2016 Women’s Preview: #7 Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens

Pomona Pitzer Sagehens

 

Twitter Handle: @sagehenwtennis

 

Fall 2014 Ranking: #9

Spring 2015 Ranking: #7

Fall 2015 Ranking: #7

 

Player Ranking (National/Regional):

Joy Kim: #6/#1

Maryanne Zhao: #26/#8

Lea Lynn Yen: #40/#10

Caroline Casper: NR/#15

Shivani Doraiswami: NR/#18

Emily Chen/Zhao: NR/#4

Casper/Yen: NR/#8

Hi Tennis Fans!! I’m back with another preview. Time to talk about the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens!!

 

Pomona had a very underrated year in 2015 in my opinion. All of their losses came to Top 6 teams and they really should have beaten Carnegie based on the scorelines, two tight third sets. The loss to Amherst saw two breakers in dubs that could have gone either way and I think would have totally swung momentum. Each of their three losses to CMS saw tight contests across the board, with the regular season and SCIAC battles being the most interesting. Some solids wins over Bowdoin, MIT and Chicago really capped the year and I think Pomona would have been a force at NCAA Team Nationals if CMS didn’t get in the way.

 

From the individual standpoint, we need to talk about ITAs. Joy Kim, a freshman, came in and took the trophy, defeating BIG names on the way (see lineup analysis); talk about impressive. On the dubs side of things, Pomona had a good ITAs, with a near win in the finals by Emily Chen and Maryann Zhao, then other teams throughout the Semis and Quarters.

 

 

Schedule Analysis:

 

FEBRUARY

Sun. 14 UC San Diego

             Occidental *

Fri. 26  at ITA Indoor Nationals – DePauw

Sat. 27 at ITA Indoor Nationals – DePauw

Sun. 28 at ITA Indoor Nationals – DePauw

 

MARCH

Sat. 5   Mary Washington

Thu. 10 Carnegie Mellon

Sun. 13 Washington (Mo.)

Mon. 14 Amherst

Tue. 15 Bowdoin

Thu. 24 Tufts

Sat. 26 La Verne *

                  Lewis & Clark

Thu. 31 Middlebury

 

APRIL

Fri. 1    Claremont-M-S *

Sat. 2   at Chapman *

Fri. 8    at Occidental *

Sat. 9   Caltech *

Fri. 15  at Whittier *

Sat. 16 at Cal Lutheran *

Thu. 21 at Ojai Tournament – Ventura, Calif.

Fri. 22  at Ojai Tournament – Ventura, Calif.

Sat. 23 at Ojai Tournament – Ventura, Calif.

Sun. 24 at Ojai Tournament – Ventura, Calif.

Sat. 30 Redlands *

 

Pomona has quite the schedule this year. Big matches right up until April Fools Day. I think Pomona will have a very solid season and some big individual/team results. PLUS, this team is young and has a TON of potential. Key word for 2016: DEPTH

 

February begins with an out of division match against UCSD and a SCIAC match versus Oxy before the Sagehens head out to Greencastle, Indiana for Indoors against a bunch of nationally ranked squads such as MIT, Chicago, DePauw and Hopkins. This will be a good place to see where teams stand early on in the season, especially the West coasters that don’t play schools like Hopkins, that are top-tier but don’t take the jet plane to the Western front.

 

Coming back for March Madness, Pomona has some more routine bouts versus Mary Washington, Tufts, Lewis & Clark and La Verne. These matches surround some HUGE battles against Carnegie, WashU, Herst, Bowdoin and Midd. UMW, La Verne and L&C will be something around 8-1 for each. I think Tufts could potentially grab 2 spots if they are on their game. Carnegie will be a good battle for Pomona, even though the Tartans have lost a few players. This match will be close, 6-3 to Pomona, simply based on how solid the Sagehens have gotten with the new freshman. WashU will be along the same lines as Carnegie, 6-3 with some three setters across 2-5 singles, dubs sweep to PP. Amherst is going to come in with one match under their belt in Cali and I think this will be a battle across the board. I wanna give PP the W here, but like it has been said with other previews, how Amherst shows up will lead to the results they have. Based on last season and the new crop of PP players, I am giving Pomona the win, 6-3.  The next big match for PP will be the polar bears of Bowdoin.  Bowdoin is heavy at the top and slightly trickle down. Doubles will be the key here and I think PP has gotten better. PP again wins 5-4. Midd comes in next for the final match of March. If Gerger is healthy, this match becomes much more difficult to win. I think that Midd is strong at the top and have good doubles pairs. My head is saying PP gets the win, but my gut says Midd.

