D3R: Not gonna lie, us bloggers have taken a bit of an extended summer hiatus this year. Honestly, I completely forgot that the Midd Invite was even happening this year until I saw some Twitter updates during the day on Saturday. All slacking aside, I am back and ready to go! D3NE and I have teamed up to provide a recap of this weekend’s festivities up in Middlebury, VT. As per usual when Mr. Northeast and I team up, I’ll be covering my regional teams while NE will be focusing on the top national teams. That means I’ll be covering Brandeis and RPI, while NE will be focusing on Midd, Bates, Trinity, Skidmore, and Tufts. We’ll go by national ranking, so D3NE is up first.
D3NE: Good evening, boys and girls! While there was a severe lack of updates from Midd this weekend (I know, I know, service can be an issue up there) there were plenty of interesting results. I’ll just go ahead and jump right in. Look out for The Blog’s continuing (even though this doesn’t actually qualify) ITA coverage throughout the coming weeks.
#2 Middlebury
The good: Top Singles. Midd is returning their entire singles lineup from NCAAs, and the top of the lineup really flexed its muscles this past weekend. Not only did Noah Farrell win the A-Flight Singles Draw, he freakin cruised, not losing more than five games in any match. In doing so, he took down the Tufts #1, RPI #1, Midd #3, and Brandeis #1. Good showing, ole sport. Midd’s other top singles players, Smolyar and Campbell, both made the semis of the A-Flight. Let’s not forget about De Quant, who took home the B-Flight Singles crown as well. Midd’s top singles players should be nasty this year, throw Frons (who was mysteriously missing) in the mix, and watch out.
The not-so-good: Doubles. Look, it’s not like Midd dubs was awful. They had a semifinalist in both draws, but Smolyar/Campbell losing in the quarters was a bit of a surprise. Their singles should be just as good as anybody in the country this year, but Coach Hansen will need to work his dubs magic if this team wants to remain a front runner for a national championship.
Overall Showing in 1 sentence: Impressive showing of singles strength.
#19 Trinity Ct
The good: They didn’t go winless in the doubles, so the doubles? Glickman/Traff got a win in the A-Flight (and pushed Farrell/Schlanger) while Sossen/Ferryos got a win in the first round of the B-Flight dubs. Yeah, that’s about it.
The not-so-good: Pretty much everything else. When going 2-4 in dubs is the bright spot, you know you’ve had a rough weekend. The Bants went a not so awe inspiring 0-8 in singles this weekend. Glickman was just about the only positive, pushing Grimes to a super-breaker. Rex was supposed to be Trinity’s best recruit last year, but we never really saw the kid play (for whatever reason). Putting him in the A-Flight is both a testament to his young skills, and an indictment of Trinity’s curret team.
Overall Showing in 1 sentence: Graduation hit hard, and newly-appointed Coach Shulman has some work to do
#20 Tufts
The good: Depth. Well look at that, Tufts has some depth! Not only did Tufts have 3 semifinalists in the B-Flight Singles, they also had both C-Flight finalists and the D-Flight winner. I know that D-Flight doesn’t mean a ton, but it’s a nice confidence boost for a very talented guy like Glickman. Along with Middlebury, the Jumbos looked to be a full step above the rest of the field.
The not-so-good: Draws/Top Singles. Gupte and Telkedzhiev both lost first round matches in the A-Flight Singles. Even if Tufts has depth for dayz, they’ll need to rely on their top guys if they want to compete with the top 4 in the NESCAC. To be fair, both Jumbos in the A-Flight had really tough draws, but i know Coach Gregor won’t view that as any excuse.
Overall Showing in 1 sentence: Solid performance, the Jumbos might survive the post B-Tan era afterall.
#21 Bates
The good: A brothers doubles team?! Ben Rosen. I say this only ½ jokingly because I LOVE the idea of a brothers doubles team. Bates appears to have recruited two kids with the last name Davis from the same town. We could actually have a team of twins in DIII this year! The other bright spot for the Bobcats is Ben Rosen. Rosen played #5 for Bates last year, but was in the A-Flight and took down Kai Yuen Leung (Skidmore #1) before falling to Palmer Campbell 11-9 in a superbreaker. If Rosen has made the jump, and is a serviceable #1, everything changes for the Bobcats. All that being said, this weekend’s performance was far more of a disappointment than a revelation.
The not-so-good: Doubles. The Bobcats usually come out as one of the better doubles teams in the country, but without a true #1 they might be in for a rude awakening this year. Bates went 1-5 in doubles play, with their only win coming in the first round of the B-Flight. Ellis appears to be out (probably abroad), therefore Bates has no parts of its ITA winning doubles team from last year. This could be a different Bates team than we’re used to.
Overall Showing in 1 sentence: There could be promise, but a lot of work to do first.
#24 Skidmore
The good: Doubles depth. The only saving grace for the Thoroughbreds came from B Flight Doubles. Berkowitz and Leaf made the semis, and the sophomore tandem of Koulouris and Pickering went on to win the whole thing. Koulouris and Pickering would be a very good team for years to come, and could be a solid #2 or more likely #3 doubles team come springtime.
