The 2016 Fantasy Draft – Rounds 7-9

Welcome back, boys and girls! Today we bring you the first half of the second half of the 2016 DIII Fantasy Draft. Confused already? I didn’t think so. The idea of the draft was to take 12 players, two at each of the six singles spots. For most of us, Round 7 brought a clean slate and the freedom to take the strongest player at whatever spot we found weakest. Just for reference, here is the link to each drafter’s team. So without further ado, it’s time to play my new favorite game, watch D3AS’s lineup burn and crumble to the ground! And away…we…go

ROUND 7

61) D3ASW – Eshan Dave (Hopkins #4)

Eshan is a guy I didn’t know much about before this draft.  He’s a freshman so there’s not a ton to go on, but I think he could have a very solid year for the Bluejays.  He was ranked right around 130 in the country in the juniors and had a solid run in Hopkin’s fall regional falling to Stratton Gilmore in a third set breaker.  The lucky thing for Eshan is that Hopkins brought in another freshman in Levine.  This means he will probably play either 4 or 5 where he’ll thrive.  As an added bonus Eshan made a nice little run in the doubles, falling to Buxbaum and Walsh in the quarters.  Esshan is an unknown at this point, but I think he’ll end up delivering.  Hopkins has done a good job of getting their young guys to perform the last few years.  

62) D3TennisBro – Nick Fiaschetti (Kenyon #3)

I won’t lie and say I hadn’t expected ASouth to grab this Kenyon product before I could, but I was more than happy to have him fall to me at the 62nd pick. After a solid freshman showing, The Fiesch unfortunately was locked in a battle with the injury-bug for most of last year, but I’m expecting big things from the AeroPro enthusiast in 2015. He had a strong ITA performance in the brutal Central this Fall, skating through the first two rounds and taking out 4-star WashU freshman in straights before falling to 4th overall pick DLiu in a 3-setter that was nothing short of a heavy-weight bout (6-7; 7-5; 6-3) in the Round of 16. In dubs, the Fieschmesiter teamed up with newcomer Nick “PowPow” Paolucci to make a run to the semis (taking out the 9-seed from Oberlin on the way, what happened to your boys @D3CentralTennis?) before the ever-pesky CJ-Steurke combo prevailed. Basically, the point is that the kid has talent for days, and despite possessing a game reminiscent of a 40 year-old man (or maybe because of it), Fiesch has the potential to take out a giant in any given match. Once you get into the non-starter rounds, it’s all about value and potential, and I expect this year to be one in which the Lord establishes himself as a national-level 3 and a force to be reckoned with in both singles and doubles. So in the 7th? Absolute steal. But perhaps most importantly (and seemingly much to the behest of ASouth), Nick “Twitter Fingers” Fiaschetti’s twitter presence is on point, and I thought it fitting that the other Central guy with on-court glasses game and the “Bro” persona end up on my squad.

ASOUTH Edit: Why would I pick up a dude that has never played 3 or higher and is coming off the injury bug in 2015 prior to the 7th round?

D3NE Edit: Because you have a big man crush on his twitter game?

63) D3AS – Jake Yasgoor (Pomona #1)

A great part about doing this draft analysis step by step is that we can get your comments and react to them as well.  So Brady, you of the “where is the rest of the draft analysis” and you of the “why did you pick Alla” camp, this is a great example of why you shouldn’t always try and make us rush our sh*t.  Anyways…. Knowing full well that I had a #1 player who played no doubles (although a #3 player who plays sick doubles), I figured I’d take a guy with doubles prowess but also has the potential to be one of the best #1s in the country.  That player is Pomona’s Jake Yasgoor, who had his season ended prematurely last year due to injury, but prior to that was one of the best #2s in the country.  One of my memorable matches for him was actually a loss to Skylar Butts, who was like the 5th pick in this draft, where he lost 4 and 6 in a couple of close sets.  Some other players he took out last year are… NOAH FARRELL (cough), Noah Bragg, Aaron Skinner, Christian Heaney-Secord, Will Drougas, and Nik Telkehizdev (thats spelt wrong I don’t care).  Yasgoor already has top notch wins under his belt and has only improved every year of play.  He also went 15-3 at #2 doubles against some of the best teams in the country, so he’s the definition of a two way player.  Again, I was confident in my team that I could pick up some dual doubles guys in the backdraft, as I call it, and I started that off with a big pick of Yasgoor here.

