Regional Roundup – Spring Break Recap and the Weekend Ahead

Alright Regional tennis fans, now specifically from New England and the West coast, I’m back at you with another article.  We will start off with a recap of the Brandeis Judges spring break, where they came away with a record of 3-2.  I’ll then take a shot at previewing the weekend to come, where we’ve got matches in the West, New England, and nowhere in between because I don’t cover those teams.  Actually, I lied, I’m talking a little bit about Stevens but they will be in Boston so it doesn’t count.  Let’s get it going.

Brandeis Recap:

If I had to pick one word to describe the Judges’ spring break, it would be “potential”.  They had some really good moments, like cruising to an 8-1 win over an up-and-coming Caltech team and getting all their guys matches in a split squad match against Glendale CC and Whittier, which is

always good for team chemistry as long as you don’t lose!  Luckily, the Judges jumped out to doubles leads in both matches and cruised from there, with a bunch of young Judges getting their first dual match wins in the process.

Things went south for the Judges at approximately 3pm local time on 2/24, when Redlands jumped out to a 3-0 doubles lead.  I had picked the Judges to upset the Bulldogs, but I had also picked them to get out to a 2-1 doubles lead, which definitely was not the case.  Brandeis took close three-setters at #3 and #4, but Redlands took the rest of the matches in straight sets, winning easily at #5 and #6.  Ultimately, Brandeis is strong in singles, but if they are to upset a team ranked ahead of them, they need a lead after doubles.

In one of the better segues I’ve written, Brandeis did get that sought-after doubles lead the next day against CMS.  The Stags did take on Bates earlier the day, and was only playing about half their lineup, but a 2-1 doubles lead against the #6 team in the country is very good.  Seniors Jeff Cherkin/Brian Granoff did lose their second consecutive match by a score of 8-3, so I wonder if Coach Lamanna will tinker with that position in their next match.  In singles, Brandeis won very good three set matches at #3 (Brian Granoff) and #5 (Jackson Kogan).  Zach Cihlar vs. Jake Williams was a battle at #6, with some extremely long points on the live-stream, but the Stag ultimately pulled through in a tough straight-setter.  Brandeis was overmatched by Glenn Hull and Daniel Morkovine at #1 and #2, so #6 was really the main shot they had to take this match.  Ultimately, this was a strong way for Brandeis to close out their spring break given the disappointing result against Redlands the day before.  Even though they had a great chance in this match to score a huge upset, even if it was against half the Stags starting lineup, Brandeis should look to take some positives away for the rest of their season.

Saturday:

#30 Stevens @ #32 Brandeis:

The Judges get back after things with a match against the good old Stevens Ducks, a blog favorite.  Brandeis is technically the underdog in this match as far as ITA ranking goes, but they are the favorites in every other measurement I can think of.  Brandeis has the stronger UTR power 6 ranking by a score of 71 to 66, and Stevens is reeling a bit after a 9-0 loss to

Sewanee.  This match will more than likely take place on the Brandeis indoor courts, as I see a high of 17 degrees in the Boston area, which should give Brandeis another small advantage.  If Brandeis gets a doubles lead, I think they should cruise, as Brandeis looks to be favored, at least by UTR standards, in every singles match.  I am going to go with a 7-2 Brandeis victory, with the Ducks getting wins at #3 doubles and #5 singles.  D3RegionalASouth (what a mouthful) agrees and is going with an 8-1 Judge victory, “with the lone win coming at like 4 singles”.  Thanks for the insight RegAS!

