A Belated NCAA Recap – ASwizz Style

Well, well, well. We meet again. I’m surprised that I haven’t gotten more callouts from the guys about not having as many articles as possible out, but I guess most of the players are busy graduating or at least celebrating graduation with their friends.  Funny how that works, the more time they have, the less they ask for articles. I wish it was graduation time all the time.  Then everyone would just leave me alone.  Kidding, of course.  You guys are the best.

Anyways, I’ve come here today to write an NCAA Regional Tournament recap, because I wanted to touch on some great performances before we shifted total gears into the quarterfinals.  The quarterfinal matches are obviously a big deal, but that was a big weekend of tennis last week!  I have 8 regions to get to and I need to get this article soon, so I’ll quit the BS and get to the meat of this article. Lets gooooo.

CMS Region – Things I Liked

UT-Tyler’s performance and determination – UT-Tyler took a Round  of 32 match with the #4 team in the country and made it an absolute dogfight.  After going down 2-1 in doubles, the Patriots looked to be down and out.  Shoutout to #OldManWooton and Frankie Fischer for keeping the energy up and winning that tight #1 doubles match.  In singles, Pomona had the advantage at a few spots, but the top guys for UT-Tyler were not going down without a fight.

In case you're not watching the stream, or deaf, Budd has split at 1

— D3 Northeast (@D3Northeast) May 8, 2015

This match was one of the best matches of the day, especially considering it was in the round of 32.  This is what we have come to expect from the so-called “Region of Death.”  Eventually, Pomona finished it off on the racket of their senior leader, Conor Hudson.

Connor Hudson, Senior

— D3West (@d3_west) May 9, 2015

CMS’s Dominance – Much is always made about the postseason play of CMS and rightfully so.  With arguably the best team the past three years, they have no championships (yet) to show for it.  I personally think this is their year to win it all and I think they deserve it.  It takes a lot to win a championship and it also takes a good amount of luck as well.  CMS has a bunch of seniors playing at the top of their lineup.  They have two years of experience in the NCAA finals.  They have a very good coach, depth to handle the best teams, and the drive to win it this year.  This showed with a 5-0 win against Pomona in the Sweet 16.  Is this a sign of things to come?

Amherst Region – Things I Liked

The Skidmore/Stevens Match – Skidmore vs. Stevens was going to be either the best Round of 32 match or the second best, and the match did not disappoint.  There was a bit of chatter on twitter and via email about the Skidmore lineup going into NCAAs, but they went out there and proved that the rackets should certainly do the talking.  However, there were no issues with the lineup and Skidmore simply went out and beat the upstart Ducks by the score of 5-4.  You know the result, let me provide the tweets:

Stevens 3 Skidmore 4
2: 3rd set 3-2
4: 3rd set 5-3

— Stevens Men's Tennis (@Ducks_Tennis) May 8, 2015

Ben falls 5-7. Final score Stevens 4 Skidmore 5. What a match.

— Stevens Men's Tennis (@Ducks_Tennis) May 8, 2015

That’s a great match and something we see in NCAAs almost every year.  What a time of the year this is!

Amherst crushing Yeshiva and Skidmore – I’m going to spend one sentence on Amherst destroying Yeshiva. Put up, or shut up.  Amherst came out and lost 0 matches in their region, most notably against Skidmore.  Other than the blemish against Williams, Amherst has had a year that kind of baffles us but also throws some fear into us.  It’s kind of like this Will I. Am. video I’m watching for the NBA playoffs.  Baffling and scary.  This is the worst song ever.  However, the Lord Jeffs are going to be a team worth reckoning with and are really my main source of excitement this tournament.  A HEAVYWEIGHT battle is upcoming with Chicago in the Elite 8 and I cannot wait to watch that match.

Middlebury Region – Things I Liked

Bowdoin vs. Midd Epics – Bowdoin vs. Middlebury was the theme of the weekend with both the Men’s and Women’s teams facing off in extremely close battles.  My main man D3Northeast basically called this match on twitter, expecting the Panthers to take that doubles lead but for Bowdoin to really challenge at #2, #4, and #6 singles.  This is where William De Quant and Noah Farrell all stepped up to take their matches in straight sets to send the Panthers to the Elite 8.  This regional was the “region everyone was looking forward to” according to the blog polls, and it did not disappoint! My next “like” will shoutout a player that really hasn’t gotten enough recognition on the national scene despite his ridiculous year.