64) D3TennisGreek – Kai Yuen Leung (Skidmore #1)

A lot of questions ran through my head as I entered the second half of the draft (aka the backdraft D3ASouth?). Which position should I pick first? Do I mainly go for guys that are better doubles players since I’m pretty confident with my starters in singles? Well, I ended up drafting a guy who has proven he is one of the top singles players in the country and is looking sharp in doubles. Just in case Farrell’s fall was a fluke, Kai Yuen Leung has a history of success, so I’m confident that he will have a solid spring. I like guys who can hit a big ball and man, are Leung’s serves and forehands big! Alongside Nick Chua, he had just about the best fall in the country. He qualified for ITA Nationals in both singles and doubles, taking fifth in singles (impressively beating Deuel and Chua) and fourth in doubles (beating Buxbaum and Walsh). Last year, he posted big wins against Matt Heinrich (twice), Jose Raventos, and Anton Zykov. He capped off his regular season success with an appearance at the national tournament where he fell in the round of 16. That’s quite the season…But, like I mentioned earlier, I need good doubles players, and the junior is just that. A 10-1 record at #2 and 7-4 record at No. 1 last year – I’ll pair him up with David Liu at No. 1, and they’ll be a solid team.

65) D3NE – Kyle Schlanger/Allen Jackson (Middlebury #6)

This could have been my sneakiest pick of the draft. I made sure to inform the group that I was drafting the Panther’s #6 starter, whether it was Schlanger or Allen Jackson. That really should not have been allowed, but for whatever reason the group let it go. I’m sure that D3AS will cause a scene when he reads this, but he agreed before (albeit in the heat of the draft). It’s kind of like taking a close line call. You know you shouldn’t do it, and you might feel some initial guilt, but you convince yourself the ball was out and you don’t think about it again. Here’s the thing, I JUST DON’T CARE which player it is, because either guy will get me singles wins. Both Panthers have had some good results, and depending on Frons’ involvement with the squad could end up starting at some point. Midd is loaded with depth this year, so there’s always a chance for the dreaded revolving door play, but it seemed to work out ok for Pomona in 2015. Jackson pushed Sanderson (Skidmore #2) to a super at the Middlebury Invitational, had a good win over Yadav (Wesleyan #4) at the ITA, pushed Chen (Wesleyan #2) to 3 sets in the 3rd round of the ITA, and a win over Koulouris (Skidmore #3-5) at the Bates Tournament. Schlanger beat Swerdlick (Skidmore #5-6) and Carstens (4-star Bowdoin freshman) before falling to Roddy (Bowdoin #5-6) in a super in the C-Flight final of the Bates Tournament. Neither guy is a prominent doubles player, but both should be rock solid at #6 singles this year. The only wrench in my plans could be Timo van der Geest. Timo had a good fall too, and could snake this #6 spot from either of my guys. If I’m Coach Hansen, my senior (Jackson) gets the lineup spot to start the season, but we’ll have to wait and see. 

ASOUTH Edit: The pick is Kyle Schlanger. No idea why NE thinks he can get two players.

66) D3Central – Daniel Morkovine (CMS #3)

In my previous round (also previous article) I talked about having to decide between Mork and Roberts. The fact that I got to pick Mork in the 7th round as a backup to Roberts leaves me a wealth of talent to choose from when constructing a lineup. Having both Roberts and Mork would allow me to choose who plays when which is an awesome luxury to have. Just ask Chicago what it’s like to have depth at every position. While Mork has some shaky results with a ton of three setters, there is no denying that picking the #3 player at a top 5 team in the nation is a great pick. He will also feature in my doubles lineup somewhere which is just icing on the cake at this point.

