Regional Roundup – Upsets All Around!

What a crazy week in regional world!  There were upsets galore in every region except the central this week, though I probably missed a result there and D3Central will yell at me after I post this.  Of course, L&C took out Whitman and Deis took out Bates, but Swarthmore also had a historic weekend with two huge 5-4 wins.  Recaps of all those matches, plus what’s on deck this weekend, in this week’s Regional Roundup!

The Week That Was:

West

#39 Lewis & Clark def. #14 Whitman 5-4

After taking out #35 Pacific 7-2, Whitman took on Lewis & Clark the next day.  The Pioneers got off to the 2-1 doubles lead, winning 8-6 at #1 and 8-3 at #3.  I was pretty confident that Whitman would come back, especially when Phillip Locklear at #2 and Gary Ho at #6 took out the Barrows brothers (Gordon and Brenden), both in straights.  However, Harrison Collins took out Adam Rapoport 2 and 2, setting up three three-set matches to determine the match.  Zach Hewlin dominated Raed Attia at #1 after dropping the first, but seniors Kevin Ross and Daniel Hahm came through for the Pioneers with two marathon three set wins.  This is an amazing win for Lewis & Clark, and might be their best win in over ten years (As D3NE mentioned in POTW, their archives only go back so far).  This also comes after the Pioneers lost 9-0 to Whitman in mid-February.  They still very well might be the #3 seed at the NWC conference tournament, given that they fell 6-3 to Pacific in mid-March, but they should certainly come into the tournament with great confidence.  A big congratulations to Coach Dreves’ squad!  Also, they have five assistant coaches listed on their website.  Very impressive.  To conclude, a quick shout out to sophomore Pim Trouerbach.  Although the 6-8 big man has been in and out of the lineup his first couple of years, his hair is 100% second to none.

Central

#30 Denison def. #40 Oberlin 5-4

#40 Oberlin def. NYU 5-4

Oberlin College, who I guess I’m responsible for covering now that they are ranked #40 somehow, had a busy weekend of action, falling 5-4 to #30 Denison and taking out the NYU Violets 5-4.  First of all, what is a Yeomen?  Now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at the Denison match.  This match was an absolute battle!  Denison took 2 doubles matches which ultimately proved the difference, with a 9-7 win at 3^rd doubles.  Denison lost in close straight set matches at #3 and #5, but the one match that they could have had was at #1, where Michael Drougas lost to Kevin Brown of Denison, 6-0, 6-7, 6-3.  Denison pulled out the win by the thinnest of margins in this one on Oberlin’s home courts.

Oberlin bounced back the very next day with a nice 5-4 win over NYU.  The Violets actually came out with the doubles lead once again, but this time, the Yeomen were able to get it done in singles, winning at #2-5.  Drougas once again lost in three sets (to Sidd Thangirala), but Oberlin won in three at #3 (Callan Louis), #4 (Abraham Davis), and #5 (Robert Gittings).  NYU is a deep singles team and this was some incredibly clutch play from Oberlin to get the win.  For NYU, this was another chance to probably climb into the rankings, and this was nice justification from Oberlin for their #40 ranking.  Congrats to Oberlin on a very solid win.

Northeast

#32 Brandeis def. #22 Bates 5-4

On Sunday, Brandeis scored an excellent win, certainly their best this season, over the Bates Bobcats.  Although Deis does not play in the NESCAC, Coach Lamanna played under Coach Gastonguay from 1999-2002, meaning there is always a healthy competition between these two teams, with bragging rights certainly up for grabs.  Brandeis had not beaten the Bobcats since 2011, so Coach Gastonguay has had the last laugh for a number of years.  After Bates jumped out to a 2-1 doubles lead, it looked like this would continue, but Brandeis played some really tough singles.  At #2, Brian Granoff took out Chris Ellis 5 and 0, and at #3, Michael Arguello took out Fergus Scott 7-5 in the third.  The freshman Tyler Ng also continued his nice season with a 4 and 2 victory over Brent Feldman.  Pat Ordway of Bates had a good three set win over Danny Lubarsky at #5, and the match ultimately came down to a third set between two freshman, Josh Quijano of Bates and Jackson Kogan of Brandeis.  Kogan took it 6-4 in the third, and Brandeis pulled off the 5-4 upset.  This was a fantastic college tennis match between two solid teams, and Coach Lamanna has to be happy with two wins from two freshmen in singles.  This Saturday, Brandeis will host Vassar in the morning and Boston College in the afternoon, and Bates will host Amherst.  Also of note is that Brandeis gets good indirect wins over both Swarthmore and Mary Washington thanks to this win.  I certainly felt that Brandeis was a top 30 team even though the most recent rankings has them at #32, and they should certainly move back into the top 30 on 4/14 (unless they lose to Vassar this weekend).

