2016 Women’s Season Preview: #4 CMS Athenas

CMS ATHENAS

Fall 2014 Ranking: #5

Spring 2015 Ranking: #4

Fall 2015 Ranking: #4

Player Ranking (National/Regional):

Katie Kuosman: #21/#5

Caroline Ward: #23/#7

Ward/Kuosman: #3/#1

Hey Kiddos! I am back for another round of previews for this upcoming season. I am going to be opening my campaign with the current numero uno in the West region, CMS!! The Athenas are coming off a fourth place team finish on the 2015 season as reflected by their ranking and a pretty good ITA Fall event.

 

The Athenas have a solid lineup top-down, with a ltitle wobble at 5 and 6 Singles. Ward and Kuosman are top-notch in doubles and singles, followed by a young crew of players that are solid middle of the lineup players for CMS but would be top players at any school below #11 in the country. CMS is in the top 4 but I kinda feel like they need to really push Emory, Williams and ‘Herst to break them out of the Top 3. It’s kinda like Murray was before he won his first Slam, where he could beat a top player here and there but couldn’t pull a big one out, that is CMS right now. Fortunately, the Athenas get a crack at all of the Top 3 before NCAAs at the Emory Invite and when they host the Lord Jeffs.

 

Schedule Analysis:

Feb. 06           at Cal Lutheran *

Feb. 20           Brandeis

Feb. 26           Bates

Feb. 27           Caltech *

Feb. 28           at Whittier *

MARCH

Mar. 08           Carnegie Mellon

Mar. 16           Amherst

Mar. 17           Whitman

Mar. 19           Bowdoin

Mar. 25           vs. Williams @ Emory

Mar. 26           at Emory

Mar. 27           vs. Trinity (Tex.) @ Emory

APRIL

Apr. 01            at Pomona-Pitzer *

Apr. 02            Middlebury

Apr. 08            Redlands *

Apr. 16            Occidental *

                       at Chapman *

Apr. 22            at Ojai Tournament

Apr. 23            at Ojai Tournament

Apr. 24            at Ojai Tournament

Apr. 28             La Verne *

This season is pretty well scheduled by Coach Schwarz. February looks like a pretty routine month for the Athenas, with only #28 Brandeis visiting from the Top 30. Cal Lu just squeaked on the rankings and are improving, but won’t make much of an impact. I see the Athenas losing a MAX two points during February: One random point (maybe Whittier #1 doubles) and then one to the Judges, if they are lucky.

 

March is where things get REALLY fun. The Athenas will welcome #6 Carnegie, #3 Amherst, #22 Whitman and #8 Bowdoin before heading to the aforementioned Emory Invite in HOT-lanta and face #1 Williams, #2 Emory and #33 Trin-TX. Carnegie might get interesting as CMS loses Kukino, which will probably slide everyone up in the Athena lineup. The same happens for Carnegie though after losing Pratt. I am still giving CMS a win, but probably something like 6-3 or 7-2. #3 Amherst is a very exciting matchup, despite the Lord Jeffs taking the decision at NCAAs in May, I don’t see things as easy as they may have looked in May. I think that Amherst is SO take-able, especially at the bottom of the lineup, where CMS had matches in hand at NCAAs. I’m gonna go big here and say 5-4 CMS on their home courts. Wins at 4-6 S, 1 and 2 D. #8 Bowdoin will also be a fun clash to watch but Bowdoin is most certainly top heavy so CMS will beat them with depth. The Emory Invite is probably going to be one of the best events of the year showcasing D3 Women’s tennis, maybe better than Indoors. #2 Emory is going to be a slugfest of a match. I might even try to catch this one on live stream. However, I do not see CMS having the firepower to out hit the Eagles. The Athenas are steady but won’t really blast winners by you. #1 Williams will also be a great match, but I see CMS having a better chance here as the Ephs are much similar to the Athenas, steady. I think this one will go 6-3 to Williams, but we will see battles at 1D, 1S, 3S, 5S.