Ari Smolyar, Middlebury – Okay, the man Ari Smolyar has been absolutely lights out this year.  Take a look at his record.  It’s pristine right now.  However, when people talk about all these best #1 players, Smolyar is almost never mentioned.  I was tipped off that Ari had a slightly rolled ankle and might have been limping out to this match.  Well, so much for that!  Smolyar made quick work of Luke Trinka, who is not an easy out at all.  So much for that ankle, right D3NE?  Either way, Smolyar is a force to be reckoned with right now and will have a HUGE match against Adam Krull of Trinity TX in the next round.  Oh and by the way, Ari won in doubles too.  Gotta love a guy who hits Ari-ana Grande serves.

So much for Smolyar's hurt ankle
Midd 3 Bow 2
1) MIDD
2) Midd set, 3-2
3) Midd set, 3-1
4) BOWDOIN
5) Midd set, 4-5
6) BC set, 5-0

— D3 Northeast (@D3Northeast) May 10, 2015

Emory Region – Things I Liked

The Jekyll and Hyde act of NCW – I got a text from the Guru the day of the NCW vs. Wash Lee match that the NCW team did not look good against the Generals.  The match was a close 5-3 match, with potential scares throughout the lineup.  I went to sleep that day thinking to myself that the boys from Emory would have a really easy match in the Sweet 16.  Well, that wasn’t the case at all.  Emory had to battle to win their second point in doubles as the Halpern/Rubenstein duo continued their high-wire act against the NCW #3 team.  That doesn’t bode well for their match against Wash U, but more on that in another article.

NCW is hanging tough and people need to know! @d3AtlanticSouth
NCW/EU
1. 3-2
2. 2-3
3. 3-2
4. 3-2
5. 2-1
6. 2-3

— D3West (@d3_west) May 10, 2015

The match was close and NCW took the first set in both the top 2 courts, making this one a pretty tough match. NCW was also up at #3 singles and #5 singles for a little bit, giving Bishops fans everywhere (not many) some thoughts of upset.  If they had won that one doubles match, this one might have been different, but the NCW dreams are no longer.  Watch out for this team next year – they are young, they are international, and they are unknown.  Although they lose Kjellberg, who knows who they will bring in from some random country in the world.

Mosetick/Omsky at #2 Doubles – It’s been a long time coming for the Emory doubles lineup to switch, and Rafe Mosetick and Dave Omsky have rightfully taken the slot at #2 doubles.  This is a team that has played so well as of late and are going to be so key once again against Wash U.  They took that match last time and as we know, it will go down to the wire.  This was one of my questions for the NCAA tournament and I am glad the change has happened for the most important time of the year.  It could be the change that boosts this team into an unexpected finals appearance, who knows!

Working Live Stats – I’m pretty sure that the NCW/Emory match was the only match that we actually had legit live stats.  I don’t understand how live stats don’t work.  How can you have a working twitter that tweets better updates than the stats that are supposed to be live?  I’ve tweeted scores faster than live stats before.  Get with it, people on live stats.

Wash U Region – Things I Liked

WHITMAN – There will be plenty on Wash U for the rest of the year, but man I was impressed by the Whitman Squirrels.  Whitman had come under a lot of fire due to their disastrous Stag-Hen appearance, but this is a team that is very proud with a coach that is also very proud.  We had some questions about the Whitman team coming into the tournament, but they were able to fight back from a couple breaks down at #1 doubles to take it and give them the lead, 2-1.  This was so key and had West actually rooting for someone outside of CMS in the NCAA tournament.  After winning the 2 doubles points, freshman Zach Hewlin and senior Colton Malesovas had crazy fast wins at the top 2 spots, something I didn’t see coming.  I knew Malesovas would be the favorite, but the Hewlin win was something out of nowhere.  With a freshman playing that well, Whitman definitely has a bright ray of sunshine at the top of the lineup.  Despite notching four points, what came next is very unfortunate.

Hydration Issues (Did not like this) – I actually am going to sneak this in because I did not like this.  At 4-4 in the overall match and the third set beginning, word out of Wash U is that Chase Friedman (freshman) was cramping so bad that he could not get off the bench during changeovers.  He got a game penalty at 1-0 for Johnny Wu and unfortunately was unable to continue.  I have heard that Friedman has been on and off with injuries all year, potentially affecting his ability to stay on the court in the biggest match of the year.  Here’s to hoping Chase gets those injuries behind him and gets into true tennis shape so he can finish this one when Whitman makes it next year.

Word out of Wash U – Friedman cramping so bad he could not stand on medical timeouts. Sorry to hear that.