67) Dante Quazzo – Matt Heinrich (Stevens #1)

My draft strategy from here on out was twofold: 1) round out my doubles lineup, and 2) pick the most blog-tastic team possible. It’s hard for me to believe that the #HeinrichManeuver isn’t one of the top 10 singles players in the nation, and so I was bewildered to find him on the board in the 7th round. This is a guy who beat Krimbill, Buxbaum, and Krull last year, and played his way to the ITA final and his second straight All-American nomination. On top of that, the guy won an Emmy for his performance in “Ducks Read Mean Blogs” and finished the year with a 4.0. Smart, sexy, and multi-talented? I’ll take the blog favorite. Heinrich’s doubles play could certainly help my lineup, and there are way worse insurance policies for Chua at the #1 spot. My team was also in need of a senior leader (I see you, ASouth), and I don’t think Heinrich gets quite enough credit for taking the reins of the Stevens program and setting a great example for his underclassman. Definitely someone I want on my team.

68) The Guru – Mohanad Al-Houni (GAC #1)

Here we are starting the backup rounds, and my strategy was to go in order 1 through 6 in an attempt to get the strongest players available while also rounding out my doubles lineup. I just so happened to be able to pick up one of the strongest sophomores in the country in the 7th round and the 4th place winner at the Fall ITA. I would feel extremely comfortable putting in Al-Houni as my #1 singles player if Deuel went through a rough streak. I really have nothing but good things to say here as Al-Houni worked his way from starting last season at #3 to ending up at #1, picking up wins over Chua, Schidlovsky and Hudson along the way. He has a shot to be a top 10 player in the country this year under the tutelage of Tommy Valentini, who has done an outstanding job with the Gustavus program the last five years. Al-Houni will be a staple in my doubles lineup, and along with Yasgoor, Leung and Heinrich, he was a great pick for the 7th round and easily could have gone earlier.

69) D3West – Chas Mayer (Trinity TX #5)

At this point in the draft, I was looking for some good depth because I knew there weren’t many good 4 and 5 players left out there. I can’t say that I was too surprised to find Mayer still on the board because the guy hasn’t really made a name for himself yet. Nevertheless, I was quite pleased. This Mayer is a little hot-and-cold, but when he’s hot, he’s en fuego (as evidenced by his 1 and 2 shellacking of Mountfield at nationals). Up-and-down play isn’t usually what you want from a depth guy, but when you’re looking for someone to come in as a back-up, it’s pretty ideal. Mayer will be able to take out the top #5 singles players in the country this season if he does end up dropping this low in TU’s lineup, as he was one of only a handful of players to pick up wins against guys like CMU’s Ang and Wash U’s Johnny Wu last season. I’ll be looking for his upperclassman experience and high ceiling to give my team a boost this season, but I don’t expect him to crack my doubles lineup.

70) D3Regional – Tom Suchodolski (Redlands #4)

Upon a deeper analysis of Suchodolski’s stats, I’m a little disappointed and I feel like I should have gone with Yadav from Wesleyan, but I’m hoping I’m proven wrong!  Anyways, for these backup rounds, I wanted to take guys with upside, who I thought could take a step forward.  I started with Suchodolski, because I wanted to build up my depth as solid players in the #4-6 range were starting to get a little thin.  Suchodolski dropped down to this spot after his weak sophomore season, where he went 5-6 in singles and didn’t play in a match after mid-March.  However, he had a very good freshman year, going 12-11 with six wins against nationally-ranked teams.  I like him to rebound this year, and that’s why I have him as a reserve, just in case!  One concern I have is that he didn’t compete in the ITA tournament this year, a tournament that I’m pretty sure Redlands had seven or eight players in.  As a junior, he definitely could be abroad, so hopefully he’s healthy and prepping for the a big spring.

ASOUTH Edit: Suchodolski is abroad.

ROUND 8

71) D3Regional – Michael Arguello (Brandeis #2)

Arguello was a guy that I absolutely loved following last year, so there was no way that I could not take him in the draft, especially given that I’m not entirely sold on Rohan Shastri, my starter at #2.  Arguello struggled a little in his freshman year, but he absolutely killed it all last year, with a 14-5 spring record, culminating with a huge win over Will Drougas (Case Western).  The Judges play a tough schedule too, as Arguello defeated players from Midd, Stevens, Bates, Tufts, Trinity, and MIT, among others.  Brandeis might not be on the level of most of the schools in this draft, but Arguello is a legit #2, and I’m happy to grab him at this spot.  Similar to Suchodolski, I don’t know where Arguello’s been this fall, but he’s on the roster so I assume/hope he’s abroad.

