REGIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: 03/20-03/26
Monday means POTW, so here we go. If you missed it, check out the big articles: a mid-season review from the Guru and D3West’s State of the Region, giving major updates on the current season so far. Also, if you live under a rock (or never visit our homepage), check out our 1st ever Blog Podcast featuring AVZ (AKA old D3Central), and Wesleyan’s Head Coach Mike Fried. Given that it’s officially springtime, I’ve decided to go floral…I apologize in advance
A-SOUTH
Player: Matt “March Madness” Miles
Team: Mary Washington
Results: 2-1 @ #2 doubles, 3-0 @ #1 and #2 singles
Recap: Even though “M” is the current theme right now, Matt Miles is all about dem W’s. That was cheesy, but it doesn’t matter, because Matt Miles was a revelation this weekend. Prior to the season I questioned whether or not Mary Wash would have a strong #2 singles player and Miles has answered that question. In matches against Bates, CNU, and F&M, Miles took out Chris Ellis in three sets, Justin Cerny in straights, and Jack Rothman (#1 singles) of F&M. Not to mention, Miles also went 2-1 at #2 doubles. Hats off to Miles for a great weekend where UMW went 3-0.
What’s next: The usual UMW stuff
Honorary Mention: David Perez (Hopkins), Simon Vernier (Swarthmore)
Your favorite March Madness commercial: My favorite commercial is the one where you press another channel on your remote to go to another game during the commercial break.
Your least favorite March Madness commercial: See above for the amount I watch commercials.
CENTRAL/MIDWEST
Player: Bobby Bethke
Team: Chicago
Results: 4-0 at #3 Doubles
Recap: When we write about the UChicago juniors, it’s usually pertaining to the fantastic recruiting class, which includes Nick Chua, Peter Leung, David Liu, and Luke Tsai. However, a walk-on junior impressed me the most this past week. Pairing with Charlie Pei, Bobby Bethke went 4-0 at #3 doubles, including a crucial tiebreak win against Williams that helped claim a critical Pool C victory for the Maroons. Last year, #3 doubles was Chicago’s achilles heel. This season, it’s a strength, and a lot of credit should be given to the lowly 2-star.
What’s next: Chicago has a couple weeks off before facing Gustavus Adolphus on April 9th at a neutral location in Wisconsin.
Honorary Mention: Rob Stroup (Case), Max Hawkins/Tyler Raclin (Chicago)
Your favorite March Madness commercial: The Capital One commercial with Charles Barkley, Spike Lee, and Samuel L. Jackson where Charles Barkley has his TV on a clapper system
Your least favorite March Madness commercial: The 60 Minutes preview about a segment on a high school chess team in Mississippi
NE
Player: Brian Grodecki
Team: Williams
Results: 5-0 at #1 doubles, 5-0 at #2 singles
Recap: BG had about as good a week as an individual can, notching double digit wins in the span of just six days. He contributed critical points in close wins against PP and Redlands, beating good singles players in Maassen and Wilson, and contributed two of the team’s three points against Chicago (including a 3-set win over Charlie Pei). The doubles side was just as impressive, as Grodecki paired with freshman Alex Taylor to go 5-0 at the top spot.
What’s next: The road only gets tougher from here, as the Ephs travel to CMS on Tuesday, and take on DePauw at CMS the next day. Mork/Gordy and Hull should provide strong obstacles to BG’s undefeated spring.
Honorary Mention: Sachin Raghavan (Williams), Ben Rosen (Bates), Luke Tercek (Bowdoin), Allen Jackson (Midd).
Your favorite March Madness commercial: Steaks on a Plane. All the Charles commercials are great, especially the layers of clothing commercial, and while nothing will ever beat “In the Annapolis,”
Your least favorite March Madness commercial: If I have to “not miss a thing” one more time…
WEST
Player: Daniel Morkovine
Team: CMS
Results: 4-0 at #1 doubles and #2-3 singles against Chicago and UCSC
Recap: It seems strange that this is the first time a Stag has gotten POTW, but it’s not strange at all that Mork is the guy to get it. The steady senior has been a rock for CMS all year, and he helped them secure yet another top 5 win against Chicago with a couple key victories. He and Julian Gordy got their returns going late for a rare CMS doubles win against Chicago’s freshman K’s (Kumar/Kerrigan). He then handed Luke Tsai his first singles loss since the Paleozoic era. Against Cruz, he and Gordy overcame an early break to hand Chad Stone and Ryan Dugan an L. He then beat another Chad (Le Duff) handily at #2 singles for yet another clinch.
