matches. Tufts is very deep, where former #1 Jay Glickman is now playing #5, and I don’t think Brandeis has much of a shot at #4-6. However, Deis still battles at the top, and as good as Tufts is throughout their lineup, #1-3 are not unbeatable. If Brian Granoff (Deis) can take out Nik Telkedzhiev, and Deis can take either #2 or #3, things get interesting. Also, if Brandeis can’t take some doubles matches, they won’t win. Tufts has played excellent doubles so far this year, but indoor northeast doubles (guessing next Wednesday will still be indoors in the northeast) is a different animal. Similar to the Bates match, I’ll take Tufts, but Brandeis plays better than they have been and makes it tough for the Jumbos.

Prediction: 6-3 Tufts (wins at #1, #3 doubles, #2, #4-6 singles)

#2 Emory @ #27 NC Wesleyan: NC Wesleyan is coming off a painful loss to DePauw, where they won 4 of 6 singles but got swept in doubles. Emory has had a nice easy schedule since Indoors, but they’ll head up to Vermont after this match to play Midd, so this is their tune-up match. Alex Ruderman (EU) vs. Robert Kjellberg (NCW) should be an excellent match at #1, and so should Eric Halpern (EU) vs. Sebastian Sikh (NCW) at #2. NCW has shown surprisingly strong depth so far this year, but Emory is just too deep. NC Wes has had a nice bouce-back year, but Emory is just too good in both singles and doubles.

Prediction: 8-1 Emory (NCW win at #1 singles)

#41 Babson @ #39 MIT: NEWMAC!!! The final match of this week features the battle of the top 2 NEWMAC teams. I have been looking forward to this one for quite some time, as MIT has long dominated this conference, but Babson has been slowly improving, and I know the Beavers are ready for a big-time win. Also, MIT might be the Engineers, but their mascot is also a Beaver. If that is not conference rivalry, well then I don’t know what is! Anyway, let’s get into the tennis. I like the doubles Babo is playing, and I’m actually going to pick them to take a 2-1 lead going into singles. Singles will be tight, and MIT has too much depth at #5-6. However, Babo only needs 3, and they are strong at #1-4. So is MIT though, so I’ll take Kevin Wang (MIT) at #1, Eugene Oh (MIT) at #2, Victor Vu (Babo) at #3, and Felix Wee (Babo) at #4. Add em all up and that’s a 5-4 win for MIT, keeping the NEWMAC crown in Cambridge for another year.

Prediction: 5-4 MIT (wins at #1-2 doubles, #1-2, #5-6 singles)

Alright folks, I hope you’ve enjoyed another regional roundup!  It’s been real.  Looking forward to covering all the matches this weekend!  That being said, D3Reg out.