ASouth here. As you all know by now, it’s #IndoorsWeek. That means you’ll be seeing a lot of me this week, as well as D3 Midwest and maybe even AVZ if his bones are feeling up for it. I believe this is the first time we have the same contenders from last year, which makes for a nice compare for us. While some of the teams have weakened from last year, I think we can all assume that things might get a little crazy from here on out. There’s almost always an “upset” in the first round of Indoors and I’ve got my eye on one match in particular. The bloggers are here to get you some previews, and I’ll be back for the mega indoors preview that you have all come to know and love.
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Emory vs Trinity TX
West:
The Headmaster just wrote a small dissertation below, so I’m just going to chime in with a couple numbers.
Trinity (TX) Power 6: 70.69:
Wilson Lambeth (11.86), Chas Mayer (12.38), Jordan Pitts (12.18), Liam Crawley (11.62), Clayton Niess (11.33), Tyer/McKenna/Lee (11.32/10.91/11.02)
Emory Power 6: 75.24:
Aman Manji (13.17), Jon Jemison (13.16), James Spaulding (12.31), Adrian Bouchet (12.45), Alec Josepher (11.79), Josh Goodman (12.36)
Basically, Emory is heavily favored at every position, but Trinity isn’t completely dead in the water. If we can look at last year’s Indoors as a model for “How to Sneak Up on Emory,” it’s going to start with a lead in doubles. If Trinity wants a legitimate chance at winning, they’re going to have to sweep, but Emory’s teams are all pretty formidable. Looking at UTRs, Trinity has their best shots in singles at #3 and #5, and Niess would probably be your best bet for a singles win. Nevertheless, Trinity always seems to perform well at Indoors, and I think they’ll make a bit of a match of it, taking #1 doubles and #3 singles in a 7-2 Emory victory.
AS: I’ve already voted for Emory in the polls a couple of times on different computers and I am extremely confident that they will take this first match with ease. Trinity TX is certainly not the Trinity TX of years past and that will show in this match. Emory has switched up their doubles teams from the fall, but each and every one of their spots is formidable. I don’t think I’ll go through a match by match preview for this one so I will just give my topline thoughts. The doubles match to watch here has to be #1 doubles, where Spaulding and Rubinstein will be manning the top spot. They’ll be facing off against Lambeth and Tyer, both doubles guys who have solid history of success at the spot. The #1 doubles question will probably arise for Emory all year round, which admittedly isn’t fair considering these two are extremely talented players. James Spaulding has taken a leap and you will read about it in my mega Indoors Preview coming out tomorrow. Emory has the teams of Renke/Bouchet and Jemison/Omsky at 2 and 3. Should be interesting to see that #2 team perform as neither were in doubles last year. No matter what, I don’t see a scenario where Emory doesn’t come out with a 2-1 lead at the very least.
In singles, this should be a quick one but I think there’s a sneaky chance that we get some challenges given the general lack of experience at the bottom of the lineup. As an FYI, the lineup is looking like this – Manji/Jemison/Bouchet/Spaulding/Josepher/Goodman or Shepard. Those bottom three spots will potentially new to the singles court so Emory comes in with a little more inexperience than usual. The top 3, however, had downright nasty performances at Indoors last year and will be the rocks of the Eagles lineup. I’m very very interested in what lineup Coach Browning throws out there. Josh Goodman is a senior and will probably get the nod at 6 but I am dying to see Shepard play which would be a nice treat. Look for those two to switch off throughout the tournament and maybe Shepard gets some run here in what should be a probable win.
For the top guys, Jemison and Bouchet are heavy favorites. They are also two of the top guys in DRAFTKINGS, for obvious reasons. Funny that it seems like the hype around Aman Manji has taken a back seat to some of the other guys, but he goes about his business in a way that only Manji can do. I don’t expect him to have many issues in this match (he’ll likely be playing against Lambeth, who struggled last year at #3 singles in this tournament. I’m thinking that Emory should have a clean sweep of the top 3 if they are anywhere near the level that we keep saying they are. The Eagles just want to take care of business here and gain some confidence going into a potential battle with a UAA rival just like last year. Give me Emory, 8-1 with a Trinity TX win at a doubles spot, probably #1 doubles.
Predictions!
RegASouth: Emory 7-2
AVZ: Emory 8-1
NE: Emory 8-1
NEC: Emory 7-2
Midwest: Emory 8-1
Wash U vs Kenyon
AVZ: This is my lone responsibility for Indoors articles other than staying on top of the other guys to get more Draft Kings submissions. While most might think that means I am free to write a long match by match preview, I will leave that to Mr. Midwest. I don’t think the secret is quiet anymore. The bottom line is that the Central region is quite down this year. I believe this to be true for two of the teams at Indoors, one of which is Kenyon. The Sam Geier effect is no longer there and he cannot carry the team to success. I have gotten a chance to watch Kenyon play a little bit this year thanks to their live streaming of matches and they lack the firepower at the top of the lineup that is needed to produce great results. The backend of the lineup is also surprisingly weaker than I anticipated. I expected them to control Kzoo at 5 and 6 and that just wasn’t the case at all. I don’t believe the doubles lineup is quite firm yet either as all three spots have had their difficulties. The main bright spot for the Lords is Austin Diehl at #4. I am not sure he will stay at that spot the whole year, but right now he is a stud in the middle of the lineup.
