2016 Season Preview: #17 Whitman

Coach: Jeff Northam, 89th season

Location: Walla Walla, WA

Preseason Rank: 17

Twitter Handle: @whitmantennis

Overview:

Whitman is another team in the West region that is undergoing an upheaval this season. After clambering in the dregs for several seasons, the Squirrels have established themselves as a perennial top 20 team starting in 2012. Nevertheless, they haven’t beaten a top 10 team since then, though they came tantalizingly close in the Sweet Sixteen last season against Wash U. In the past, Whitman has been successful by developing lower-ranked recruits and winning on the doubles court. With the graduation of Malesovas and Rivers, I believe that era has officially ended. Their current roster is filled with 3-stars with more coming in next year, but the higher-ranked Squirrels haven’t made huge improvements the same way the older players did.

Accordingly, this season’s success will depend almost entirely on whether or not Whitman’s second year players (including Locklear, a transfer) can make those leaps. I mentioned this before, but this past Fall, Whitman got 5 second year players into their ITA quarterfinals in singles. That class – Hewlin, Locklear, Friedman, Carter, Rapoport, Ho, and others – will be thrust into leadership positions this season, as Whitman only has one other senior (Noyes) on its roster, and their two junior starters were abroad this Fall. They have plenty of depth in singles, but only two players who have shown themselves capable of winning consistently on the doubles court.

Lineup Analysis:

#1 Singles – Zach Hewlin (So.) – Hewlin has now won the ITA regional in both singles and doubles in his first two seasons. That combined with his incendiary finish to his freshman campaign convinces me that he’s ready to win against the best in the country. With a year of #2 singles under his belt, he’s got plenty of experience. I have no doubt that he’ll take his lumps, but I predict a .500 record against ranked opponents and a nationals appearance for the sophomore.

#2 Singles – Phil Locklear (Sr.) – The Quaker transfer has a very up-and-down first season at Whitman. He started the year by going 3-0 against tough competition at #3 singles in Walla Walla before completely falling apart over Spring Break. He seemed to get some confidence back at the end of the year, but couldn’t turn it into a victory over Bush. Nevertheless, he had a great fall season, beating a couple of the best players in the conference to make the finals of the singles bracket and winning the doubles bracket with Hewlin. If he can keep his head on his shoulders, he’ll be a solid #2. If not, this will be Whitman’s weakest position.

#3 Singles – Chase Friedman (So.) – There are a lot of guys who could end up in this position, but I’m gonna go with Friedman. The guy was the 2nd seeded Squirrel in the ITA, and he played some #3 singles during the season last year. The question for him is always going to be his fitness, as he has now cramped three times in key moments. Whitman has a lot of guys who can play at the bottom of the lineup, so #3 singles will be one of their weakest positions, with the Squirrels getting stronger deeper in singles.

#4 Singles – Robert Carter (So.) – Carter didn’t start in the singles lineup last year, but he did play in the doubles lineup, and word out of Walla Walla is he’s playing very well after a good summer of training. As a 2-star, he’s your classic Whitman player who could make a leap, and he has bigger strokes that would allow him to be more successful higher in the lineup than some of his contemporaries (like how Bickham liked to put Bello higher in the singles lineup). He had a very solid Fall tournament with a big win over You from George Fox. If he can continue his trajectory of improvement, he’ll be a solid player soon. If he plays #4, he’ll probably struggle.

#5 Singles – Petar Jivkov (Jr.) – Jivkov has been playing low in the singles lineup for Whitman for the last couple seasons, but he’s abroad this Fall, so I’m worried about him coming back to competition after a long layoff. At #4 singles, he picked up some nice victories over TU and Kenyon last season. If he does play #5, this will be a very strong position for Whitman, as the Squirrels will have to rely on the bottom of their singles lineup a lot this season.

#6 Singles – Adam Rapoport (So.) – #6 singles could be just about anyone, but I’m going with Rapoport. He didn’t start last year, but he had a stellar Fall tournament. He topped one of the better players in the conference in Lilley from George Fox in two routine sets in the Round of 16 before taking Hewlin to 7-5 in the third in the quarterfinals. If he has been working hard in the off-season, he could really have a breakout season in the starting lineup. Whoever plays #6 singles should win more than they lose.

The Other Guys – Jake Hoeger is a junior who has been a stalwart in the doubles lineup in his first two seasons. He has seen some action at the bottom of the singles lineup with mixed success. His best result last season was a win at #6 over Soper from Cruz. I don’t have him in the singles lineup because he’s abroad, and I think the other guys will have overtaken him. Gary Ho is another sophomore who deserves mentioning. He had a great fall tournament last year and beat Van Lent from Case Western in his lone match against a ranked opponent. He didn’t see the starting lineup other than that, but he’ll be competing for a starting spot.

Doubles – Doubles could be a problem for Whitman this year. They graduated their #1 doubles team, and their #3 team was terrible last year no matter who they put in. They haven’t brought anyone in to bolster their doubles lineup, so they’ll need a couple guys to step up if they’re going to compete against ranked teams. My guess is that Northam will reunite Hewlin and Hoeger at #1 doubles, put Locklear with Carter at #2, and experiment at #3 until he finds a team that sticks. The rest of the Whitman team is a diminutive bunch, and they don’t have the luxury of putting together a couple big servers. Nobody else in the lineup has any history of success in doubles, so it might be a struggle.

Schedule Analysis

Here is the Whitman Schedule

Coach Northam has put together quite a schedule this season. They have some good out-of-division competition early in the season, and they have to take care of business against George Fox at home in February, but the season starts in earnest the first weekend of March when they host Cal Lu and Swarthmore. It’s hard to see Cal Lu having much success this season, but the Swarthmore match will be huge. The Garnet seems to be improving with a solid sophomore class of their own, and Whitman will need to win that match if they want to stay in the top 20.

Their Spring Break trip features matches against Bowdoin, Claremont, Redlands, and Tufts. It’s really a perfect schedule for Whitman. A win over Claremont is out of reach for them, but it’s a great individual opportunity. Bowdoin is probably a little bit of a reach for them, but they came close last season and would like to avenge the narrow loss. Whitman has beaten Redlands each of the last two seasons, and they should be favored after the Bulldogs’ heavy losses to graduation, but the match will definitely be close. Tufts is a team that has underachieved the last two season, and a win over Whitman is a must for them if they’re hoping to squeak into Pool C. If Whitman can go 2-2, they will virtually assure themselves of another top 20 season. 1-3 would be enough to keep them in the top 30 for sure, probably top 25.

After returning from Spring Break, the Squirrels play their three biggest conference threats on the road back-to-back to back. It’s worth mentioning because Whitman came very, very close to losing to Pacific last season. Lewis and Clark or George Fox should be their biggest competition this year, but I think they’ll be fine. Northam added a nice wrinkle to the schedule this year by adding a late-season trip to Texas for matches against TU and Tyler. The Tyler match will be particularly important. The loser tends to go to California for NCAA’s, whereas the winner tends to get a shot at a more beatable team. Whitman beat UT-T last year and very nearly took advantage of a more manageable Regional draw to make their first Elite Eight last year. I’m fairly certain Whitman doesn’t have it in them this year to make a run at an Elite Eight appearance with such a young team, but if they want any chance at all, they absolutely have to beat the Pats.

Conclusion

Ultimately, I think Whitman will experience some growing pains this year. Their young guys need to learn how to play doubles, and get used to playing better players in bigger moments. With a solid recruiting class coming in and nearly everyone returning after this season, the future is bright for Whitman, but this season might be a little bit of a struggle. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see how it all plays out.