The not-so-good: Top singles. 1-5 in the A and B Singles Flights, that’s not so hot. Leung made the jump last year, but fell in the first round to the guy who played #5 for Bates last year. Sanderson, got the lone W, knocking off a Midd player who wasn’t in the starting lineup last year (but who I have a hunch might get some time at 5 or 6 this year) in Allen Jackson. Pickering and Tong both lost in the first round of the B Flight, and even Epstein and Koulouris–lineup players from a year ago–combined for one singles victory in the C Flight. Skidmore didn’t graduate anybody, but they will need a jump in level if they are to compete for top-5 in the region once again.
Overall Showing in 1 sentence: Time to rebound and dominate the Northeast ITA (with Stevens).
#28 Brandeis
The good: According to Mr. Brian Granoff via the Deis tennis account, you “gotta give up the good to go for the great”. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but BG was certainly great this past weekend. Granoff, the #4 seed in the A flight, won a tough fight against Rohan Gupte (Tufts) in the first round and took out Kit Sanderson (Skid) in the quarters. In the semis, Granoff got his signature win, taking out Ari Smolyar (Midd) 6 and 1. This win was especially impressive given that Granoff lost to Smolyar twice last year, winning 3 total games in both matches combined. This was quite a turnaround, and is a fantastic sign for the Judges, given that Granoff had a bit of a sophomore slump last year, after making NCAAs as a freshman.
In other news, the Judges have an extremely new lineup this season. This is a good thing, as the Judges struggled with depth and consistency all year last year. They had two freshmen in the B singles flight (Tyler Ng and Jackson Kogan), one in the C singles flight (Zach Cihlar), and one in the D singles flight (Jordan Brodie). Kogan, Cihlar, and Brodie all won a match, starting off their college careers on a good note, and sophomore Ethan Saal made the semis of the C flight. On the doubles court, where Brandeis was extremely erratic last year, Ryan Bunis and Ethan Saal made the semis of the A flight, a nice result for two guys who did not often start last year.
The not-so-good: Both Danny Lubarsky and Michael Arguello did not play at the Midd Invite. GIven that Arguello is a junior, it’s possible he’s abroad, but who knows about Lubarsky. Here’s hoping he’s not injured. I feel like he’s always injured.
Outlook in more than one sentence: Despite early exits from Ryan Bunis (A flight), Tyler Ng (B flight), and three out of four doubles teams, I like what I saw from the Judges. Several freshmen had wins, which bodes very well for the spring. Assuming that Arguello and Lubarsky are back in action sooner rather than later, I love Brandeis’ top two doubles teams, likely Granoff/Lubarsky and Arguello/Jeff Cherkin in some order. Third doubles is far from determined, but I love the options Coach Lamanna will have at his disposal. Roll Deis, roll.
RPI
The good: While we started at A singles with Deis, we’ll skip right to A doubles for the Engineers. However, unlike Brandeis, McKinley Grimes/Sherman Uyeno did not just make the finals of their flight, they won the whole darn thing! Their closest match was the semis, where they beat Noah Farrell / Kyle Schlanger 9-8 from Midd. Besides that, their closest match was the finals, an 8-6 victory over Ben Battle / Nick Carey of Tufts. Congrats to the Engineers on the title! Uyeno was one of my favorite players last year, absolutely dominating the competition at #5 singles, losing two spring matches all year and winning Player of the Week honors from yours truly. He lost in the first round of the B singles flight to a Midd kid, but who cares, he won the A doubles flight!
RPI held their own in singles as well, especially at the top. Tristan Wise and McKinley Grimes each won a match in the A singles flight, with Wise winning impressively over Bantam Ford Traff, 0 and 3. Wise lost a tight one to Ari Smolyar in the next round, not a bad loss at all.
The not-so-good: Nobody, besides Grimes and Wies in singles, and Grimes / Uyeno in doubles, won a single match. That ain’t good. They also started two freshmen, Gabriel Osio and Suryansh Patel, both in the D singles flight, and both lost badly in the first round.
Outlook in more than one sentence: Fall tournaments are tough. I get it. Most college tennis teams pull upsets with passion and heart, coming together to sweep doubles and snag a couple singles matches. In fall tournaments, where everybody is on a different court, sometimes even on completely different tournaments sites, it is nearly impossible to cheer for teammates. Because of this, big upsets almost never happen. That is why I give Grimes and Uyeno a ton of credit for winning the A doubles flight, and also why I don’t take a lot away from them for only winning two other matches the rest of the weekend. RPI is a small step behind Brandeis and Skidmore, and a bigger step (maybe like a hop) away from teams like Bates, Tufts, and Trinity (though Trinity is a completely different team from last year). Regardless, I give RPI credit for playing in this tournament for the second straight year, and it should definitely help them in their spring schedule, where they will look to overtake TCNJ, and maybe even compete with Skidmore.