The first back-draw matches just went final, and we finally got a taste of the drama that Indoors is known for. Since both matches featured teams from my region, and I wasn’t able to help with previews last night, I got stuck with mop up duty. Here are the box scores:
#8 Case Western def. #14 Trinity (TX) 5-4
#9 Pomona-Pitzer def. #11 Kenyon 5-4
Rapid Reaction
Starting with Trinity/Case, it really feels like my Tigers missed an opportunity to pick up a big early season win. After they took the lead in doubles, I really felt Trinity might be able to hold off the Spartans, but looking at the box score, the Case won 4/5 close matches, with the real dagger being Fojtasek’s comeback against Lambeth at #1 singles. The good news for them going forward is that they’re playing lights out doubles, and they were a mere tiebreaker away from sweeping both Emory and Case. The bad news is that their inexperienced guys are having a hard time in the middle of the singles lineup, and Matt Tyer, who at times was an effective #4 singles player last season, has gotten hit off the court in his first two matches. It might be time to bring in Kevin Lee. For Case, they’ve now split 5-4 decisions, and need a win over a senior-laden P-P team to justify their seed and consider the tournament a success. More on that later.
With regard to the PP/Kenyon match, I think it’s hilarious that people were writing Kenyon off, as if they don’t always find a way to dig a little deeper and keep matches close. Looking at their lineup, Kenyon really should be a top-20 team, and they finally played like it this morning. The top half of Kenyon’s lineup, which gave Wash U trouble yesterday, nearly helped them complete an epic comeback, but Yasgoor really saved the day for P-P. Pomona-Pitzer has now justified their seed, but a win over Case would make the whole Indoors experience a lot sweeter. Their seniors have really struggled in singles so far this year, but look for them to come up big in the big moments in the upcoming match.
5th Place match: #8 Case Western vs. #9 Pomona-Pitzer
To me, this is a really intriguing matchup of strength vs. strength. In five matches against ranked team this year, P-P is 10-0 at #5 and #6 singles. Case Western is now 4-0 at those positions. Both teams also have studs at #1 singles, and have struggled in the heart of the singles lineup. Neither team has been up to their usual standard doubles-wise this season, but mathematically speaking, one of them will definitely take a doubles lead in this one. I’m going to give the slight edge in this match to Case Western, but I really think it’s going to be a 5-4 barn-burner. I think Case takes 2 and 3 doubles followed by wins at 3, 4, and 5 singles with #5 singles being the swing match. Both Concannon and Mandic have been on fire to start the season, but something has to give, and I think the home crowd pushing Case over the edge.
7th Place Match: #11 Kenyon vs. #14 Trinity (TX)
Before the matches this morning, I think anyone would’ve pegged Trinity as the favorite in this one, but now I’m not so sure. The Tigers have definitely been the more impressive team in doubles so far this season, but they might need a doubles sweep to win this one. Their strongest singles spots (Mayer at #2 and Pitts at #3) will probably be neutralized by Zalenski (#2) and Liu (#3) from Kenyon. Neither team has been particularly impressive depth-wise, but Kenyon should be favorites at #4 and #6. Trinity freshman McKenna Fujitani has been solid at #5, but he hasn’t been able to get over the finish line, and he’s now played consecutive 3-setters. All that negativity aside, I just can’t bring myself to pick against The Boys (TM), and I’m going to take Trinity in a 5-4 squeaker with a doubles sweep followed by wins at #2 and #5 singles.
Good luck plowing through that Wall of Text.