Caltech @ #6 CMS:

Caltech (I think I finally have the Caltech being one word thing down) gets back after things with a morning match at CMS.  The Stags will also take on Concordia in the afternoon, so who knows what lineup the Stags will throw out there, but whatever happens, they should be pretty heavily favored.  There are a couple of interesting things to watch though.  One is if CMS can turn their doubles play around after losing 2 of 3 doubles to both Bates and Brandeis.  Caltech isn’t exactly crushing it on the doubles court though as they’ve lost 5 of 6 doubles matches to Cal Lu and Brandeis this year so I definitely favor the Stags to rebound.  Another thing to watch is if Ruthwick Pathireddy at #1 singels for Caltech can continue the strong start to his season, likely against Glenn Hull where he will be a big underdog.  He does have wins against Ransom Braaten (Cal Lu) and Michael Arguello (Brandeis) already this spring though, so he is playing well, and it will be a good chance for Pathireddy to potentially get ranked in the west.  I will go with a 9-0 CMS victory, as I think the Stags are going to bring it in doubles after losing 4 of 6 last weekend.

Cal Lutheran @ Whittier:

This match has the potential to be absolutely excellent, as I think Cal Lu and Whittier are pretty darn even.  Their Power 6 ratings are within a point (Cal Lu at 64, Whittier at 65), though the Cal Lu rating looks a little

out of date as Gio Valdez and Jesper Lunding-Johanssen are still on there, and I believe they have graduated, and sophomore transfer Ransom (awesome name) Braaten is not on there.  I do think Braaten vs. Andrew You at #1 will be a very good match.  Braaten took out Chad Stone from UCSC 1 and 1, though he’s also lost to Ruthwick Pathireddy from Caltech and Jake Yasgoor from Pomona-Pizzeria.  Speaking of the Hens, Cal Lu did force the Hens into two super-breakers at #2 and #3 singles, but they also lost every set to UCSC that wasn’t at #1 singles.  Whittier forced two third sets against Brandeis, and won at #4 singles, but were also swept easily in doubles.  Basically, I have no idea how to pick this match.  I think it will be close, especially at #1-6 singles.  That was a joke but also not really.  I think whoever takes the doubles lead will have the inside path to the 5-4 win via a singles split.  Cal Lu is a little more battle-tested at this point, but I am leaning Whittier due to the home court advantage.  Give me the Poets by a score of 5-4.

Sunday:
#30 Stevens @ Babson:

We head back to the Boston area as Stevens continues their New England travels with a match at the Babson Beavers.  #GoBabo is what the Beavers say and this is a terrific chance for them to grab a ranked

win, and Stevens likely needs to win to maintain their top 30 ranking.  Despite the Babson home court advantage, I do think Stevens is the slight favorite here, just due to their experience.  Let’s do a quick UTR singles matchup, why don’t we:

1 singles: Danny Polk (Stevens) – 11.64 vs. Alberto De Mendiola (Babson) – 12.05

2 singles: Kyle Henry (Stevens) – 10.66 vs. Brandon Rosenbluth (Babson) – 10.77

3 singles: Michael Feldman (Stevens) – 11.10 vs. Dan Levitan (Babson) – 10.93

4 singles: David Schulz (Stevens) – 10.62 vs. Ben Roque (Babson) – 11.07

5 singles: William Persson (Stevens) – 10.67 vs. Connor Chin (Babson) – 9.84

6 singles: Kyle Cenderelli (Stevens) – 10.22 vs. Ho Wang Alastair Ng (Babson) – 10.08

I don’t know what this proves but it shows initiative on my part, I guess.  I think Babson has the advantage at the top with Mendiola and Rosenbluth, but I think Stevens has the experience at #5-6.  #3-4 singles will be huge unless one team grabs a doubles sweep.  I think Stevens takes a 2-1 doubles lead and wins 4 singles matches for the 6-3 victory.  RegASouth is in agreement and is going with a 5-4 Ducks win.  That’s all Polks.

Regional Roundup also would never be complete without a quick visit to the great Northwest (Conference).  #34 Pacific has a couple matches against Whitworth and Linfield, and should be favored in both, with the Whitworth match probably being a little closer.  #33 Lewis & Clark will also host Linfield on Saturday, and the George Fox Bruins look to have the weekend off.

That’s all I have for this weekend!  The rest of the bloggers should be coming at ya with a weekend preview article of their own at some point.  Catch you on the flippity flip.