ASOUTH Edit: Arguello is also abroad.

72) D3West – Spencer Simondines (Pomona #6)

The Headmaster may have jettisoned my draft strategy by adding the utility #6 player mid draft, but I’m not too high-minded to use that to my full advantage. Simonides has been a doubles stud since the dawn of time, contributing in a huge way to P-P’s doubles dominance last season. He teamed with Bello to down Marino/Hull/Mehall in doubles twice last season among many other notable victories. The big server was also clutch when he got into the singles lineup, notching a couple clutch W’s over Howie Weiss and Ford Traff when he was able to get through the revolving door. I don’t see him as a big singles player in my lineup, but I picked him up to pair him with another big server to create a fearsome #3 doubles combo. It might take him a little bit to get back into the swing of things returning from his trip abroad, but his veteran leadership will be another plus.

73) The Guru – Stratton Gilmore (Mary Washington #2)

I’m still questioning this pick as I thought there were some other strong players left on the board – notably Carswell, Dubin, Turlington and Chen. The real reason I made this pick is I felt as though I’m picking a #1 player here that can consistently win at 2. Although Griffin had a big ITA for the Eagles in the fall, Gilmore looks to be the guy to fill the top spot and was the only Mary Washington player taken in the draft. He had a good season at 2 singles and 2 doubles last year picking up a win over the aforementioned Dubin, and I expect that he would be a very capable backup for me at 2 singles. I currently don’t have him slotted as one of my doubles starters, but there’s no reason he can’t step into that role with some good results in the spring. While I do think I could have gone elsewhere with this pick, I believe there’s a good argument to take Gilmore here.

74) Dante Quazzo – Kyle Richter (Cruz #3)

Probably the easiest pick I made this draft, and I’m surprised West didn’t take him right in front of me. Richter’s doubles prowess is second to none with his lightning quick hands at the net and killer return game, all of which was on display when he and Sirovica stormed the West Region ITAs and took the title by force. I’m expecting more of the same out of the electrifying Slug this year. With a Chua/Richter pairing at #1 dubs, there’s no stopping this team.

75) D3Central – Alex Cauneac (MIT #1)

With my bench picks, I am taking a bit more of a risk with each because I can get away with it. Cuaneac is just a freshman so it will be difficult to predict how he will respond to not only the spring season, but also the academic rigor that occurs at MIT. The question marks of development within this program are still there, but Cuaneac proved he is a force to be reckoned with with his fall ITA results. Cauneac finished ranked 62 on Tennisrecruiting which would have made him a five star player if there was one more star ranking period. That puts him in rarified air and with the highly competitive northeast region, he will have plenty of time to prove his worth. I think he will be a guy to watch out for.

76) D3NE – Chris Ellis (Bates #3)

This could be a slight reach, but the fact that the projected lineups have Ellis playing below his spot from last season is big time win for both me and the Bobcats. As the “Blubberous Bobcat” noted, Chris is abroad this fall, “playing dirtball”. Seriously though, check out that comment. It’s amazing. Ellis won’t start over Raventos at #3 for my Fantasy team, but he does bring a certain amount of doubles depth. My team, 1-8 so far has the ability to beat any of these other Fantasy teams in a straight up singles competition, however I’m lacking a bit in dubs. Enter Mr. Ellis. He’s a #3 singles guy who not only played #1 dubs last year, but won the New England ITA, and qualified for NCAAs, both with the recently graduated Planche. Who knows how the abroad trip will affect Chris, but considering Quaz stole Richter (UCSC) out from under me, Ellis was definitely the best #3 doubles player left on the board.

77) D3TennisGreek – Steven Chen (Wesleyan #2)

Let’s rewind – my first #2 pick was a freshman (CMU’s Daniel Levine). I think the rook is going to have a solid season, but like I mentioned in my analysis of Levine, it’s so difficult to project outcomes of freshmen. So, I wanted a backup 2 that’s reliable. That’s where Steven Chen comes in. He took Division III tennis by storm early last year, running through ITA regionals by beating Zykov, Farrell, Frons, and Solimano – such a tough draw –  and followed it up with a 3rd place finish at ITA Nationals. Plus, he had quite a good spring as well. In duals, the sophomore went 10-4, splitting time between #2 and #3. Chen hasn’t done anything too impressive in doubles, but like I said, I was looking for a consistent singles player behind Levine.

