Regional Roundup Part 1 – UAA and NWC Recap

Hey yall!  It is a very busy week in d3 tennis, as teams are now pretty much finished with their regular seasons, and have either already played in their conference tournament, or will be playing this weekend.  Between last weekend’s action and this weekend’s, I have quite a bit I would like to cover in the regional space, so I am doing something that is unprecedented for all Regional Roundups, which is doing two roundups!  Try not to fall out of your chair with excitement, Atlantic South.  Anyway, in this installment, I plan on recapping both the UAA and NWC tournaments for each of my regional teams, which include Brandeis, Rochester, NYU, Pacific, and George Fox.  Tomorrow, I will preview the Centennial Conference Tournament (Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins), the NEWMAC tournament (MIT vs. Babson), and the Liberty League tournament (Skidmore, RPI, and Vassar).  I will also recap a few dual matches from the past week, and I am waiting on those because the new rankings come out tomorrow, and I want to see the impact that the matches had on the rankings.  Here were the results from those dual matches, however, for those who can’t wait, along with a few key results:

#21 Wesleyan def. Colby 7-2 – Carl Reid (Colby) def Michael Liu, but Liu/Zacho Brint def. Reid/Vlad Murad at #1 doubles

#29 NC Wesleyan def. #12 Johns Hopkins 8-1 – Robert Kjellberg (NWC) def. Ben Hwang at #1 singles, Mike Buxbaum did not play singles

#25 Wisconsin Whitewater def. #36 Coe 7-2 – Noah Sprinkel (Coe) def. Jake Humphreys at #1 singles

Okay, on to the tournament recaps!  First off is the UAA tournament, held down in Florida.  For these recaps, I will go team by team and talk about each match for each team, and then give some concluding thoughts on how each team is trending.

UAA Recap:

Brandeis

With an overall record of 9-11 this season, Brandeis had some missed opportunities, most notably a 5-4 loss to Cal Lutheran that came down to the final match, and a 5-3 match to Stevens where they led 2-1 after doubles.  However, Coach Lamanna does a great job at putting together one of the tougher schedules in the country, and none of the Judges’ losses were to an unranked team.  UAAs went as expected, where Brandeis entered and exited at the sixth seed.

UAA Results:

Carnegie Mellon def. Brandeis 7-2:

Great win for Michael Arguello/Jeff Cherkin at #2 doubles, and Eric Miller at #6 was able to grind out a super breaker victory as well.  The Judges couldn’t get it going at any of the other spots, and none of the matches were all that close.

Brandeis def. Rochester 6-3:

This was a good solid win for the Judges, and they easily could have won this by more than 6-3.  Brandeis won at #1 and #2 doubles, and Brian Granoff (#1), Michael Arguello (#2), Ryan Bunis (#4), and Jeff Cherkin (#6) all won in straights.  Alec Siegel at #3 lost in three sets, and Eric Miller lost in a super breaker at #5, with Danny Lubarsky out (usually #3).  It was nice to see Ryan Bunis at #4 get a big win over Julian Danko, after missing so much of the season.

Case Western def. Brandeis 7-2:

Unlike the Carnegie match, this match with Case could have been much closer had Brandeis taken two or three doubles matches.  Brandeis was only able to win one match, and surprisingly enough, it was at #3, where Alec Siegel/Mike Secular got a really nice win to finish off their careers.  Most of the singles matches were tight, though Arguello won the only match for the Judges, winning 6-3 in the third over Will Drougas, a great win to finish off his fine sophomore season.  Any change he moves ahead of Brian Granoff next season?  Rumor spreading aside, Danny Lubarsky played well but lost in a two tight sets to Viswajit Simhadri from Case, and Ryan Bunis lost 6-3 in the third to Louis Stuerke.

Outlook:  Relatively bright

Brandeis does lose their #4 singles player and their full #3 doubles team, but Coach Lamanna and Pandian have gone out and done some RECRUITING!  They have six guys committed next season according to Tennis Recruiting, with three 3-stars and three 2-stars.  It is nearly impossible to tell which of these guys will develop into great college players, but with five out of six singles players returning, the future is bright.  With the strength of the UAA, Brandeis is very much stuck in that #6 spot, but with some development, the #5 spot could be within reach, especially if the Judges can actually stay fully healthy for an entire year.

NYU

The Violets played a very short schedule this year, consisting of only 13 matches, and a record of 4-9.  That schedule, along with the lack of additional practice time and accessible courts, puts NYU at a disadvantage just about every season.  Despite this, NYU was able to avenge an in-season loss to Rochester and outplay their #8 seed, ultimately finishing as the #7 seed.

