Regional’s NCAA Singles Preview!

CMS! What a match from the Stags, and congrats to them on the national title! Individuals start up tomorrow, and have no fear fans, because the blog has you covered. I’ve been doing a lot of NCAA writing lately, which has been great, but is bittersweet because I’ve really missed my regional squads. Because of this, I wanted to do a quick individuals preview focusing on the draws of each of each of my guys. For those not in the know, singles draws are located here and doubles draws are here. All right, it’s preview time. Let’s go down the draw from top to bottom.

Noah Sprinkel (Coe):

Season in review: Sprinkel has had a real nice senior year for the Kohawks. His record against ranked schools is 3-2, with wins over Mohanad Al Houni (Gustavus), John Carswell, and Jake Humphreys, and losses to Nick Chua (Chicago) in three sets and Daniel Budd (UT-Tyler) in straights. Sprinkel has not played as many ranked matches as other guys due to Coe’s conference and schedule, but he has certainly made the most of his opportunities, beating both Carswell and Humphreys in straights. Sprinkel has a tough draw, but he has to be one of the dark horses in this tournament.

Tournament outlook: Sprinkel takes on Emory #1 Alex Ruderman in the first round. That will be a tough match in itself, but if Sprinkel can pull through, he will take on the winner of #1 seed Warren Wood from CMS and Jose Raventos of Williams.

Prediction: I’ll take Sprinkel to take out Ruderman but fall to Wood in the second round.

Matt Heinrich (Stevens):

Season in review: Heinrich maneuver/Mr. 4.0 GPA/#1 Duck has had quite the year, playing a ton of ranked matches in Stevens’ revamped schedule. Heinrich has a dual-match record of 5-6 against ranked schools, defeating Tyler Carey (Mary Wash), John Larkin (Swat), Brian Granoff (Brandeis), CJ Krimbill (Case), and Sidd Thangirala (NYU). That, however, does not include his big fall, where he won the Northeast ITA tournament and defeated Adam Krull (Trinity TX) and Mike Buxbaum (Hopkins) before eventually falling to Nick Chua. Speaking of Buxbaum, the two of these guys could play in the second round. More to come on that in about four sentences. Anyway, I’m a huge Heinrich fan and love the way he competes. His play has been a little streakier this Spring, but he is still very dangerous.

Tournament outlook: Heinrich takes on Ross Putterman from Wash U in a difficult first round match. If Putt is timing the ball well and getting into net, Heinrich could be in for a tough afternoon. These guys actually played in the first round of NCAAs last season, and Heinrich won 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. That’s right, I do my research! If Heinrich wins, he plays the winner of Buxbaum and Daniel Budd (UT-Tyler). #6 seed Adam Krull (Trinity TX) as well as Kai Yuen Leung (Skid) both lurk as possible quarterfinal opponents, as Leung has beaten Heinrich twice this season.

Prediction: I’ll take Heinrich over Putt, but falling to Buxbaum in the second round.

CJ Antonio (Ogelthorpe):

Season in review: Antonio is one guy that I have paid absolutely no attention to this season, but he has had a fantastic year! He has wins over Noah Sprinkel (Coe), Daniel Budd (Tyler), and Avery Schober (Sewanee), and fell to Alex Ruderman (Emory) in three tight sets as well. Antonio won’t be favored in any match he plays, but he is a dangerous player and should not be overlooked.

Tournament outlook: Antonio takes on Skid player Kai-Yuen Leung in the first round, which should be a great match. If Antonio is to get through, he would play the winner of Jake Humphreys (Whitewater) and Adam Krull (Trinity TX).

Prediction: Who the heck knows at this point, everyone in this tournament is so good! I’m going to go with Antonio to get the big win over Leung, but I think he will fall in the next round.

#7 Robert Kjellberg (NC Wesleyan):

Season in review: Here we go! While my other regional guys have had great years, Kjellberg has absolutely killed it in his senior season, defeating Heinrich (Stevens), Grant Veltman (Denison), Tyler Carey (Mary Wash), Pierre Planche (Bates), Chris Bertolini (DePauw), Alex Ruderman (Emory), and Ben Hwang (Hopkins). He was undefeated in dual match play during the regular season, with his only losses being to George Mason and Winthrop. Kjellberg has to be one of the favorites to win the whole thing!

Tournament outlook: Kjellberg has an interesting draw, as he’ll take on Cal Lu player Moises Cardenas in the first round, a very tough first match. If he gets through, he will play the winner of Mike Liu (Wesleyan) and John Carswell (Wash U), two guys who would not be favored, but are definitely dangerous players. Kjellberg is in Cj Krimbill’s quarter, but Carl Reid and Pat Lipscomb also loom in that part of the draw.

Prediction: Kjellberg should be fresh and ready to go, and I’m picking him to make a deep run. I’m taking Kjellberg getting allll the way the finals.

Carl Reid (Colby):

Season in review: Man, do I love me some Carl Reid. He is just so solid, and in order to beat him, you really have to hit through him and earn every point. Reid has backed up his freshman year with a great sophomore year, beating Pierre Planche (Bates), Nik Telkedzhiev (Tufts), and Michael Liu (Wesleyan). He has lost some matches, losing to Dan Carpenter (Trinity CT), and Ari Smolyar (Midd), but he’s certainly a dark horse (or dark Mule) who is capable of making a run down at the bottom of the draw.

Tournament outlook: Reid’s tournament starts off tough right away, as he will take on Patrick Lipscomb of Redlands in the first round. If he can pull through that, he will play the winner of Eric Halpern (Emory) and CJ Krimbill (Case).

Prediction: I’m going with the senior Lipscomb to take out Reid in the first round.

All right folks, that’s all I have. Matches start at 11am, and could start later if the women’s matches go over. Doubles will start up around 4, and I’ve got two regional teams, Vlad Murad/Carl Reid (Colby) and Robert Kjellberg/Sebastian Sikh (NC Wes). Both of these teams are very capable of making a deep run, and in 2 out of 3 set doubles matches, we often see some crazy results. Four more days to the season, how crazy is that?!  D3Regional out.