78) D3AS – Rob Turlington (Kenyon #2)

This was by far my weakest pick of the draft and I must say that I’m a bit disappointed in myself.  I had thought Turlington was better at doubles for some god knows what reason, but he was pretty underwhelming at #3 doubles last year with a variety of partners.  I picked him really because I thought he had a great year at the #3 singles spot last year, which is true, as he went 20-6 overall.  Kenyon is really counting on Turlington this year at the #2 or #3 spot.  From what I hear, Fiaschetti is also making a run at the #2 spot, which doesn’t bode well for my bet on Turlington.  I think there were a ton of other picks that could have been chosen here, and I particularly liked a few of the write-in picks for this round.  In hindsight, I should have went with Stuerke of Case Western to get that doubles boost, even though I think a lot of his success can be attributed to playing with CJ Krimbill.  I’m really going for a boom or bust pick here because if Turlington takes another leap like the one he took last year, you’re looking at a strong #2.  If that happens, all is justified and I’m all set.  If it doesn’t, I could have had a premiere doubles player at this spot that I missed out on.  LET THE GAMBLE BEGIN!

79) D3TennisBro – Max Liu (Chicago #6)

Once ASouth made the write-in caveat, I knew Max Liu was the one I wanted to use it for. To put it bluntly, this SoCal 4-star is the real freaking deal. Max teamed up with former Torrey Pines teammate (they won a Natty championship, no big deal) Charlie “Most Casual 5-star of All-Time” Pei in an impressive run during this Fall’s ITA, highlighted by a Round of 32 victory over Bouchillon and Kratky of WashU and a solid W over Daum and Collins of Case before falling to eventual champs (and Maroon teammates) Chua and DLiu in the quarters. And while it’s clear that Max is a more than capable doubles option (gross understatement), his singles potential is unreal. The freshman went on a Chua-esque rampage on the way to the all-Maroon finals, with wins over Kratky, Wheaton’s Ancona, Trine’s Knust (who had quite an impressive ITA showing himself, including taking out Sven Kranz), teammate DLiu (again, 4th overall), and Kzoo’s Metzler, who was just playing out of his mind at the time. I’m gunna chalk the Chua result in the final up to fatigue after a long drive back to the Chi, but that loss aside, Liu showed he’s one of the nation’s premier talents. I honestly don’t know why he was out of the projected lineup for this draft (Central had him at #2 in the post-ITA recap), but I have zero complaints. Getting this kind of talent in the 8th is just silly, and the fact that I get to pair this MLiu up with Sadowsky at #3 dubs in the All-San Diego powerhouse borders on being unfair. For me, grabbing Max “15th Street” Liu in 8th was the steal of the draft, so much so that I almost feel bad about it, and his addition to the D3Bros has me feeling like a celebratory Double-Double is in order. #BestCoast

 

80) D3ASW – John Carswell (Wash U #2)

So I have this theory that Carswell and Bush made a blood oath with the devil the beginning of their freshman year to increase their tennis abilities.  The problem is I think only one of them is allowed to play well at any given time.  So I made this pick just to cover my bases.  In all seriousness, Carswell has still had flashes where he’s played as well as he did his freshman year.  Confidence is so important in tennis I honestly think that if Carswell gets a few good matches under his belt he could start rolling.  I also think there is no way he plays #2 so I’m actually expecting this to be a 4-6 pick.  At the end of the day I’m an optimist and I couldn’t leave Carswell’s upside on the table.  In case anyone forgot, he went 17-1 at court 2 a short two years ago.    