What’s next: Not a whole lot, just four matches against top 20 teams, including two more national championship contenders (Midd and Emory in Tejas)
Honorary Mention: Tom Suchodolski (Redlands), Joey Fischer (UTT)
Your favorite March Madness commercial: The Toyota wheelchair basketball commercial had me cutting onions
Your least favorite March Madness commercial: Anything with Jennifer Garner
REGIONAL
Player: Alexis Dimanche
Team: Southwestern
Results: 4-0 at #2 singles, 2-2 at #2 doubles
Recap: Dimanche is a freshman for the up and coming Southwestern Pirates, who I basically paid zero attention to until about a week ago. The Pirates had wins over Whittier, Cal Lu, and Occidental earlier in March, but their 5-4 loss to UT-Tyler is what really opened our eyes to Southwestern as a true team to watch. Dimanche, who hails from France, was right in center of all of this, having an undefeated week at #2 singles against Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Linfield, and most impressively UT-Tyler and Middlebury. Against Tyler, Dimanche had an easy win over Vinicio Hadlich, 4 and 1. Yesterday, he took out Kyle Schlanger of Midd, 7-6 in the third. Dimanche actually had a terrific fall, making the semis of the Southwest ITA tournament, with wins over three Trinity players including Wilson Lambeth. He has a record of 12-1 this year at #2 singles, with the one loss being to Julian Gordy of CMS. In the 12 wins, Dimanche has lost a total of one set (against Schlanger), and has wins against Cal Lu, Occidental, Whitter, and UT-Tyler in that span. That’s an incredibly consistent track record and I can’t wait to start following Dimanche and the Southwestern Pirates more the rest of this year and in the seasons to come.
What’s next: Southwestern takes on Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota this Wednesday! After the 5-4 loss to UT-Tyler, I’m excited to see what the Pirates can do in this one.
Honorary Mention: Carl Reid (Colby)
Your favorite March Madness commercial: Any Capital One commercial with Charles Barkley and Samuel L. Jackson but I really like the one where Jackson claps his hands in Barkley’s house and the power goes out.
Your least favorite March Madness commercial: I’ve been streaming most games with various apps because I don’t have cable so my brain pretty much just tunes out unless it’s one of the Capital One commercials
REGIONAL AS
Player: William Persson
Team: Stevens
Results: 2-0 (4 Singles, 3 Doubles) in 4-5 loss to Swarthmore
Recap: Persson was really the lone bright spot in a very cloudy day for the Ducks. Swarthmore has done a whole lot of nothing this year and was really a great opportunity for Stevens to get their feet back under them. Despite the Ducks disappointing yet again, Persson was able to snag a singles and doubles win. The doubles win is probably more impressive since Persson did not see much action doubles action last season and 3 doubles has been one of the more consistent spots for the Garnet. If the Ducks are going to rally late in the season, they will need the depth to continue to be consistent and the top of the lineup to figure something out.
What’s next: A couple of nice warm up conference matches before a date with Skidmore up in Saratoga Springs next Sunday
Honorary Mention: Jack Gray (Sewanee), Kai Yuen Leung (Skidmore), David Reed (CNU)
Your favorite March Madness commercial: Haven’t really paid attention to the commercials, but Power Rangers was pretty good
Your least favorite March Madness commercial: The ones that interrupt the game
REGIONAL NE/C
Player: Jack August
Team: TCNJ
Results: 3-0 at #2 doubles and 3-0 at #2 singles
Recap: Here we are, almost 25% done with 2017, and I’m giving POTW honors to a guy that began his college tennis career way back in 2011. And just like a fine wine or a sturdy cast iron pan, Mr. August seems to only get better with age, putting together a monster week as he wraps up his long and illustrious career. August won two points for TCNJ in their big win over Kalamazoo on Tuesday, defeating Daniel Henry in straight sets to get the Lions their fourth of five points. On Saturday, he notched his 100th career victory in epic fashion, topping Sam Leeman of Rochester 6-3, 3-6, 19-17, then finished the week off with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-0 win against Jonah Salita of Hobart. On the doubles court, August paired with Mike Stanley to win 8-3 over Kzoo as part of TCNJ’s sweep, then joined with Chris D’Agostino for an 8-5 win over Rochester before reuniting with Stanley for an 8-3 win against Hobart. Even though I’ve already given POTW to a TCNJ player this spring, Mr. August’s week was too good to pass up.
What’s next: A huge midweek match on Wednesday against NYU before heading down I-95 to play Mary Washington on Saturday.
Honorary Mention: Nate Parsons (Luther), Alberto De Mendiola (Babson), Brendan Boudreau (College of St. Scholastica)
Your favorite March Madness commercial: I’ve been too busy following D3 Tennis to watch much college basketball this year.
Your least favorite March Madness commercial: I’m assuming they still show the commercials where they say, “There are over 300,000 NCAA student-athletes, and almost all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.” I used to hate those. My twelve-year-old self wanted to dream of turning pro after college, and I didn’t need the NCAA reminding me of how unrealistic that was.