UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE LEOPARDS
Twitter Handle: @lavernetennis
Coach: Yolanda Duron
Fall 2014 Ranking: #15
Spring 2015 Ranking: #22
Fall 2015 Ranking: #23
Player Ranking (National/Regional):
N/A
Well hello again, nice of you to come back to another preview for the 2016 tennis season!!
This time, I am checking in on the Leopards of the University of La Verne. Looking back to 2015, La Verne had a decent year but single-handedly created the 20-25 ranking area mess, known as a ‘black hole’ of D3 tennis. Starting off their year with a couple of easy wins, then taking scalps of nationally ranked Brandeis and squeaked by Linfield. Then, La Verne went into a tailspin, falling to Vassar, Tufts and Whitman, all in a row. After falling to the top SCIAC teams of Pomona and CMS, the Leos salvaged their ranking with a 6-3 surprise win over Redlands. After a few routine wins over SCIAC opponents, La Verne entered the SCIAC tournament as the 4th seed, only to see the Bulldogs later avenged the earlier loss in the SCIAC 3rd-4th playoff. The biggest highlight for 2015 for La Verne was the Semifinal finish for Bridget Etchegaray and Laina Matsuda in the NCAA Individual Tournament, upsetting Amherst along the way.
So…..since that result, I am not sure where La Verne has been. At their lone Fall event in the ITA Regional event, the Leos only registered one match win on either side of the spectrum, both by Janae Chinn. While these wins were against less than household name opponents, at least a W was brought home. I assume that Andrea Madrigal was studying abroad, but the Leos were quite silent during ITAs without her, if Madrigal is no longer playing, La Verne is in deep trouble. Assuming Andrea is in, La Verne will have a gap to fill, after losing a solid 1 dubs team and number 2 singles player, after already having a weak lower half of the singles lineup.
Schedule Analysis:
JANUARY
Sat. 30 at UC Santa Cruz
Sun. 31 at Holy Names
FEBRUARY
Wed. 3 Linfield
Sat. 6 at Occidental *
Sat. 13 at East Texas Baptist
Sun. 14 at Texas Lutheran
Sun. 28 Chris. Newport
MARCH
Wed. 2 Mary Washington
Thu. 3 Arizona Christian
Fri. 11 Texas-Tyler
Sun. 13 Washington College
Fri. 25 Lewis & Clark
Sat. 26 at Pomona-Pitzer *
APRIL
Fri. 1 Chapman *
Sat. 2 Redlands *
Fri. 8 at Caltech *
Fri. 15 Cal Lutheran *
Sat. 16 Whittier *
Thu. 21 vs. The Ojai
Fri. 22 vs. The Ojai
Sat. 23 vs. The Ojai
Sun. 24 vs. The Ojai
Thu. 28 at Claremont-M-S *
MAY
Fri. 6 at SCIAC Championships *
Sat. 7 at SCIAC Championships
Coach Duron, like Coach Hein of Whitman, always mixes up the schedule for her squad. I am not sure about some of these opponents but I feel like she created a sort of ‘cupcake’ schedule if you were to look at a Top 25 squad. January provides a routing win over formerly formidable UC Santa Cruz before a non-division opponent in a school I have never heard of in Holy Name. Moving to February, the Leos start with a rising Linfield squad at #35 in the nation. While the California natives barely squeaked out a win last season, this year will not see a repeat, as Linfield will get the upset 5-4. La Verne will rebound with a victory over Oxy before traveling to Texas for a showdown with East Texas Baptist. Not much is known about the Texans besides their new #1 and given that, La Verne takes this contest. Texas Lutheran provides a much more stern test for the Leos, an ever consistent Sofia ‘La Reina’ Vega and an improving lineup provides quite an interesting contest. If Madrigal is indeed playing, I think La Verne will take this 6-3. If she isn’t, I am not so sure, as Etchegaray will be the new #1. I do not think she has the game to beat Vega in the Texan heat. 5-4 LV without Madrigal. La Verne returns to Cali with a victory over Christopher Newport to end the month.