ASouth

#7 CMU def. #25 W&L 8-1

5 days ago, the Generals traveled to Pittsburgh and fell 8-1 to CMU.  Except for #3 singles, where Zack Ely took out Vayum Arora in a super breaker, CMU thoroughly dominated this match.  W&L got no more than 3 games in a singles match except at #3, and CMU swept the doubles with ease, 8-6, 8-2, and 8-2.  W&L is hurting without Michael Holt and Jordan Krasner, though rumors are that both guys could be back before the end of the year.  W&L should be able to tread water in conference and still make the tournament, though they only beat conference opponent Guilford 6-3 the day after playing CMU.  However, looking at the box score, W&L dominated the singles (except at #6), so it was a fairly comfortable 6-3.  Hopefully, their top 2 guys can come back soon, because they are a completely different team with them in the lineup.

#27 Mary Washington def. #38 TCNJ 6-3

Mary Wash got back on the winning side of things with a 6-3 win over TCNJ.  After taking 2 of 3 doubles matches, the Eagles won in straights at #1, #3, and #6, as well as a super breaker victory at #2.  Chris D’Agostino of TCNJ won a nice match 2 and 1 over Derek Hagino, but everything besides that was either very tight or in favor of the Eagles.  TCNJ is a team that battles really well with a lot of schools, but they lack the singles firepower at several spots to compete with top 30 schools.  They are fairly deep and play good doubles, but #1 Pierce Cooper has been struggling lately at #1 with five straight losses to RPI, Haverford, NYU, Mary Wash, and Hopkins.  Despite this, they are certainly still a dangerous team.  Mary Wash will take on Chris Newport this weekend in a big ASouth matchup, and TCNJ will take on Skidmore.  Yes, I will preview both of those below.  I know you were wondering!

#24 Swarthmore def. #21 Johns Hopkins 5-4

#24 Swarthmore def. #27 Mary Washington 5-4

I’m gonna recap these in one paragraph because it’s 10am on Thursday and I have work to do.  Swarthmore had a terrific weekend with two 5-4 wins over two struggling ASouth powerhouses, Johns Hopkins and Mary Washington.  Both matches were actually incredibly similar, as Swat fell behind 2-1 after doubles to both teams, losing at #1 and #2, and taking #3.  In singles action, Mark Fallati (#1), John Larkin (#2), and Josh Powell (#6) had great weekends, as they all won against both Hop and Mary Wash.  Fallati and Larkin’s straight set wins over Mike Buxbaum and Jeremy Dubin were particularly impressive, but Powell coming into his own at #6 is very impressive for a team that I used to think lacked depth.  Not anymore!  Ari Cepelewicz at #3 won against Scott Thygesen of Hop 7-5 in the third, and Simon Vernier won at #4 against Patrick Hughes of Mary Wash 6-1 in the third.  Add all those up, and that’s two terrific 5-4 wins!  I used to think that Swat struggled at winning close matches, but they clearly turned that around this weekend with these two wins.  This was probably one of the better weekends in Garnet program history, so congrats to Swat!  They will take on Gettysburg College in a CC matchup this weekend, and have Franklin & Marshall on deck for the weekend after.  With the win over Hop, Swat is now in position to win the CC for the first time since…2007…if I’m reading the statistics page on the Swarthmore site correctly.  Regardless, it’s been a while!

The Week to Come:

CNU @ Mary Wash is the highlight of the weekend, but there are battles aplenty across the nation.  Keep reading!

