I’m gonna keep cranking these season previews out. Up next is the Washington & Lee Generals. The fun fact for tonight is that the first female four-star general in United States history is Ann Dunwoody, who, on top of being a badass in the military for 38 years, played four years of college tennis at SUNY Cortland. That is by far the best thing you will read in this preview, so here we go.
Twitter: @WLUWomensTennis
Coach: Erin Ness, 4th year
Location: Lexington, VA
2015 National Ranking: 10
Overview: Washington & Lee ended last year’s season with a disappointing loss to MIT. I honestly believe they were a little overrated for most of the season last year. Their win over Hopkins jumped them a little higher in the rankings than they probably deserved. Still, the MIT loss was a surprise. The W&L team this year is going to struggle some as they graduated Meighan (#1 singles and doubles), Buell (#3 singles, #2 doubles), Kirkland (#4 singles,#1 doubles), Hupalo (#6 singles), and Vella (#3 doubles). Wow. Writing it out like that shows how different this W&L team will be. Here’s a scary stat: W&L has only 3 girls on their team with match experience. Saying this will be a rebuilding year is a bit of an understatement.
Lineup Analysis
A lot of this is going to be me guessing. It’s almost impossible to predict what this lineup will look like with all the new faces.
#1 Singles—Brooke Donnelly (8.79 UTR)
This is the one spot I am sure about in this lineup. Donnelly has contributed both seasons that she has been at W&L and stepped up to play court 2 last year. She had a couple nice wins over Carnegie and Emory, but lost to Sewanee, Williams, and Hopkins. Her big loss to Eudice at individuals is excusable because it’s Eudice, but shows me she is definitely a step away from competing with the top players in the country. Donnelly’s loss to Tsu (Carnegie #4) this fall is also worrisome. Court 1 is probably a spot too high for her, but W&L is gonna lean on Donnelly this season.
#2-#3 Singles—Mary Elizabeth Shutley (7.48 UTR)
I’m gonna give the senior a slight edge over some underclassmen to play 2 this year. Shutley is the only girl other than Donnelly who consistently played in the General’s singles lineup last year. She played mostly court 5 and really struggled against ranked teams, especially as the season progressed. I see this as a weak spot, but I don’t think W&L really has anyone who will thrive at 2. Shutley may just have to play here in order to push the rest of the lineup down.
#2-#3 Singles—Tessa Hill (6.91 UTR)
All I have to go on is Hill’s fall results and they were actually very good. Hill impressed her coach enough to be seeded at the fall tournament as a freshman and made it all the way to the quarters before falling to Donnelly in 3 sets. Hill might end the year playing #2, but I think Coach Ness lets her gain some confidence at court 3 first. I think this will be the strongest spot for the Generals.
#4 Singles—Michelle fleenor (7.71 UTR)
Fleenor is the last girl on this team who actually has college experience. She rotated in at #6 last year, even getting a win against Sewanee. Fleenor will also probably playing a spot higher than she would like, but I think she will have some success. She had a good record last year, but never got to play against the top schools. W&L’s first big match will be very telling as to whether or not she belongs this high in the lineup.
#5 Singles—Mary McNeal (8.05 UTR)
I’m really grasping at straws at this point to figure out how this lineup is gonna look. McNeal is another freshman for W&L and that is all I know. She lost first round of the fall tournament. Based on her UTR she should maybe play higher in the lineup, but she hasn’t shown that on the court yet.
#6 Singles—Melinda Kauffman (6.60 UTR) and Rachel Hicks (7.09 UTR)
This is another spot where I just don’t know who to put. Both girls are freshman. Kauffman lost first round of the fall tournament and Hicks lost in the Semis of the B draw of the fall tournament. I really expect court 6 to be a revolving door until someone steps up.
Schedule Analysis
Here’s the schedule: http://www.generalssports.com/sports/wten/2015-16/schedule
W&L is playing National Indoors again and I think getting one win would be a success for them this year. Depauw is probably the only team they can beat, but Depauw is hosting so they might struggle to even beat them. After Indoors thy have a couple matches to gain some confidence before the Blue & White Invitational. Skidmore is a little bit of a trap match, but I think W&L should get through comfortably. Getting a point against Williams would be great for them. The only thing they can realistically gain from that match is a chance to get Donnelly into individuals. I think they will also struggle against Carnegie and potentially against Mary Washington. They only beat Mary Wash 6-3 last year. Their last big match of the year is against Johns Hopkins, who I think has only gotten better from last year. I hope I haven’t been too negative, but this really will be a rebuilding year for W&L. They’ll get their freshmen some good experience for the future, but will also probably fall out of the top 10 in the nation.