Looking to March, Mary Washington arrives in Cali for one of their first 2016 contests, due to the drop off on the side of La Verne, UMW takes this match 7-2. Texas-Tyler will be the next D3 opponent for the Leos and this match should provide a very equal balance of talent. UTT does not have the talent that the top of La Verne does and I think that will really decide who wins here. 6-3 to the Leos. Washington College arrives next and I legitimately know NOTHING about them. So pardon my lack of knowledge. Lewis & Clark and Pomona provide the biggest tests of March for La Verne. As I have said before, both squads have improved and will continue to do so, I think both teams will really take it to a depleted La Verne. 7-2 L&C and 9-0 to PP.
April comes to La Verne with all SCIAC contests. Chapman and Redlands are first and I think that the Chapman match could really show where exactly La Verne is, as the Panthers are in a very similar place to the Leos. Chapman did not really have luck on the recruiting trail and graduated a few players. This year, this match will come down to the bottom of the lineup, LV still wins in a tight one. Redlands will be too much for LV and take the match 7-2 at worst. The Leos will make routine work over Whittier, Cal Lu and Caltech before falling to CMS in the season finale. SCIACs will see LV arrive in 4th place, only to fall in the semifinals to CMS.
Lineup Analysis:
Back to the ever handy UTR again! Universaltennis.com
Power 6 Team Rating: 40
#1 Singles – Andrea Madrigal (8.43): I assume Andrea is abroad, which will see her return either be strong or not as strong, you never know with those kiddos who go off on worldly adventures…Nevertheless, Madrigal is the best player La Verne has ever seen. Her status in Nationals every season proves that she will be much needed on this squad to stay afloat.
#2 Singles – Bridget Etchegaray (6.70): I think she was also abroad this Fall and will come back without a partner and up to #2. She played a good year at 3, but 2 is another world. Since there’s nothing to go off of, we can only hope that she can make the jump.
#3 Singles – Janae Chinn (5.95): Someone is going to have to make a big jump in this lineup and I think Chinn will slide up two spots. I am making this call because she did play an entire season with Madrigal in dubs, which will help out her singles game.
#4 Singles – Lauren Torres (5.78): Torres played a fair amount of matches in this spot last year and I think she will remain here based on the need to put together a smart lineup.
#5 Singles – #6 Singles – Shenelle Trujillo (5.34), Savannah Goode (5.31), Margaux San Nicolas (4.70), Savannah Fisher (4): We have a weird mix of players here fighting for the bottom half of the lineup. Trujillo has the experience in matches, but never really beat anyone in 6 to support a slide up to 5. The other three are freshman with hardly any match experience and even that says that they won’t beat out Trujillo for 5. Once again, we see this section of the lineup being a difficult one to lockdown for the Leos.
#1 Doubles – Madrigal/Chinn OR Madrigal/Etchegaray: La Verne has always done weird things with their doubles lineup, I have called them on stacking before and I think that this year they will need to play it smart. Madrigal/Chinn is the best team leftover from 2015, but Etchegaray proved herself on the dubs court. Not sure what will happen here.
#2 Doubles – Etchegaray/Torres?: Question marks…
#3 Doubles – Legit toss up.
West’s Wonderful Words of Wisdom
#1: Dubs: I mean I cannot even figure it out, players being abroad or having graduated makes things messy in the Leo lineup. We also need to note that this team was not a stud in dubs last year and needs to get this one right
#2: Be able to defend from behind: La Verne has a weak bottom part of the lineup. I think that 1-4 singles will really have to fight to keep the squads hope alive with a weak 5 and 6.
#3: Stay ranked: Yep, this is a concern for La Verne. That top half of the lineup cannot win every match on their schedule. I think they will remain in the Top 40, but only just.
That is all I have for this peculiar case…my final Nationally ranked preview returns to the PNW for the PIOS of Lewis & Clark!
Wishing you Aces and Winners,
D3WW
just fyi, Andrea Madrigal graduated!
Keep up the great articles!