Man! What a great weekend of tennis. There was a little bit of rain in Atlanta that unfortunately caused some matches to be played to decision, but there was still a lot of good tennis. Overall there haven’t been any surprising results, but the way Williams and especially Emory beat Cms was impressive. In non Fab 5 tennis, Carnegie and W&L went to war. If you haven’t seen the box score check it out.
But now the reason we’re all here: Emory vs Williams. This is more than just a rematch of last year’s NCAA finals. These are the powerhouses of division 3 women’s tennis. This is what I expect the finals to be again this year and this is a great opportunity for all of us to get an idea of how they’ll stack up. I am a little biased for my region and think that this is one of the more well-rounded Emory teams in recent history, but Williams has always had the ability to step up in big moments. This one is gonna be fun. I might even try to drive to Atlanta to see it.
#1 Doubles—Fuhr/Lopez vs. Raventos/Shin
I don’t know if Fuhr and Lopez read that I picked them to lose to Cms, but they made me look pretty dumb. They beat Ward and Kuosman 8-0. Ward and Kuosman are a very good team, so that win is extremely impressive. On top of that, Raventos and Shin just lost to Ward and Kuosman. So this is an easy pick right? Wrong. The Emory Cms match was played indoors which really favored Emory, especially here where Fuhr can hit the crap out of the ball. Plus, I’m a true believer in Raventos being able to rise to the occasion. Oh, and did we already forget that Raventos and Shin are the reigning national doubles champs? At the risk of looking stupid again, I’m going Williams 8-6.
#2 Doubles—Harding/Su vs. Cancio/Atkinson
These are the two best #2 doubles teams in the country. No arguments. Cancio has a full year of experience at court 1 while Harding and Su are, well, just very good. Both of these teams just spanked Cms’ 2. This match could go either way, but I think the home court advantage gives this to Emory 8-5.
#3 Doubles Satterfield/Castro vs. Hart/Gancayco
This is a mismatch. That’s rare when the two best teams are playing, but I really believe it. As I’ve said before Satterfield is a two time All-American playing #3 doubles and Castro and her seem to be clicking. They’ve lost 4 games in their last 5 matches. Take a second to let that sink in. It’s not that Hart and Gancayco are a bad team, they’re just outmatched. Emory 8-3.
#1 Singles—Harding vs. Raventos
This will be the first big test for Harding at court 1. Like I’ve said, she’s jumped to the top of the lineup smoothly. While Ward is a very nice win, Harding hasn’t had to play anyone like Eudice or Raventos yet. This is a great opportunity for her to prove she belongs in that conversation. Once Raventos found her stride last year though she was nearly untouchable and she was kind enough to hand Eudice the only loss of her college career earlier this fall. Raventos is good enough to absorb Harding’s pace and will be able to expose her backhand. Williams 7-5 6-2.
#2 Singles—Satterfield vs. Gancayco
Remember when I said mismatches are rare when two good teams meet? This seems to be another one. Satterfield has played near the top of the lineup since her freshman year and made it to the semis of individuals last year. Meanwhile Gancayco has been a very good bottom of the lineup player. She had a nice win over Kuosman this weekend, but I really believe Gancayco will struggle at 2 all year. Emory 6-4 6-2.
#3 Singles—Cosme vs. Shin
This could be a big swing match and I’m honestly not sure what’s gonna happen. On one hand Cosme has been everything you could hope for from a freshman; she made a strong case for playing in the top of a crowded lineup with her fall performance and has backed it up this spring. However, this is the first really big dual match of her college career and she has to deal with Linda Shin. Shin has been a rock for Williams the last few years. She rarely loses and when she does lose it’s always to a good player. You have to go out and beat her in order to win. I’m really going back and forth with this one, but I think I’m giving the edge to Cosme since Shin has been out with injury for a few matches. Emory 4-6 6-1 6-3.
#4 Singles—Rosen vs. Atkinson
We’re back in that section of Emory’s lineup that just doesn’t seem fair. D3NEWomen predicted that this match will be 5-4, and while I agree it will be close, when I go through the matchups I just have trouble finding spots where Williams is favored to win. Williams is a very very good team, but Emory just seems a little bit better at most spots. Atkinson played 6 and 7 last year while Rosen played 1 and 2. Emory 6-3 6-3.
#5 Singles—Su vs. Cancio
Even though the matches weren’t played, according to the box score Emory has switched Su and Gordon at 5 and 6. Fun fact for you guys: Su only has two D3 losses in her career and they both came when she was playing court 3 last year. She has literally never lost in the lower half of the lineup. That’s maybe not so fun for Williams. Cancio is no scrub either though; she only had three losses in her freshman campaign and two of them were to Harding. This is gonna be a battle, but, again, Su is a little too strong. Emory 6-3 4-6 6-2.
#6 Singles—Gordon vs. Stone/Bush
I’m not sure who’s gonna be playing 6 for Williams. Stone has been playing ahead of Bush so far this year, but to me it looks like Bush’s results have been slightly better. At the end of the day I don’t really think it matters. Gordon is the epitome of what a coach wants at the bottom of their lineup. She’s mentally strong, doesn’t miss (or lose) much, and has that senior experience. Gordon is going to raise her level for the biggest regular season match of her senior year. Emory 6-4 6-1.
So I want to say that I know this is a pretty striking match prediction. Emory beating Williams 7-2 would be a huge statement. When I go match by match I feel good about my picks, but in my gut I feel like this match is going to be closer. Emory is so strong throughout their lineup that Williams will have to play great and jump on every opportunity they get in this match. I think to win Williams will need to snag 1 and 2 doubles and 1, 3, and 5 singles. That’s if everything goes perfectly. Emory is hungry for revenge and playing on their home courts though, so I don’t see it happening. Plus I’m an ASouth homer. Whatever the score ends up being, this will be one of the most exciting regular season matches of the year. If you aren’t pumped for this then I’m not sure why you’re here. Peace.