 

April will not be as intriguing as March but the Athenas will still be busy with a few conference matches, the Ojai and a big contest against Middlebury. Midd is good, just like my buddy D3NEW mentioned in her preview. However, I don’t see the fight in the Panthers. I’ve seen them play three times over the last two years and they have good players, but I think they will fade under pressure. CMS takes that one 6-3. Redlands will come to the Bisantz TC but they don’t nearly have the depth of CMS, maybe 8-1 CMS at best. The best shot at victory will be Catherine Allen, who might play #1 Singles after nearly taking down Ward at ITAs. Lastly, The Athenas will also have to walk down the street to play Pomona in April and while I love this matchup, the toss up of Pomona’s lineup right now makes this one a tough 5-4 CMS grind of a victory. I will be definitely revisiting this matchup all season as I think PP could pull off the upset if the right lines are hit!

 

Lineup Analysis:

 

Alright, I am going to join the UTR club for the first time. I saw how NEW did her reviews and I really liked it so I am going to give it a go. If you want to learn more, check out the UTR site (it is great for both future and current players!): http://www.universaltennis.com

 

#1 Singles – Caroline Ward (8.73): A solid number one throughout her career, the Senior will have some tough tests to come through this season especially with Pomona, Redlands (if it’s Allen), Williams, Emory….

 

#2 Singles – Katie “Kuzy” Kuosman (8.78): So actually, both Kuzy and Lindsay Brown are rated higher than Ward in the UTR. However, given prior results and reliability. Ward surpasses both. Kuzy is a tough cookie, she’s always there in matches and competes well. The 2015 ITA Regional Finalist will be a force in her Junior year. There will be no starting at #3 this season…

 

#3 Singles – Lindsay Brown (8.81): With Brown having such a high UTR rating, I do not think that we have seen the best out of her yet. Her only losses last season were to Top 6 squads and I think she can take down Tsu of Carnegie. Having Brown in 4, allowed for some solids wins against Midd, MIT and Pomona, I think her in 3 will be a shaky start but overall an interesting year.

 

#4 Singles – Kyla Scott (8.31): Scott was a solid #5 last season and proved that with wins over Emory, Pomona, Carnegie and WashU. I think that Scott will have some trickier tests in 4 this time around so her record won’t be as clean, but still on the good side.

 

#5 Singles – Bria Smith (7.79): This is where CMS could get hurt. Scott is 5 is great but Smith is a little more inconsistent at times and had a few more losses at 6 last season. I think Smith will struggle at times against top schools at 5.

 

#6 Singes – Jessie Cruz (7.70) or Lauren Livingston (6.66): Not sure who will be here to be honest. Livingston saw limited action last year against routine teams with poor ITA results. Cruz is a freshman and lost first-round of ITAs to Natalie Ethegaray of Redlands, not a bad loss but the score wasn’t close. Livingston will probably be here.

 

#1 Doubles – Ward/Kuosman: DUH. Super Bowl Finalists and NCAA Runners Up last year; 3^rd place at ITA Nationals this year. Nuff said.

 

#2 Doubles – Brown/Scott: This is a new team for 2016, with Scott having stud results last year (w/Sarah Kukino) and Brown playing most of last year with Bria Smith and Lauren Livingston. Tough call to make there whether you keep Brown with Livingston in 3 (a winning pair) and move Smith WAY up, or split a winning pair. This pair didn’t do that great at ITAs but that doesn’t mean as much. I think this will definitely be one of those things that shows up as it happens. Kinda like a good glass of wine. You can stare at the wine… it could look good or bad, but only once you have it, is when you can tell its’ true caliber.

 

#3 Doubles – Smith/Chiara Schwab (NR) or TBD? So I am not sure here. I mean Smith/Schwab didn’t work at ITAs. Livingston got pretty much benched in dubs after a good end to last season….maybe a Smith/Livingston combo? If that is a thing? This will be a game time decision for Schwarz unless he has already decided and I need to dig a little deeper…..hmmm…..

 

West’s Wonderful Words of Wisdom – (Sorry NEW, but I like your keys to the season idea)

 

#1: DUBS! CMS has the solid #1. The other two need to step it up in the new pairs

 

#2: Move on up – With players going up a spot after Kukino’s graduation, there is a gap to fill

 

#3: Defend the Home Court/Travel Well – The Athenas host some big names this season. Amherst, Bowdoin, Carnegie, Midd. They gotta bring it both at home and at the Emory Invite.

 

OK peeps! That is all I have for this edition. Next week, I have a preview for the #23 La Verne Leopards!!

 

Peace and Tennis,

 

D3WW