NCAA SEMIFINAL PREVIEW: #3 Middlebury vs. #7 Chicago
D3NE: On a day where Bowdoin came back from a doubles sweep, and Chicago overcame a 2-1 doubles deficit with relative ease, the 5-1 Middlebury beatdown of Wash U will probably slide under the radar. The Panthers dominated at #1 and #3 doubles, but dropped a tight contest at #2 in a tiebreaker. In singles, de Quant kept his momentum going with a 6-0 6-1 dismantling of Haugen, and was fairly quickly followed by Farrell and Campbell in straight sets to put Middlebury back in the semifinals for the third straight year. They will be favored over Chicago, but the matchup is very different than their matchup with Wash U today. The Maroons are strong at every singles spot, so a double lead is going to be key for Midd. They have a legitmate chance for the sweep, but a deficit might well do them in. D3Central is going to give you all a quick recap of Chicago’s quarterfinal triumph, and then we’ll move into our match by match preview.
D3Central: I am nothing less than impressed with what Chicago did today. They took care of business in getting at least the one doubles point they needed to stay in the match. Even then I was worried when they lost the breaker at #1, but they came out firing in singles taking 5 of 6 first sets. David Liu and Sven Kranz were huge and took out Hull and Morkovine who have been CMS’s most consistent point scorers this year. I fully expected the bottom of the lineup to do well and they did just that as Pei clinched at 4 and Leung took care of his at #6. Tsai didn’t finish, but I favored him in the third set. Overall this was a great win for the Maroons, but they have more work on their hands. I hope they come out and get a doubles match against Middlebury as that will make this an absolute battle in singles. Midd is capable of the sweep so the first hour of this match is of most importance.
#1 dubs: Derbani/Campbell (Midd) vs. Chua/D. Liu (Chicago) —
NE: Two good teams here, but Derbani and Campbell still haven’t lost since taking over as Midd’s #1 team. They ran off 7 straight games today against a more than capable Wash U team, and should be slight favorites again tomorrow. Midd, 8-6.
Central: Chicago definitely showed me something today taking CMS to a breaker, but I agree that the Middlebury team is one of the top 4 teams in the country right now. I don’t see Chicago as too far off and it should be very competitive. Midd 8-6
#2 dubs: Farrell/Smolyar (Midd) vs. Leung/Pei (Chicago) —
NE: Today was Farrell and Smolyar’s first loss since being moved down to #2, and it came against a grinding style of team with Jonny Wu. I think this Chicago team presents similar issues, and should be a good matchup. Can this Midd team really lose two breakers in two straight days? Chicago, 9-8.
Central: Middlebury definitely won’t see another grinding team in Leung and Pei as both hit big from the baseline. I partially think this match will come down to if they are hitting their shots or not and because I think Chicago needs this match the most, I am going to give it to them. Chicago 8-6
#3 dubs: De Quant/Schlanger (Midd) vs. Hawkins/Tsai (Chicago) —
NE: The surprise of the day has to be William de Quant. He’s been playing well all year, but he absolutely rolled his competition today, and that started with Wash U’s #3 team that included Jeremy Bush. Midd will try to ride de Quant as far as he’ll take them, and it’s tough to pick against that hot of a team. Midd, 8-5.
Central: Hawkins and Tsai still haven’t found the magic of last year and struggled against a beatable CMS #3 team. I have to go with Midd in this one. Midd 8-4
#1 singles: Farrell (Midd) vs. Chua (Chicago) —
NE: How can you pick against Farrell? You could put any current DIII player on the other side of the net and I’d still take Noah. Midd, 6-4, 6-3.
Central: Chua looked good early against Butts, but Skyler just knows how to beat him in the end. It went unfinished, but Butts looked like he would finish it. This is a matchup between two little guys who have a great baseline game. The Chua backhand will need to come up big to take out the speedy Farrell. Midd wins.
#2 singles: Smolyar (Midd) vs. D. Liu (Chicago) —
NE: If the match goes the distance, this one is going to be massive. Both guys are in the conversation for best player at their lineup spot (see our awards later in the week), and I think this match is going to end up undecided. Chicago leads, 4-6, 7-5, 2-1.
Central: Smolyar goes from playing Johnny Wu to David Liu. Those two guys back to back would be a nightmare in terms of grinding. Thankfully Midd clinched early. Liu took out Hull who I am very high on. I think this will be the match decider and I have Smolyar winning in three sets.
#3 singles: Campbell (Midd) vs. Kranz (Chicago) —
NE: Kranz over Mork in straight sets has to be the biggest individual upset of the day. Meanwhile, Campbell just goes about his business and wins. Seriously, you have to go all the way back to Midd’s spring break trip to find a match where Campbell took an L. I was impressed with Kranz today, but I’m not sure lightning strikes twice. Midd, 6-4, 6-4.
Central: Kranz has been the absolute shocker of the last few weeks for me as he has stepped up his game significantly. He took out Morkovine today with relative ease. Campbell is no slouch so I am torn between picking the Kranz of old and the Kranz of new. I should ride the momentum of Kranz, but I just can’t do it. Because of this, I am picking this match to be unfinished.
#4 singles: De Quant (Midd) vs. Pei (Chicago) —
NE: Yikes, so many tough matches to pick. Another spot that isn’t either team’s top strength, but would be favored against all but a handful of teams scattered around the country. I think this one ends up unfinished, but it could also be a decider if the match comes down to it. Midd leads, 6-3, 5-7, 3-1.
Central: De Quant absolutely crushed one of my favorites today in Jason Haugen. That definitely was unexpected. Pei on the other hand came up big in the second set breaker to clinch the match. I like De Quant here as Pei is still only a freshman. Midd wins.
#5 singles: Derbani (Midd) vs. Tsai (Chicago) —
NE: I’m going with my gut here. Call it regional bias or what have you, but I think Derbani rebounds from his mini slump and comes out firing tomorrow. Tsai’s recent results might show that I’m crazy (the dude has been pretty close to light’s out), but I’m taking Derbani to come up big. Midd, 6-2, 6-3.
Central: Tsai split with CMS today and Derbani was down to Bush. Tsai just knows how to win and I like him at #5 against most anyone in the nation. Chicago wins.
#6 singles: Schlanger (Midd) vs. Leung (Chicago) —
NE: This is a sneaky great matchup. Nobody really talks about Schlanger bc Midd’s top is so strong. He hasn’t last all year (even if Van der Geest played #6 against Urken and Bowdoin both times the two teams met). Leung playing #6 seems like a rough matchup for anybody, but I think Schlanger will hang with him at the very least. Chicago, 7-6, 6-4.
Central: Similar to Tsai, Leung is an absolute stud at #6 and really shouldn’t lose to anyone this low in the lineup. This goes to show the wealth of talent that Chicago has from top to bottom. I don’t know a lot about Schlanger, but I think Leung will have too much game for him. Chicago wins.
D3NE Prediction: Middlebury 5-2
D3Central Prediction: Middlebury 5-3