Coach: Dave Hagymas (11th season)
Location: Cambridge, MA
Blog Power Ranking: #31
Twitter Handle: @MITtennis
Overview
The good old MIT Engineers! For years, MIT routinely had a team full of 3 stars and 4 stars, and honestly had talent to probably match up to a top 10 team, but could never quite put it together. Despite this, they were still typically ranked in the top 30, usually beating or at least matching up strongly against teams like Brandeis, Bates, and Babson. However, in the past 2-3 years, MIT has had a tougher time recruiting top talent, and their ranking has gone by the wayside because of it. Last year, they lost to Babson for the first time in twenty years, though they did rebound and beat the Beavers in the NEWMAC finals. This year, the Engineers have their best recruiting class in quite some time, and much of the d3 blog community is extremely high on the boys from Cambridge. The bloggers are no exception, as we have the unranked MIT Engineers at #31 in our power rankings, an unprecedented boost. MIT can honestly end the year anywhere between 20 and unranked, and they should be one of the most exciting teams to follow all year. Let’s learn some more about this freshmen-heavy squad!
Key Additions:
Sean Ko, Alex Cauneac, Henry La Soya, Tyler Barr (all freshmen)
Key Losses:
Eugene Oh (#2 singles, #1 doubles), Jeffrey Sperling (#4 singles, #3 doubles)
Lineup Analysis:
Singles:
#1 Singles: Alex Cauneac
The freshmen Cauneac is legit with a capital L. He had an excellent ITA tournament, getting to the semis with wins over Will De Quant (Midd), Fergus Scott (Bates), and Rohan Gupte (Tufts). Although none of those guys will likely play #1 for their teams, they are still great wins over quality players at highly ranked schools. He did lose badly to Luke Tercek of Bowdoin in the semis, but this was after a long three-set win over Gupte. Cauneac will definitely hit some growing pains at some point, but look for him to be a very solid #1 player.
#2 Singles: Sean Ko
Things get a little shakier after Cauneac. Ko comes in with high expectations, but he lost 1 and 2 to Brian Grodecki of Williams (projected #5). However, at the MIT Invite the weekend after ITA’s, Ko did take out Michael Solimano of Amherst 13-11 in a superbreaker, an excellent win. Ko has game for sure, he just has to put it together.
#3 Singles: Tyler Barr
Since I have my browser open to the MIT Invite results, I’ll start with Barr’s straight set win over Ben Fife of Amherst, a solid win, though who knows if Fife will start this year for ‘Herst. Barr lost 6 and 2 to Rex Glickman of Trinity, who could play #1 this year for the Bantams. Because Barr has just played so few matches, one against a projected #1 and another against someone who might not start (though Fife is still a really good player), the jury is still out on this spot for MIT.
#4 Singles: Kevin Wang
Wang, a senior, has not played this season, but as long as he is healthy for the spring, he should be a really good #4. He played #1 last year, and was pretty solid, beating Pierre Planche (Bates), Brian Granoff (Brandeis), and Sidd Thangirala (NYU). He lost some matches as well, but Wang could honestly be one of the better #4’s in New England given his experience playing high up in the lineup.
#5 Singles: Henry La Soya
La Soya has barely played this fall, playing one match against a guy from Harvard and losing 3 and 4. He’s a highly ranked freshman so I’m sticking him in at 5, but I could see Lilley playing ahead of him because of his experience.
#6 Singles: Bryan Lilley
Lilley bounced all around the Engineers lineup last year, playing everywhere from #2 to #6. He battles hard though, and if he consistently plays #6, he can definitely have a solid year.
Next guys up: Kenny Gea, Avi Walden, Jeffrey Bu
Gea strikes an unbelievably clean ball, but he’s had some trouble playing complete matches over the course of his career. He played some good matches at the MIT Invite, so if he can put it together, I could definitely see him playing in for Lilley, or even in for La Soya.
Doubles:
As per usual in a doubles lineup projection with limited fall matches, I’m really guessing at this doubles lineup. I’m pretty confident that Cauneac/Barr will play #1, but it’s anybody’s guess after that.
#1 Doubles: Alex Cauneac/Tyler Barr
#2 Doubles: Sean Ko/Kenny Gea
#3 doubles: Bryan Lilley/Jeffrey Bu
Schedule Analysis:
MIT typically plays a relatively weak schedule due to required NEWMAC matches, and this year is no different. They start off with a couple scrimmages against D1 Bryant and D2 Bentley. On 4/6 is the NEWMAC showdown against Babson, most likely the second best team in the ‘MAC (does anyone call it that??). On 4/15, they take on Amherst, and they finish their regular season on 4/28 against Brandeis.
MIT’s biggest matches are Babson and Brandeis. Babson is always a big match because of NEWMAC implications, and MIT’s 17 straight conference championships. The Brandeis match is huge for ranking purposes. MIT can certainly be a top 30 team with the talent they have this year, but the Brandeis match is really their only chance to prove it (unless they can shock the world against Amherst). Brandeis is currently ranked #28 nationally and #11 in the northeast, well ahead of MIT in both respects. They also have a very young team, with as many as four freshmen that could be competing for starting spots, so they are ripe for the taking. Deis has had the upper hand on MIT the past few years, and they typically are very successful grinding down the engineers. However, with MIT’s talent this year likely being slightly superior to the Judges, is this the year that they finally turn it around and get back in the top 30?! Last year, I got in trouble and ASouth got mad at me for making predictions in my season previews and then predicting something different in Regional Roundup, so no predictions for me in these previews. I will say this though; MIT has an excellent shot to beat the Judges, and that match will be a clear indication of if the Engineers are going to continue to be a team that underachieves, or one that finally lives up to their talent!
Conclusion:
Like my other bloggers, I’m high on the Engineers. They are going to be a deep, talented team at just about every position. However, they will have to improve their doubles, which has always been a weak spot, if they hope to beat Brandeis. Regardless, I’m really excited to follow what should be a much-improved Engineers squad.
Look for more season previews from the whole team over the next few weeks, as well as our fantasy draft articles. Thanks for reading!