NCAA Championships: Kenyon Region preview

It’s May and you know what that means: National championships are on the line! In order to get there, you have to play well in your region and avoid any upsets from dangerous teams. This is exactly what the Kenyon Lords will try to do. The good news is there is only one other team that is a threat in Johns Hopkins, but with a reduced Pool C, that is going to be the scenario in most if not all of the regions. I won’t beat the dead horse that is the Pool C debacle, but I also won’t give the little teams too much attention as they fully deserve a spot in the tourney, but that is all it will ever be. The tournament committee might be having fun considering there are two “John” schools in this draw! Here we go with the analysis:

Kenyon: I tweeted about a month ago that I need to stop underestimating Kenyon and I promise I am done doing that. They got a well deserved #1 seed in this tourney and really have only one not so great loss on their resume (Wesleyan). Being the top seed pretty much guarantees a match that won’t last more than an hour in the second round and that will come true as John Carroll really only has one player that can hang with Kenyon’s talent. When the final comes on Sunday, Kenyon has the advantage in that it will be at home and the #BenchMob being loud and proud. If Kenyon jumps out on Hopkins early, I think they will crush the spirit of Hopkins as they don’t have the determination to fight themselves back into it. If Hopkins takes an early lead then I think it will get crazy as Kenyon will never go down easy. In the end this one could really go either way. If I picked this one based off of “on paper” statistics, I would choose Hopkins, but I said I wouldn’t underestimate Kenyon!

Johns Hopkins: I must say I am not really sure what to expect from Hopkins heading into the tournament as they have been very good this year at times and very bad at others. Will this be the Hopkins that just wrecked a solid Swarthmore in the conference tournament final or will this be the team that lost 8-1 NC Wesleyan. Now I will point out that Buxbaum wasn’t in the singles lineup against Kjellberg, but Hopkins is talented enough to where it shouldn’t have mattered. The bottom line is they got swept in doubles and mailed it in after that. Talent is abundant for the Blue Jays, but motivation has been questioned at times. I have no qualms in saying they are the most talented team in this region, but also know they won’t be the team that wants it most. The Lords will fight tooth and nail to reach the Elite 8 so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. It should be one heck of a final.

Kalamazoo: Kalamazoo is a very weak #3 seed which makes this region pretty disappointing. The Hornets are not the team of the past and their top player Metzler had a sub par season in comparison to last year. Against Hopkins, Kzoo could steal a doubles match and even get crazy to take two, but with that nothing more will happen. With these matches being played to decision, at best it will be 5-2, but I ultimately think Hopkins will win this 5-0 and conserve plenty of energy for the final.

John Carroll: I have given John Carroll a little love in the latest POTW with their top player (Jad Abdul-Aal) winning the Central award. Kudos to Northeast for screwing up the picture the first go around. Anyways, John Carroll is likely to do one thing that not many teams will be able to boast about and that is win a round at nationals. Franciscan isn’t a big foe and it should afford them a second round match. I couldn’t figure out what the hell their mascot is. Blue Streaks? Lobo? Bueller?

Franciscan: Congrats Franciscan for making the tournament. With three losses to OAC schools that John Carroll beat this season, they are definitely an underdog in their match-up. I don’t expect any surprises either.

Predictions:

John Carroll over Franciscan 5-1

Kenyon over John Carroll 5-0

Johns Hopkins over Kalamazoo 5-0

Kenyon over Johns Hopkins 5-4! Go Lords!