 

April is all SCIAC for Pomona. PP will have no trouble except for CMS. The longstanding rivalry with CMS got really intense last year with three matches between the teams and this year is only making things more interesting as PP recruited so well. I think this match will be 5-4 either way, just depends on how the ladies play. After Kim defeated Ward at ITAs, I think the top spot will be the decider in this contest and at SCIACs. I think that Pomona will win the battle but not the SCIAC war. I am tapping the Sagehens as the second NCAA Pool C entry after Midd.

 

 

Lineup Analysis:

 

Back to the ever handy UTR again! Universaltennis.com

 

Power 6 Team Rating: 52

 

#1 Singles – Joy Kim (9.01): I am probably second to NEW in being against putting a freshman at #1. However, Kim stepped up at ITAs and performed well at Nationals.

 

Big Results: def. Kubota (Cal Lu), Hammer (Chapman, former NCAA participant – double bagel I might add), Zamilpa (Whittier), Casper (PP), Ward (CMS), Kuosman (CMS), Brittany LaBruna (William Patterson). Loss to Humphreys (UWW), Rao (Hopkins)

 

#2 Singles – Caroline Casper (8.42): I am going out on a limb here and putting Casper in #2 as a freshman. Ok, so she might have the UTR rating to boot but she nearly took down Ward at ITAs (blew a few MPs) and I think she’s got the game to handle the third slot.

 

#3 Singles – Lea Lynn Yen (8.19): Yen struggled in #1 last season but was solid at #3 two years ago. I think her back in #3 with solid players above her will give this squad a near definite win in each lower spot.

 

#4 Singles – Arianna Chen (8.92): Chen takes #4 based on UTR and her near defeat of Kuosman at ITAs, I also know that the PP coaching staff is by no means shy at putting youngin’s in the middle of the lineup.

 

#5 Singles – Maryann Zhao (8.31): Zhao was in 3 last season and had strong results. She also played very well at ITAs with her upset of Etchegaray of Redlands. Personally, her in 5 in crazy and I do not see her losing many matches in this spot.

 

#6 Singles – Shivani Doraiswami (8.47): I mean, really? Shivani in #6 after playing 2 last season….sorry to her opponents..

 

Not even in the lineup: Grace Hruska (8.70), Emily Kuo (8.63), Emily Chen (7.84):

 

Well talk about options…..I mean I am not even considering other players here. PP is just wicked deep and coach Lebedeff has many options here. Hruska gets the nod in my opinion based on her solid results last season if injuries arise. These players were 4-6 in 2015 and now they are out of the PP lineup for 2016.

 

 

#1 Doubles – Chen/Zhao: This new pair reached the ITA Finals and nearly took down Ward/Kuosman in the final. Both ladies had strong dubs results in 2 and 3 (with different partners) and even defeated their teammates Hruska/Kim and Casper/Yen in the Fall.

 

#2 Doubles – Casper/Yen: This team saw a good run at ITAs, ending up losing to their teammates listed above. Yen has been a force on the doubles court for years and locked down #1 last year with Hruska. She’s even more dangerous with in #2 with Casper.

 

#3 Doubles – Hruska/Kim: Hruska is no pushover in dubs and had very very good results in #1 last year. Adding Kim into the mix this time around, plus being in 3 is a very good combination for the Sagehens.

 

West’s Wonderful Words of Wisdom

 

#1: the Lineup: The PP lineup is going to be young in spots and experienced in others. Pomona will need to play this lineup very smart and some of these players may not be solidified in their positions, especially 5 and 6, simply because PP has so many options.

 

#2: DUBS! I think I have given this word of wisdom for every team but it is true throughout the region. PP will have new teams this year and dubs is where they gave away points and matches last season. New year, new teams, new results?

 

#3: CMS: This might be an odd one but it reigns true. CMS kept Pomona from some big results last season. If the Sagehens can defeat the Athenas, there aren’t many teams that can stop these ladies.

 

 

OK y’all. That is it for me!! My next preview will be highlighting the ladies of Whitman!

 

Peace and Tennis,

 

D3WW