Come one, come all to what I hereby declare is the most intriguing ITA in the DIII tennis landscape this year! A silverback gorilla has been wandering the streets of Claremont after being kicked of the Stags’ collective back, but a whole new group of CMS players are hoping to #getthere as well. On the other side of the street, the Cardiac Cocks are hoping to show last year’s top 5 finish was no fluke and perhaps reveal themselves to be national championship contenders in their own right. Across town, the Bulldogs are recovering from the graduation of two Redlands legends, and up the coast, a band of Banana Slugs are adjusting to their 17th new head coach in the last 3 months. Story lines abound. Let’s take a look at the draws.
Singles
Favorite: Skyler Butts, CMS
It doesn’t take a genius to pick the #1 seed as the favorite, but if you gave me even money on him vs. the field, I would still put money on Butts. He’s won this tournament before and he’s coming off an NCAA finals appearance. Additionally, he has improved immensely every season, had strong results this summer, and has a history of never really slipping up against inferior opponents. If he’s going to lose, he’s going to lose to another great player on a good day, but I think he’ll rise to the occasion to win this tournament
Dark Horses by team.
CMS: The last three champions, Kotrappa, Butts, and Hull, have all come from the bottom half of CMS’ lineup, so you can rest assured that Butts’ teammates will be taking aim at the giant target on his back. If you’re looking for an obvious #1 contender, it’s the defending champion Glenn Hull, but let’s not talk about him. After him, you’ve got seniors Mehall and Yeh as the 6 and 7 seeds, but, while I expect them both to make runs to the Ro16 at least, I don’t see them as legitimate championship contenders. Mehall doesn’t have a ton of big match experience, and Yeh has never inspired me with his desire on the court to say the least. That being said, Yeh must have done something over the summer to be seeded ahead of his colleagues. The next guy I’m really looking at is Alex Brenner. The dude sniffed the starting lineup last year, but what really caught my eye was his results in the ITA circuit this summer. I know he’s been working hard to make this lineup, and I think he’s going to have a good tournament. I have him losing in the quarters to Yasgoor. Of course, CMS always has a couple dangerous young guns in the draw, and Wildman and Gordy. Gordy, in particular, seems to have a favorable draw, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make it to the quarters against Hull where anything can happen.
Pomona-Pitzer: Last year’s top 5 finish for Pomona Pitzer was powered by incredible doubles and singles depth, not by a superstar at the top of the singles lineup. That being said, Jake Yasgoor is about the only player in the draw who has shown the propensity to win big-time matches consistently, and I see him as the second main threat to Butts. The caveat is that I have never seen the P-P freshmen play, and if the Gearou twins were good enough to earn seeds on that loaded P-P lineup, they must be pretty good. We’ve seen fearless freshmen make big runs in these tournaments before, but I doubt they will have the conditioning to get through this tournament so early in their careers no matter how good they are. Nevertheless, I’ll keep a keen eye on their results to see just how good this team can be. Of course, I would be remiss not to mention Jon Kim. I love the #4 seed’s game and desire, but I just don’t know if his game is consistently big enough to win six tough matches. He’ll have to be sharp out of the gate to avoid an upset against Shankar.
Redlands: Out with the old, and in with the new! The Bulldogs are going to be heavily reliant on their youth this season, and it could not be more evident in the seeds in this tournament. They have just one seeded player in the tournament, Bryant Johnson, and they have placed five other freshmen in the main draw, including a certain Chase Lipscomb. They also have two sophomores, including the big-serving Joey Dulle. I don’t think any of these guys has the goods to actually win the tournament, but it should be really interesting to see how the young guns do. It will be a youth revolution in Redlands, California this year!
UCSC: The Slugs got their first action of the season in today against UC-Irvine and shockingly took the doubles point, proving that they have some good tennis left in them. Sophomore Chad Stone parlayed a solid freshman campaign into a #5 seed, and he has a solid shot at making the quarters. Senior Kyle Richter is looking to bounce back from a forgettable junior season, and he seems to have an early date with Jon Kim on the horizon. Cruz also has a couple promising young talents in the field. I have it on good authority that Leduff can really play. Plus, his name is Chad Leduff, so that’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
The Other Guys: You never know what you’re going to get with Cal Lu, but it seems as though Whittier has really fallen into the Marianas Trench. Justin P. Thompson doesn’t seem to be making an appearance in this tournament, but Werner and Damion (who you might remember as the guy who randomly played #1 singles and doubles for Chapman in the conference tournament) will be looking to make names for themselves.
Doubles
Favorite: Jonathin Kim/Jake Yasgoor, Pomona-Pitzer
I know these guys are the #2 seeds, but they are a proven quantity. They won some big time matches last year at #2 for P-P, and were one of the few teams who could consistently push the CMS 2’s. Butts and Hull will be tough, but I honestly think these guys are the favorite. Regardless, it doesn’t really matter because this tournament is pretty much always won by some random doubles team that nobody had ever really heard of before the tournament started. Last year is was Chudalavada, the year before it was The Team of Destiny (Littlejohn/Deguchi). The real question is who is this season’s diamond in the rough? Perhaps more aptly, which team will randomly become the best doubles team in the West region for a weekend?
The Darkhorses: Honestly, I have no idea. Obviously, Hull and Butts are my second favorites, but all the seeds look like good doubles teams to me. Richter and Sirovica from UCSC just beat the #1 team from Irvine today, so you have to through them in as possible championship contenders, but they also have a very tough early test against Gordy and Brenner from CMS. There are several teams that might be very good but aren’t experienced enough to get a seed. I’m looking specifically at Shankar/Wildman from CMS, Mandic/Gearou from P-P, and a pair of Bulldog teams: Dulle/Johnson and Lipscomb/Patterson. Anyone could win it, and I’m honestly just excited to see what this host of young talent can do on the court this weekend. History will be made! Dreams will be crushed. And fun will be had by all!
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See you at the courts!