ROUND 9

81) D3ASW – Zain Ali (Tufts #5)

Here’s a guy I think can ball.  Zain has got a great all around game and honestly should be one of the best fives in the country.  He just has to find some consistency.  While Zain had some great wins last year (Wolfe, Jackson, Wagner, Arnaboldi), he also has had some disappointing losses (1&0 against Trinity connecticut?).  I’m gonna write that off as a freshman adjusting to college tennis.  As an added bonus Ali should also make a solid #3 doubles player this year.  Tufts is a team that’s right on the brink of being a really good team.  I think if they can start finding a way to win a big match or two their whole season could build from that.  I think my guy Zain is gonna play an integral part to whether they succeed or not.  #5 singles and #3 aren’t the glamorous spots in a lineup, but they’re spots Tufts will need.  Zain will get plenty of chances to make statement wins playing in the northeast.  I think he wins at least one match this year that no one expects him to come away with.

82) D3TennisBro – Dhruvv Yadav (Wesleyan #4)

Dhruuuuuuuuuv. What is there to say about Yung Yadav? The Chagrin Falls native had an impressive ’14-’15 campaign, picking up wins over top-30 Redlands, Kenyon, ‘Deis, Bates, Williams, Trinity (CT), and Washington & Lee (plus a B-flight Quinnipiac Invitational title *so D1, much prestige*) on the way to a 10-2 record at #4 and an overall 13-4 mark. He’s had somewhat of mixed start to this year, falling in the 1st round of the NE ITA to Midd vet Allen Jackson after having turned in a strong performance against Stevens’ Willy Persson in the All-Bird dual match. But despite the so-so start, I expect to see the Card establish himself as a rock at #4 for this high-talent/high-octane Wes team as the year progresses, and at this point in the draft, I was really looking for someone who could provide some singles depth (because my dubs are on lock), so grabbin’ someone as talented as Dhruv to spell Kunal at the #4 spot was something I was quite happy to do. To the doubles point, the 2-man game obviously isn’t something Yadav is supremely prolific in, but considering the other dubs options I have available I felt more than confident going singles-specific in the 9th (and on the singles court the dude can flat out play). So while everyone knows the NESCAC is an absolute gauntlet, I’m not too worried about the Hawkenite, because I believe my guy Dhruv “LSE” Yadav has the ability bring my squad’s #GetBuckets mentality to Middletown and make (br)O-H-I-O proud.

83) D3AS – Peter Jivkov (Whitman #5)

I became the first person to take a player from Whitman, who happened to finish in the top 15 easily last year.  While this isn’t surprising to me due to general biases on the top schools as well as East/West Coast school, I must say that I wish more Whitman players were taken.  Zach Hewlin is pretty damn good. Anyways, onto my Jivkov pick, it’s really just a solid pick. Jivkov basically played #4 all year last year and had lukewarm to average results, taking out some guys like Suchodolski (already picked), Richter (already picked), Clayton Neiss, and Colin Haas.  Now, Jivkov isn’t necessarily the best player out there but he’s going to be a real solid #5 if he plays there.  Couple that with experience and my need for a #5 backup, I figured I could do a lot worse than Peter.  Unfortunately, he probably won’t crack my doubles lineup (which I am still figuring out), but I think I have a lot of potential here, so I went with it. Maybe I should just name my team “Booms or Busts” or something.

84) D3TennisGreek – Jonathan Li (Chicago #6)

D3ASouth is my favorite blogger, but he really messed things up. Originally, because of D3Central’s projected Chicago lineup, my first pick of the draft was Max Liu/David Liu (although I’m content with only David). Then, out of nowhere, I see that D3TennisBro picks Max Liu in round 8. Confused, I find out that we can write in a backup 6 (#amendments). Had I known that we were allowed to write in somebody and that I actually didn’t have Max Liu on my team, I would have written in the younger Liu in round seven. Regardless of the tragic circumstances, I’m really happy that I wrote in Jonathan Li. The Maroon was a four-star recruit ranked inside the top 100 for most of high school career. In his first collegiate tournament, featuring mainly D-I teams, Li powered through his D-I opponents before losing in the final of the fourth singles flight to his unstoppable teammate David Liu. He actually took a set off David but lost in the tiebreak in “lieu” of a third. Li did fall to Alec Kaczkowski of Depauw in the third round of regionals, but Kaczkowski is no slouch himself. Will Li get playing time this year? Who knows – maybe if the sophomores have Orgo Chem or Econ studying/exams, but if he has the opportunity, he’ll be a force at 6.