As for Wash U, on a national scale, I think they are weak at #1 an #2 singles. Johnny Wu would be a fantastic #3 and Carswell will hold his own at #2, but can he find significant success at that spot? Usually early in the season the answer is no. I do think he makes his way up to the top spot by year’s end, but not yet. The good news is that these two guys are stronger than Kenyon (Paolucci and Zalenski). The premier matchup probably will be between Diehl and Rada Vishnubolta at #4. Rada has had some early season success and I think that one will be the match to watch. I am a bit interested to see what doubles tandem Wash U will put at #2. It seems Jeremy Bush has been relegated to just playing doubles and will either pair with freshman JJ Kroot (potential mohawk alert) or Vishnu. I also will be looking to see who plays #6 for Wash U. It could be just about anyone and the Bears struggle to find a consistent performer there last season. Kozlowski, Engel, Berman, or even Bush are the likely candidates. I think the Bears need to be quite consistent at the bottom to find national level success the rest of this season. If Kenyon wants to make this interesting, they really need to sweep doubles, and I don’t think they have the horses to do so.
Midwest: AVZ provided his expert knowledge in paragraph form, so I’ll just do the match-by-match preview. One quick note is that Kenyon’s doubles lineup could be drastically different from what I project. Coach Thielke changed it up for the Kalamazoo match, but for simplicity, I’ll just write the names of the dudes that have played in these spots the most this year.
#1 Doubles: Haugen/Kozlowski (Wash U) vs. Paolucci/Roberts (Kenyon): Haugen and Kozlowski have played at the top since the middle of last season, and they’ve proven themselves as a formidable team. Regardless of who Kenyon puts at 1, they will be the underdogs. This season, Paolucci and Roberts are 1-3 at #1 while Noall/Zalenski are 0-1. Keep in mind that Kenyon has yet to play a top 25 team. Wash U 8-3
#2 Doubles: Bush/Kroot or Vishnubhotla vs. Hazlett/Noall: I think we actually could see Neves and Wu at 2, but since they played 3 in their most recent match, I’ll give the nod to Bush and whoever he pairs up with. This is another spot that Kenyon has struggled with recently, losing in their matches against Kalamazoo and Wheaton. Prior to that, though, Hazlett/Noall had a solid start to the season. I’ve got to think that the Wash U senior brings it with whoever he is with. Wash U 8-5
#3 Doubles Wu/Neves vs. Diehl/Kaye/Zalenski: 3 dubs has been Kenyon’s most reliable position this season. In their matches against Wheaton and Kalamazoo, the Lords only doubles victories came at 3. That said, Wu and Neves are complete studs, and although they were recently relegated to 3, I think they could have a monster year. This could be a close match, and while I think Wu/Neves are the slight favorites, I don’t want to give Wash U the clean sweep. Kenyon 9-8 (13)
#1 Singles: Johnny Wu (Wash U) vs. Nicholas Paolucci (Kenyon): I’ve always thought Johnny Wu had the game of a solid 2, so I was surprised to see he played 1 in both of Wash U’s matches this season. Neither of his losses were close, but he was playing some non-D3 studs. Paolucci is still getting adjusted to 1, suffering straight set losses to Ancona (Wheaton) and Metzler (Kalamazoo). I think experience wins this match. Wash U 7-6 (3), 7-5
#2 Singles: John Carswell (Wash U) vs. Jacob Zalenski (Kenyon): As I mentioned in my central region recap last week, all four of Zalenski’s D3 matches this year have gone the distance, and he’s only come out victorious in one of those. Yet, I don’t think he’s played a guy like Carswell before. At the same time, while Carswell should be the heavy favorite, we’ve seen some odd results in the past. As a senior, Carswell will bring his A-game. Wash U 6-4, 6-3.
#3 Singles: Jason Haugen vs. Michael Liu: Liu more or less came out of nowhere last year to have a fantastic season at 2. While he’s had a bit of a rocky start to this season, Liu is a large key to the Lords’ success. Meanwhile, Haugen has risen from 5 last season to 2 / 3. I think this is a pretty even match. Kenyon 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
#4 Singles: Radha Vishnubhotla vs. Austin Diehl: This is another match that I think will be close one. Diehl has been Kenyon’s most consistent performer this year, only losing a few games each match he’s played. Radha kind of came out of nowhere after not starting his freshman season, and although there isn’t too much to say about him at this point, Radha has probably worked really hard and is much improved. Still, Diehl has a lot of confidence going into this match. Kenyon 7-5, 7-5.
#5 Singles: Bernardo Neves vs. Max Smith/Weston Noall: Wash U is the deeper team, so I think that automatically gives them the advantage at 5 and 6. Coming into the season, I thought Neves was going to be one of the best freshmen in D3, and although he is starting lower in the singles lineup than I anticipated, that only means he’s an even greater favorite. There isn’t as much to say about Smith and Noall, given that the teams they’ve faced thus far didn’t have depth on their side. Wash U 6-3, 6-4
#6 Singles: Robin Engel/Konrad Kozlowski/Shaun Berman/Jake Klein/Jeremy Bush vs. Max Smith/Weston Noall: As you can see, I’m not sure who Coach Follmer has playing 6. But despite 6 being probably the weakest spot in the Wash U lineup, given the Bears’ depth, they get the advantage. Wash U 6-4, 7-5
Well, I guess I have Wash U winning 6-3, although I would not be surprised if this contest ended 8-1 in favor of the Bears. With Kenyon’s recent struggles, it’s hard to have high hopes for the Lords at Indoors.
Predictions!
AS: Wash U, 7-2
RegASouth: Wash U, 8-1
AVZ: Wash U 7-2
NE: Wash U 8-1
NEC: Wash U 9-0
West: Wash U 8-1
Indoors man, Indoors. We were able to torpedo out this first preview for all of you that are looking for more Indoors coverage. Looking for more articles? Just check back in teh next 8 hours or so. We kill it. So join DRAFTKINGS. ASouth, OUT.