Emory Cms Match Preview

D3ASW here! And if I’m writing you must know that something extremely important is going on.  It’s the Fab 5!  The Fab 5 is a great event that Emory hosts with some of the top teams in the country.  This year’s participants are #1 Williams, #4 Emory, #5 Cms, #10 Sewanee, #15 Depauw, and #24 Trinity TX.  Now I know what you’re saying, “D3ASW, that’s 6 teams, not 5 and fab is a pretty archaic word that has almost completely fallen out of the collective vocabulary.  What does tennis have to do with the Beatles? I don’t understand the analogy.” But it’s ok loyal reader, these things aren’t important.   What is important is that a lot of good tennis is happening this weekend and I’m gonna cover (some of) it.  The big match today is Cms vs  Williams.  I’ll leave any thoughts about that match to Northeast and West, but tomorrow is Cms vs Emory.  Emory is in my region, has the best chance of winning nationals out of everyone in the Atlantic South, and I haven’t said a word about them all season.  So I’m gonna give you a nice mix of a look at this Emory team and a match preview.

#1 Doubles—Fuhr/Lopez vs. Ward Kuosman

So Coach Bryant has been playing around with her doubles teams this year, but I’m fairly certain this is Emory’s #1.  I’m a little surprised that Satterfield and Fuhr were split up; they were a dangerous team at 1 last year, but I guess the idea is to spread the talent around.  I don’t know much about Lopez, but she was playing singles earlier this year.  She is no longer in the singles lineup, but just cracking the lineup as a freshman means she’s a more than capable player.  On the other side of the net is one of the most consistently good #1 doubles teams in the country.  Ward and Kuosman are fresh off some nice wins against Bowdoin and Amherst.  Fuhr is a very dangerous player with a lot of shots, but I think the experience of Ward and Kuosman wins out.  8-5 Cms.

#2 Doubles—Harding/Su vs.  Scott/Cruz

I’m doing a little bit of guess work with all these Emory teams, but I would be very surprised if this wasn’t the #2 team.  Harding and Su had a great fall and started this spring playing the top court, but we quickly saw that that wasn’t where they belonged.  On paper this should be the best #2 doubles team in the country.  Scott and Cruz will put up a good fight, but I’m taking Emory 8-5.

#3 Doubles—Satterfield/Castro vs. Brown/Smith

This team is going to be Satterfield and someone and Castro has played the last two matches so I’m going with that.  On paper, again, I believe that this should be the best #3 doubles team in the country.  It’s a little unfair; Satterfield is a two time doubles All-American and she’s playing court 3.  I don’t know much about Castro, but she’s been in the doubles lineup pretty much all season so there’s something there.  This team from Emory should overwhelm everyone they play and this match is no different.  8-3 Emory.

#1 Singles—Harding vs. Ward

This will be an absolute battle at court 1.  Harding has shot up the lineup from last year and is holding down the fort pretty darn well.  I’ve also heard that she switched from a one handed backhand to a two hander.  Which is disappointing for me, but seems to be working ok for her.  Harding will still slice a lot and give girls balls they’re not used to seeing which makes here a tough matchup for anyone who’s never played her.  Ward has been playing at the top of the lineup for what feels like forever.  It’s no surprise that she’s having a good season, but I think it is an especially strong so far.  Recently she has beaten Tsu, Ghosh, and had a big win over Likhanskaia.  I think that if this goes three sets then Ward wins, but since Cms has to play Williams the day before I’m taking Harding 6-3 7-6.

#2 Singles—Satterfield vs. Kuosman

This is another big matchup and one that Cms will have to take to have any chance for the upset.  Satterfield is a bit of a mystery to me.  Her freshman year it seemed like she won everything, then last year she was very up and down.  She finished strong which I expected to carry into this fall, but it didn’t quite happen.  This spring Satterfield looks to be playing better than at this time last year, but Kuosman also looks to be playing well with her recent nice win over Ip.  These two actually played last year and Kuosman took it in straight sets, but I think Satterfield is out for revenge.  Emory 6-4 2-6 6-3.

#3 Singles—Cosme vs. Brown

To anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, Cosme is the real deal.  As a freshman she made it through the minefield that is the Emory fall regional and ended up finishing 3^rd at nationals.  She backed that result up with a big win over Liles to start the spring which may get her into nationals even though she’s playing 3.  Her only loss of her career has been to Eudice, which is understandable.  Cosme would play #1 for 99% of the schools in D3 and having her at 3 is absurdly good for the Eagles.  Now Brown is no slouch, but I just don’t see where she wins this match.  The depth is where Emory is going to kill Cms and this is where it starts.  Emory 6-3 6-2.

#4 Singles—Rosen vs. Scott

Let’s continue the theme of players that would play court 1 for 99% of D3 schools.  Emory has a senior former #1 playing #4.  This is the deepest Emory team we’ve seen in a while.  Rosen has a perfect game for court 4 too; She’’ wear down pretty much everyone she plays there.  However, I think Scott is Cms’ strongest spot.  Scott split her two matches with Harding last year and that one loss was her only loss of the year.  She’s off to a similar strong start this year and Rosen seems to struggle a little bit in big matches.  Cms 4-6 6-4 6-2.

#5 Singles—Gordon vs. Cruz

We’ve got senior versus freshman on court 5!  I honestly can’t remember the last time Gordon lost a D3 dual match.  I do know the last time Cruz lost a D3 dual match.  The answer is she hasn’t.  In the last two weeks she has blitzed through Carnegie, Amherst, and Bowdoin.  This is the match I’m having the hardest time deciding on, so when in doubt go with the senior.  Emory 6-3 5-7 6-1.

#6 Singles—Su vs. Smith

Su played as high as court 3 last year and was winning most of her matches.  Like I said earlier, the theme of this Emory team is depth.  They’ve got more than any other team out there and I personally don’t think it’s even close.  Su has not played much this spring, which is surprising, but if she’s in then it means she’s ready to go.  I want to say that Smith will have a chance to win this because her results this spring have been great, but she got absolutely smoked both times Cms and Emory met last year.  So I’m going Emory 6-2 6-2.

There you have it guys.  I’m taking Emory in a 7-2 win.  This will be our first look at a serious match for the Eagles.  I’m especially interested in the doubles and how Emory competes at the top.  Those will be important spots if they hope to upset Williams this Wednesday.