UAA Results:

Emory def. NYU 8-1:

NYU had a really good comeback at #2 doubles, where I believe they were down a break, though I am not positive.  In fact, it was such a good comeback that I didn’t even realize it and tweeted out that NYU got swept.  I see you, Atlantic South.  Anyway, after being down 1-2, I guess NYU didn’t have much hope for a comeback against Emory, but it still really bugs me that they decided to sit half their lineup in singles (#2, #3, and #5).  It isn’t like teams have to play two matches in a day, and one full day should be plenty of time to rest up.  In fact, it might have been better for some of the Violets to get a little more used to the heat for their next matches.  With either Case Western or Chicago coming up in the backdraw, NYU would have had to grind like never before just to get into the fifth place match against Brandeis, and it was not like Rochester was coming up on day two.  Needless to say, Emory dominated every singles match, not coming close to losing a set.

Case Western def. NYU 7-2:

A well-rested NYU squared up against Case and was swept in doubles, though the Violets did play some good singles.  There were two super breakers, with Case taking #2, with Will Drougas defeating CJ Leong, and NYU taking #5, with Matt DeMichiel taking out Andrew Komarov.  Sam Khoshbin had the most impressive win for NYU, defeating Louis Stuerke 4 and 4.  Good singles play from NYU, but getting swept in doubles was just not going to get it done against a top 15 squad like Case.

NYU def. Rochester 6-3:

NYU was looking for some revenge in this match after losing to Rochester in a home match back in late March.  NYU played some great doubles, winning at #2 and #3.  They were then able to get it done in singles, winning at #1, #2, #5, and #6 all in straights.  A big shout-out to senior captain Billy Smithline at #6, who did not start in singles for most of the year, but stepped into the #6 spot in this tournament and got a big win.  Also congratulations to senior CJ Leong, who had a nice win over Ben Shapiro at #2 and is just a nice person with a big time lefty game.

Outlook:  Shaky

NYU has always been a really interesting team to me.  They have always been talented and really do have some legit singles firepower.  However, development has never been their strong suit, and they have had cases of players calling it quits mid-career.  CJ Leong and Billy Smithline were two guys who were around all four years and really kept the squad together.  Team culture is huge, especially in a city that is full of distractions, and I’m not sure if NYU has it.  The good news is that they only graduate those two guys, and I love the freshmen seasons that Ian Combemale (#3 singles), Sam Khoshbin (#4 singles), and Karan Goyal (#6 singles and a deep ITA run in the fall) had.  Sophomore Matt DeMichiel played some great tennis down the stretch as well.  It looks like NYU has a couple good recruits coming in, and Coach Choy always manages to find a few good players somewhere, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see other freshmen on the roster next year.  NYU is at a crossroads right now, and they can either continue to improve, or start to get worse.

Rochester

Rochester had a topsy-turvy type of season, with an 8-11 record against various levels of competition.  Coach Nielsen did do a good job at getting his guys several opportunities against teams right on the fringe of being ranked, including Chapman, NYU, TCNJ, and RPI.  Unfortunately, the Jackets went 1-3 in those four big matches, with the one win over NYU.  Rochester entered UAAs as the #7 seed, but ultimately lost all three matches and finished #8.

UAA Results:

Wash U def. Rochester 8-1:

There were a few close sets at the top in singles, but Wash U was too much for the Yellowjackets in this one, though Jonny Baker won in a super over Jeremy Bush.  Ian Baranowski and Ben Shapiro at #1 and #2 battled pretty well in their matches, but it wasn’t enough.

Brandeis def. Rochester 6-3:

Moving into the backdraw, I thought that Rochester would need to take two doubles matches to have any shot in singles, but Brandeis won easily at #1 and #2.  Jonny Baker at #3 had a nice comeback win over Alec Siegel, and Aaron Mevorach (UR) took out Eric Miller in a super, but Brandeis won easily at #1 and #2, clinching relatively quickly.

NYU def. Rochester 6-3:

Like I’ve mentioned all season long, I consider all of Rochester’s #1-4 singles players to be strong #3/4 players but weaker at #1 and #2, and this was certainly the case in this match.  Jonny Baker played another great match, taking out Ian Combemale (NYU) 2 and 1, and Julian Danko closed out his career with a super breaker win over Sam Khoshbin (NYU).  NYU won easily at #1 and #2, however, allowing NYU to get revenge on the ‘Jackets.