Just happened to be in Atlanta and ran over to watch the Emory/Williams match. Glad I did! It was a great match with some amazing tennis to the end. I give Williams coach a lot of credit for truly challenging and relying on her 3 young sophs to carry her team and play never-give-up tennis. What a bunch of recruits!! Sorry to say, the Emory coach, on the other hand, seemed to have her players playing out of position in order to get a win, not for the real challenge. Harding should not have played 5 last season and then 1 this year in front of Satterfield and Rosen. Really easy win for Raventos, but harding at 1 pushed all the Emory strength down in the lineup. But happy to see in the end, that Gancayco took her match in an amazing 3 set battle and what an amazing fight for the win, from the very underestimated Cancio at playing at 5, against Su. The fact that Williams walked away with 4 against that Emory lineup, was a win in itself for Swain. Only thing that I think might have moved the win over Williams way was a Cancio/ Gancayco team at 2 doubles. Atkinson is good, but Cancio with a Gancayco might have been a better and much more aggressive match up against the stronger Emory 2 team.
Glad you enjoyed the match! The Emory lineup seems…interesting to say the least. Bea Rosen at 4? Cmon. Any idea what happened to Melissa Goodman? She seemed to be holding her own in the middle of the lineup pretty well last year.
Harding has played No. 1 all season and her only other D3 loss was a 3-setter against her teammate Cosme at Regional finals of ITA, where she also beat her teammate Rosen in the QF. Satterfield has been much less consistent this season. Before Raventos Harding’s only losses have been to non D3 players, and even won convincingly at No. 1 against DI Northern Arizona and highly ranked D2 Columbus State. Raventos is an amazing player and beat Harding soundly. You make it sound like she was placed there as a sacrificial lamb to push everyone else down, but her results speak for themselves. Harding was nearly unbeatable as a freshman last year at her position and earned her way to the top of the lineup. Congratulations to Emory on a great match!
Harding is definitely a good player and is playing some great tennis, for sure.. No disrespect to her game. Let’s see how she does against Middlebury and Bowdoin #1’s. It will be fun to watch. Would even love to see a Eudice Chong/Harding matchup, sometime. But looking even closer at Wednesday’s lineup, Harding’s own teammate, Cosme, who beat her in Regionals, played #3, behind a not so consistent, Satterfield, who was still put in at 2. Cosme can definitely handle the 2 spot, probably even the 1 spot, but will win her matches at 3. Very talented player! Congrats again, to Emory for the win, for sure, but my ‘props’ still go out to Williams for walking away with 4 wins against that lineup. That was all.
I’m gonna try to give my thoughts on everyone’s questions in this comment. I was lucky enough to be in Atlanta to see the match as well and first off I just want to say I was very impressed by both teams. Emory and Williams are clearly a head above the rest of the field. Williams did a great job of continuing to fight for courts 2 and 5 after the match had been decided.
I disagree with Harding not deserving to play 1. As others have said, this was her first D3 loss this season. I think Raventos winning the way she did speaks more to how good of player she is, than Harding not being able to play 1. Gerger and Likhanskaia are two of the top players in the country. Even if Harding were to lose to them I don’t think it’s proof that she “doesn’t belong”. On any give day those girls could beat anyone in Emory’s lineup. Also, the fact that she played 5 last year is not a reason that she shouldn’t play 1 this year. In fact, Williams made a similar move with Pylypiv last year and I don’t think anyone argued that she didn’t deserve to be there.
As for Rosen playing 4 I think it’s helpful to go through Emory’s top 4. We have:
Rosen–Has played 1 before. Clearly a very strong player who is good enough to play at the top of the lineup.
Cosme–Freshman who ran through the Emory fall tournament with wins over Satterfield and Harding. Has no D3 losses this spring. Coach Bryant has a history of playing freshmen lower in the lineup than maybe it seems like they deserve (see Harding and Satterfield)
Satterfield–Has played at the top before. Made it to the semis of NCAAs last year. First D3 loss this spring was against Gancayco.
Harding–Had one loss all year last year at 5. Beat Rosen this fall and only has one D3 loss to Raventos this spring.
At the end of the day one of these girls is going to have to play court 4, when they could all play 1, and you could make an argument that they’re playing “out of position” no matter what the order is, but Coach Bryant spends way more time with these players than any of us do so I would trust her decision with the lineup. I think Emory is just very strong at the top this year. The fact that Williams split the top 4 with them shows how strong Williams is.
As for Melissa Goodman, I think it’s more of a case of Emory being a good team than her “losing” a spot. I’m not sure who she would deserve to replace who’s in their lineup now.
Did you get to see it? I’d love a recap if so! There were lots of surprisingly close and surprisingly not close scores
Thanks for the preview! Will there ever be a Women’s Power Ranking? Please oh please?
I’ll make sure this happens. 🙂
What do you and West make of Ward/Kuzy’s recent doubles matches? Great win over Williams, but does anyone know what happened in the Trinity or Emory matches?
Lots of blog action in the last few days – great time to be a d3 tennis fan!
I’d love to hear NE Women’s’s take on the match! How do the UTRs compare? It’s mind boggling that Emory has a full lineup of 9+ players!
Here are the UTRs of both teams:
Harding (9.84) vs. Raventos (9.70)
Satterfield (8.89) vs. Gancayco (9.19)
Cosme (9.36) vs. Shin (9.43)
Rosen (9.22) vs. Atkinson (9.17)
Su (8.87) vs. Cancio (9.23)
Gordon (9.44) vs. Stone (7.92)