85) D3NE – Joachim Samson (Wesleyan #5)

Ok, I’ve realized that I’m taking a couple leaps with my backups. But honestly, isn’t that how you win a fantasy league? If one or two of my backups hits their ceilings, my team will be unstoppable! Samson is the Cards’ highest rated recruit, and currently has a UTR of 12.25. Samson, from the Philippines, had a truly huge win at the ITA, defeating Trinka (Bowdoin #1) in a routine fashion 3&1 in the first round. Trinka is a former All-American, and went on to win the Bates Tournament later in the fall. For whatever reason, Samson didn’t play his second round match. I’m assuming it was an injury, but any commenters would be appreciated. In the Cards’ lone dual match of the fall, Samson played #5 against Stevens and rolled past his opponent 2&2. To be fair, the Ducks didn’t have all their starters that day, but the fall has been very impressive for young Joachim, and I’m expecting big things from him whether he plays 4, 5, or 6.

86) D3Central – Justin Kang (Hopkins #5)

I needed a #5 from a top team and there was very little left to go with. This far into the draft, all of the deep teams had been picked. ASouth made a rule change mid-draft allowing a write in pick for #6 singles which allowed me to wait a bit longer to pick that back up spot, but I needed to get a 5 guy and Kang was the best player available at that position. Hopkins historically is pretty deep with a riches of talent so I am hoping that Kang will be no different.

87) Dante Quazzo – Jeremy Dubin (Hopkins #2)

At this point, I’d gotten my main picks out of the way and was mandated by ASouth that we had to choose two players from each singles spot. Much the same as Central above me, there wasn’t much left at the #2 singles spot, so I decided to go with Hop. While I would have otherwise gone with another doubles specialist or back-of-the-lineup singles player, there are way worse options than having Dubin as my backup #2. Dubin struggled at the #2 spot a bit last year, eventually moving down to the #3 position to regain some confidence toward the end of the year. He went just 10-10 last year, but underlying that record is a very strong strength of schedule. I think that experience playing against top-notch competition will help Dubin take another leap in his level of play this year.

88) The Guru – Louie Stuerke (Case #3)

This pick was all about the doubles. Stuerke teamed with Krimbill, and will do so again, to form one of the top 5 doubles teams in the country. The pair lost in the final of the fall Central ITA and made a run to the semis of NCAAs in doubles last year. I expect Stuerke to pair with another stud doubles player, Bello, to form my 2 or 3 team. He also will bring a lot of energy on the court which will help any team. Singles-wise, I believe he is a few spots above his comfort zone at 3 singles, but luckily I have one of the best #3 players in the country as my starter. I was happy to strengthen my doubles lineup with this pick.

89) D3West – Andrew Sirovica (Cruz #4)

Now, the player I really wanted was Kyle Richter, but the freaking Quazz took him, so I’ll have to settle for his doubles partner. There wasn’t much in the way of singles talent remaining in the draft, but it was my plan all along to load up on doubles players late. Sirovica is another huge server who is coming off an absolutely dominant California ITA with Richter (not to mention a win at #1 doubles over UC Irvine, which is nothing to sniff at). He also picked up a couple notable wins at #3 dubs with Munugala last year over the likes of P-P and Kenyon. When given a better partner, I don’t see him losing very frequently.

90) D3Regional – Michael Liu (Wesleyan #1)

I know that I have MVP Buxbaum in my #1 spot, but that reassurance made Liu the perfect backup #1 pick.  Liu took a huge step forward in his sophomore season, stepping up to play #1 for the first time, notching wins over Michael Holt (Washington & Lee), Pierre Planche (Bates), Brian Granoff (Brandeis), Wade Heerboth (Kenyon), and Nick Cummins (Redlands).  He also qualified for NCAAs in singles, took out John Carswell in the first round, and fell to Moises Cardenas in a three set battle.  Liu was a little inconsistent over the course of the year, but his progress made from year one to year two gives me a ton of hope that he’ll get more consistent this year.  Liu is also a great teammate, and absolutely someone that I want on my squad whether he’s starting or not.