— d3AtlanticSouth (@d3AtlanticSouth) May 10, 2015

Johnny Wu, Wash U – Man, I love me some Johnny Wu.  You have to give the kid some credit because this guy is one of the biggest fighters in all of DIII tennis.  I’ve never seen anyone grind like Johnny and you can bet that his dad is on his case about hydration.  There is no way that Wu’s game didn’t play a part in the way he won his final match, and hats off to him for being the most fit guy on the court almost every time out there.

Trinity TX Region – Things I Liked

Lower Seeds Scaring Peeps – Before I get to the Sweet 16 match, there was a point in the first match between TCNJ and Mary Washington where there was a potential for a doubles sweep… for TCNJ.  Now, this would have proven my point totally wrong that an unranked team has never beaten a top 20 team in NCAAs, but luckily I did not have to face the music about how I don’t give those teams enough credit.  TCNJ put in a great effort and hats off to them for giving UMW a scare.

Additionally, UMW decided to pull a similar feat against Trinity TX in the Sweet 16, as they won two doubles matches at #1 and a surprising one at #3 to instantly put us all on upset watch.  Is Trinity TX as good as I think they are?  Maybe they aren’t.  UMW is a team that has had consistent doubles play all year, but a top team should be able to take leads.  Either way, TU flexed their Texas muscles in singles, notching straight set wins at #1, #3, #4 and #5 singles to finish off the Eagles.  Good teams win, people. They always do.

D3West taking over Twitter Updates – The normally reliable twitter account of the Trinity Tigers was a bit weak this weekend, and I hope that they come back to their usual selves next week! Either way, we know that D3West is on point with his updates, and even got a shoutout from the Tigers account for tweeting the live scores.  The blog, bro.  What would you do without us? Probably be a lot more bored playing DIII tennis and have less knowledge about what’s going on. Ha.

Chicago Region – Things I Liked

The Chicago Hype Train – I have never been a part of the Chicago bandwagon, as you guys know.  However, after seeing their results this season and the growth that their young players have shown, it’s hard not to get excited about a talented team that looks ready to breakthrough.  After an easy Sweet 16 round, Chicago took on Gustavus in the hopes of proving to everyone that they belong.  GAC is a very tough team especially with their doubles and they got up in basically all three matches to start off the match.  I’m sure there were some people asking that dreaded Chicago question that I have already banned from my vocabulary.  It was hard not to think it.  But, this Maroons team came back at one doubles spot to take the needed point.  Soon after, Chicago ran through 4 singles matches and showed why they are potentially the third most feared team in this tournament right now.

Whitwater Hosting – All I’m saying now is that a potential GAC host MAY have changed a few things in the Sweet 16 match.  Now, I’m not saying that GAC would have won.  But, they are used to playing at home, playing on their own courts, waking up in their own beds, and having a ton of people come out to their matches.  They needed all the support they could get and I am glad that they did not host.  A #2 seed closely ranked to a #1 seed shouldn’t get the home court  Give it to another neutral site.  In this case, UWW was that team and I am happy that they got to host.  Great program there as well, so they deserve it.

Kenyon Region

The Kenyon #BenchMob – I have had a couple of videos forwarded to me about the Kenyon pre-game huddle, where it looks like two of their bench players (I believe Pete Dakich and Mike Roberts?) get in the middle and do a Ray Lewis type of pregame speech.  It’s a great thing to see that the guys that aren’t playing are still getting their team hyped up.  Seeing a contribution from your younger bench players is a huge boost and that means a lot to the program.  Unfortunately for the #BenchMob, I have some theories about their effect on this particular match….

Hopkins Middle Finger to the World – Everyone has been hard on Hopkins lately.  That would be including me as well, as I power ranked them in the low teens and maybe even at #20 after their losses against NCW and CMU.  Well, Hopkins came to play last week and then their talent took over.  Why did this happen?  I don’t know, but I do have a theory.

I have a theory – the Kenyon crowd awoke Hopkins. An extra gear for this match

— d3AtlanticSouth (@d3AtlanticSouth) May 10, 2015

There was some chatter that this Hopkins team wouldn’t be able to handle the Kenyon crowd.  Well, Hopkins is built of guys that play for these moments.  They might not play for the other moments, but at least this one is the one that counts the most.  The Jays proved everyone wrong and took themselves to the Elite 8.

Okay! I said 1AM was the potential posting time and I got it to be 1AM Central time.  Which means D3Central has actually gotten 6 hours of sleep by now and is probably waking up to play a game of hearts with his friends before work.  Yeah, I’ll save that for when I’m 50.  Until then, I’ll be writing articles after Thirsty Thursday until I can’t anymore.  ASouth, OUT.

Bloggers 5, anyone else 0. Played to decision

— d3AtlanticSouth (@d3AtlanticSouth) May 10, 2015