Outlook:  Concerned

This really was the year that I expected Rochester to finally break their string of last-place finishes at UAAs, but they just have trouble grinding down in Orlando.  Last year, much like this year, they beat NYU in a very close match in-season but lost to them at UAAs.  Both years, they lost to Brandeis as well.  They only lose one player, Julian Danko, who played #4 singles and #4 doubles, but he was a rock at those spots and was huge for Rochester’s depth.  I like Rochester and I think they have a great team culture, but they will need to improve at every spot if they hope to break out of the 8^th spot.  Development has never been a strong suit for the Yellowjackets, so this is a huge summer for Ian Baranowski and Ben Shapiro, both rising seniors, to improve and turn themselves into a strong #1 and #2.  Rochester has one 2-star and one 1-star committed according to Tennis Recruiting, so it is on the current squad to continue to develop.

NWC Recap:

Time to shift out to the great northwest for a recap of the NWC!  Whitman really brought it in this tournament and rolled to the title, but Pacific and George Fox had a great first round match that was ultimately decided by a big doubles sweep.  Let’s recap both team’s performances:

Pacific (OR):

In the Boxers’second year as the #2 team in the NWC, Pacific had a solid season, defeating everybody in the NWC not named Whitman, and they also had a good California trip, with wins over Cal Tech and RPI.  Pacific came into the NWC Championships as the #2 seed, and defeated #3 seed George Fox first round in a tight match, and fell to Whitman in the finals.

NWC Results:

Pacific def. George Fox 5-3:

Pacific and George Fox always have battles, and this match was no exception despite Pacific sweeping the doubles.  George Fox won in straights at #1-3, tying the match at 3 as these were the first matches to finish.  Pacific was able to edge out close matches at #5 and #6 to get the 5-3 win.  Most impressive for Pacific was their doubles against a George Fox team that plays very good doubles, and Pacific had just enough depth in singles to get it done.

Whitman def. Pacific 5-1:

Whitman came to play in this match after nearly losing to the Boxers just a couple of weeks ago.  Pacific was able to get a win at #3 doubles, avoiding the doubles sweep.  In singles, Colton Malesovas played for Whitman, which hurt the Boxers as he defeated Giancarlo Battaglia very quickly.  Zach Hewlin (Whitman) and Grayson Frazier (Pac) were in a third set at #2, but Whitman won easily at #4 and #5 to clinch the championship.  Whitman came in with a mission in this tournament, and ultimately overmatched the Boxers.

Outlook:  Anxious

Pacific had a nice year, convincingly finishing at #2 in their conference.  However, they are graduating their top 3 singles players in Giancarlo Battaglia, Grayson Frazier, and Brennan Faith, which is a huge loss.  Meanwhile, George Fox is only losing one starter, a #2 doubles player, so that gap is going to close very fast.  That being said, I have to say that Coach Jackson and the staff at Pacific all do a terrific job with development.  Giancarlo Battaglia was a 2-star and Brennan Faith was a 1-star going into college and both became solid top of the lineup players.  Losing their #1-3 makes me nervous, but I’m confident they will rebound.

George Fox:

While Pacific was clearly the #2 team in the NWC, George Fox stepped up in conference play to become the #3.  Their only losses in conference were to Pacific and Whitman, and like Pacific, they also planned a southern California trip to expand their tennis horizons.  GFU took out Occidental 7-2 in a solid win, but lost some heartbreakers, 6-3 to Vassar and 5-4 to both Chapman and RPI.  George Fox took two doubles matches against both Vassar and Chapman, but couldn’t get it done in singles.

NWC Results:

Pacific def. George Fox 5-3: 

I just recapped this match about two paragraphs ago, but just wanted to reiterate that George Fox played some excellent singles at the top in winning #1-3.  At #4, Clark Wininger (Pac) was up a set on Nicholas Grafton, but Grafton was serving for the second set up 6-5 when the match was completed.  This match really did come down to the doubles, where Pacific swept, and that’s all she wrote.

Outlook:  Quiet confidence

This is more due to Pacific’s loss of their top 3, but I think the gap gets even tighter between these two teams.  George Fox is only losing one guy, #2 doubles player Chace Stalcup, and I’m a big fan of the Bruin’s #1-3 guys, Spencer Watanabe, Chris Lilley, and Andrew You.  George Fox will have to get their doubles swagger back, but if they do, I like them to really challenge Pacific next year.

Check back tomorrow for part two to read some previews of this weekend’s big matches!  D3Regional out.