Friday

Vassar @ MIT

Vassar is fresh off a victory over Yeshiva, and MIT is fresh off the 2016 Trans-Atlantic Challenge.  MIT ultimately lost 13-3 to Loughborough University in a weekend featuring singles, doubles, and even some mixed doubles.  I don’t know, I just don’t know.  Anyway, MIT will get back to competing against American universities in this match, and although Vassar is good enough to battle in this one, I think MIT will be just too talented, especially on their home turf.  Both teams traditionally struggle a bit in doubles, though Vassar recently won two doubles matches against Tufts, and MIT won two against Colby.  I like MIT to win two of three with their big hitting.  In singles, Vassar’s best spots have been at #2 with Dan Cooper and at #4 with Juan Felipe Laso.  Nick Litsky is also always dangerous at #1.  However, MIT is really good at those spots, as Alex Cauneac and Sean Ko have both played really well this year.  MIT does drop off a little at #5 and #6, but unfortunately, I think Vassar drops off way more.  7-2 MIT

Chapman @ Whittier

Quick preview of this west matchup.  Chapman is coming off a 9-0 win over Oxy and a 9-0 loss to PP, where once again, Brett Buford and Charlie Werman both almost won, and nobody else came close.  Whittier has had some decent results this year, with wins over Vassar (who Chapman lost to), Salisbury, and Occidental.  This is a big matchup for the SCIAC and West rankings, as Chapman has fallen all the way to #16 in the west, while Whittier is all the way up at #10.  I like Chapman to get three points with Buford/Werman in doubles, and the two guys in singles, though Sam Farmer (or maybe Andrew You) vs. Werman at #2 has the chance to be a really high quality match.  I think Whittier is playing much better at the other spots than they did in their loss to Cal Lu, and I give them the advantage at every other spot except maybe #5.  This is a good opportunity for Chapman, but I think Whittier will come through in a really good one.  5-4 Whittier

Saturday

#6 Case Western @ #37 Coe

In our power rankings, Coe has been hurt by their lack of any big wins, and close wins over unranked schools.  They have 5-4 wins over Rochester, Ogelthorpe, and Grinnell, and the win over Grinnell came down to a 6-4 third set win at #1 singles.  Although Coe does deserve credit for navigating a bunch of tricky matches, other schools like Pacific, F&M, and Lewis & Clark have jumped them with big wins.  I wish Coe had the chance to play some more schools (or any schools) ranked in that 30-40 range, because I honestly have no idea how they would do.  They’ve only played one ranked team this year, and it was a 9-0/14-1 loss to Chicago (they played a bunch of extra matches and counted it in the total team score).  Alas, this Saturday they will take on the #6 team in the country in Case Western, and with Case’s doubles prowess, I don’t think Coe has much of a shot.  I think Alex Bernt and Robert Stroup at #3 could be close if Bernt stays mentally tough, and I definitely give Ryan Hickman a shot against Louis Stuerke.  Although Dong and Dughi don’t do anything amazing for Case at #5 and #6, they are solid, and I don’t think Coe has enough strengths to overtake them at those spots.  8-1 Case Western

Vassar @ #32 Brandeis

Vassar will continue their tour de Boston with a match vs. Brandeis on Saturday.  Brandeis is coming off the upset of Bates and will certainly be trying to avoid a letdown, as well as all but guarantee themselves a top 30 ranking come 4/14.  Brandeis overall plays better doubles than the Brewers, and I like them to jump out to the 2-1 lead.  In singles, Nick Litsky and Ryan Bunis at #1 should be a great match, and I like that to go three sets.  Brian Granoff and Dan Cooper at #2 should also be a battle, and Granoff has been playing great lately, going undefeated against Babson, Wheaton, and Bates.  I like Michael Arguello over Evan Udine at #3, but I do think Juan Felipe Laso (Vassar) vs. Tyler Ng (Deis) could be a battle.  Both players are grinding extremely well at the moment, but I give Ng the edge right now.  Although Lubarsky has been streaky for Deis, I like both Danny and the freshman Jackson Kogan against Nick Lee and Jamie Anderson.  I think Vassar can take a couple, but not enough to stress out Coach Lamanna and the Judges.  7-2 Brandeis

#20 CNU @ #27 Mary Washington

This is the best regional match of the weekend, and you know what that means!  Just kidding, it doesn’t mean anything.  It just means that I preview it just like all of the other matches.  Anyway, Mary Washington has been down since Stratton Gilmore left the squad, as they have lost to Bates, Franklin & Marshall, and most recently, to Swarthmore.  They did take out TCNJ 6-3, so they avoided falling out of the rankings altogether.  CNU is coming off the huge 5-4 win over Hopkins, along with an 8-1 win over Salisbury. Their #1 David Reed is dealing with a wrist injury so his status is questionable at #1, where he would most likely against #18 Brandon Griffin, as David Lunding-Johansson has not played in the past couple matches, against TCNJ or Swat.  Mary Wash has been playing better doubles lately, winning 2 against both TCNJ and Swat, and I think Mary Wash will actually get the doubles lead.  However, CNU has been so good on the singles court lately, while Mary Wash has been up and down.  Steven Boslet and Chiraag Shetty were so clutch against Hopkins, while David Reed dominated Buxbaum after the first set, and I expect to see three sets at both #3 and #4 singles.  Eric Hurwitz and Justin Cerny should be a good match as well.  This match also looks like it could very well be played indoors, with 47 degrees and rain in the forecast.  Mary Wash has a great indoor facility so I don’t expect that to play a huge factor.  If anything, I could see it helping out a guy like David Reed whose big game plays even bigger indoors.  Although the courts tend to be a little slow, timing is just so much nicer with no wind.  CNU has been getting better and better this year, and I think they’ll take 4 of 6 singles, just like they did against Hop, to pull out the 5-4 win.  D3Regional prediction: 5-4 CNU.  D3ASouth prediction: 5-4 CNU

#31 Skidmore @ #38 TCNJ

The Lions have been 3-0 against three solid unranked teams (NYU, RPI, Haverford), but 0-2 against two top 30 teams (Hopkins, Mary Wash).  Tomorrow, they’ll get their shot against an in-between team currently ranked 31, although like Brandeis, I think they are sitting a few spots too low.  Skidmore started their year by almost pulling a crazy upset over Pomona.  After getting swept in dubs, they won four singles matches, with only one of those being a super breaker.  They most recently fell 6-3 to Amherst after taking 2 of 3 doubles matches.  TCNJ is fresh off a 6-3 loss to Hopkins after being up 2-1 after doubles.  Similar to Skid v. Amherst, there were only two close singles matches, as Jack August won in three and Mike Stanley fell at #4 6-0 in the third.  Both of these teams have played so few matches that it’s a little tough to predict this one.  Skidmore played such great singles against Pomona, but they also had some trouble with Cal Lu (four 3^rd sets, though they did win 5 of 6 singles).  I think both teams are pretty strong #1-4, but I like Kai Yuen over Pierce Cooper at #1.  I think Jack August (TCNJ) vs. Steven Koulouris (Skid) at #3 could be the best match, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see two or three 3-setters.  I know matches against common opponents isn’t everything, but Skid did crush RPI 9-0, while TCNJ beat them 5-4 by incredibly thin margins.  If TCNJ makes things tough in doubles, I think this match gets close, but otherwise, I think Skid is solid enough at so many singles positions to make it tough for TCNJ to win more than three singles matches.  6-3 Skidmore

Tuesday

NC Wesleyan @ #38 TCNJ

NC Wesleyan?!  Haven’t heard anything from the Bishops in a while.  NC Wes has been busy rolling through their conference, as they haven’t played a ranked D3 team since a 5-0 loss to Case on 2/28.  They’ll reset that clock with a visit to TCNJ on Tuesday.  This has a chance to be a pretty terrific match, though I think the strengths of these teams, at least in singles, are pretty different.  Sebastian Sikh at #1 and Ioannis Brokakis at #2 have both battled with pretty much everyone they’ve played, and I like the Bishops at those spots.  NCW is also solid at #3 and #4 with Mark Sokolov and J.D. Telles, although these are also two strong spots for the Lions.  I think TCNJ’s depth will reign supreme at #5 and #6, especially on the home courts.  NCW has the chance to get back in the national rankings with a win here, but I think TCNJ wins a close one with their depth and doubles.  5-4 TCNJ

That’s all I have this week for yall!  Stevens also gets back at it this weekend with a Sunday match v. Skidmore, and D3NE should be bringing you a preview of that one.  They can’t make me do all the work!  Just kidding, I barely work.  My favorite part about regional roundup is that when I finish writing, it’s basically the weekend.  Happy Friday!  D3Regional, out.