The Texas Quad: Hosting Duties

THE TEXAS QUAD: Hosting Duties

D3 WEST INTRO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HoZNpPTRDU

Trinity TX Power 6: 71.43. Chas Mayer (12.54), Wilson Lambeth (12.22), Jordan Pitts (12.12), Liam Crawley (11.80), Mckenna Fujitani (11.37), Matt Tyer (11.38).

Midd (NO CUBA) Power 6: 74.79. William de Quant (13.03), Hamid Derbani (12.97), Kyle Schlanger (12.75), Timo Van der Geest (12.04), Allen Jackson (12.28), Alex Vanezis (11.72).

Emory Power 6: 76.86. Aman Manji (13.66), Jonathan Jemison (13.28), Adrien Bouchet (12.81), James Spaulding (12.44), Alec Josepher (12.12), Josh Goodman (12.55).

CMS Power 6: 77.03. Niko Parodi (12.83), Glen Hull (13.38), Daniel Morkovine (13.09), Patrick Wildman (12.85), Daniel Park (12.33), Max Macey (12.55).

#5 Middlebury @ #17 Trinity Tx, Wednesday March 29th,  5 P.M. EDT

West: I’m going to write this preview assuming Cuba is not playing, since he hasn’t been, and it’s probably the only realistic scenario in which Trinity can walk away from this match with a victory. If Cuba indeed doesn’t play, this is exactly the sort of opportunity Trinity sometimes thrives on: a short-handed top-10 team on their home courts (come to think of it, that’s the sort of opportunity a lot of teams thrive on). I wouldn’t say that Middlebury has exactly looked vulnerable so far this year, but they did lose three singles matches against Tyler (all 10-pointers) and two doubles matches against GAC. Put that together and you’ve got a 5-4 victory for Trinity! If it were to happen, it would happen like this: the upperclassmen take over the doubles court and Trinity takes a 2-1 lead with wins at #1 and #2 (Tyer/Lambeth and Niess/Mayer, respectively (I know Lambeth is a sophomore)). Mayer has a great day at #1 to take out DeQuant. Pitts takes advantage of a Kyle Schlanger that’s still acquainting himself with the top half of the singles lineup. Fujitani bucket-hats his way to victory at #5 with all sorts of grit and funky slices. All in 3 sets, and Trinity walks off with the stunning 5-4 win. More realistically, it feels like Trinity just doesn’t have the guns in singles this year, and Middlebury’s depth will ultimately overwhelm the Tigers. I see Trinity taking wins at #2 doubles and #3 singles and forcing a couple three-setters elsewhere in the lineup. Bottom line: after getting absolutely rocked by Amherst and narrowly hanging on to beat Gustavus, we don’t have much reason to think Trinity is going to win this match, but I would love to see them pull it off. Midd 7-2.

NE: The real question on Midd’s end is what’s up with Lubo Cuba. The D1-transfer and ITA winner hasn’t lost yet this spring, and his only losses so far in his DIII career are Leung (Skidmore which he later avenged), and a 3-set loss to Aman Manji at Small College Nationals. Lubo has been out all break so far for Midd, and if there’s any chance that he plays this weekend against Emory or CMS my guess is that Coach Hansen sits him again for this matchup. However, a Midd team sans Cuba is the best shot Trinity is going to have at an upset this weekend, and they will be playing on their home courts. Trinity is a team that usually plays good doubles, but they haven’t been quite as impressive this year as previous years with guys like Krull and Deuel at the helm. Even without Cuba, Midd should be a significant favorite in this match. The Panthers play good doubles (although their teams have shifted without Cuba), and Vanezis has stepped in admirably at #6 singles, going 7-1 against DIII competition and winning all seven matches in straight sets. Even if Trinity takes a doubles lead, which is certainly possible, I like Midd to do what they did against GAC and roll through a lot of these singles matches. The most likely matches for Trinity are probably towards the bottom of the lineup. Don’t let Fujitani’s low UTR fool you, he’s come up clutch for the Tigers so far this year. Tyer hasn’t quite lived up to D3West’s potential, but he’s got a monster forehand down at #6 and Vanezis could freeze up playing in the first tight important match of his career. While that all sounds well and good, I actually like Midd, even without Cuba, to roll to a surprisingly comfortable 6-3 win. They might go down in dubs, but 4 straight set singles wins should do the trick. MIDD 6-3.

#1 CMS @ #17 Trinity Tx, Friday March 31st, 4 P.M. EDT

West: Until further notice, we can assume that my predictions involving CMS vs. any ranked team are “X will take a 2-1 lead with wins at 1 and 2 doubles, but CMS will storm back and sweep singles. X could pick up a point at position Y, where player Z is playing really well right now, but expect a 7-2 or 6-3 CMS victory.” X = Trinity. Y = #5 singles. Z = McKenna Fujitani. We’ve got our resident historian, The Guru, looking through the archives to see if there’s ever been a team with this combination of Amazing Singles + Bad Doubles. So far, no hits on 1,000,000 queries.

All kidding aside, this is a well-scheduled match from Settles because it’s the first true road test for the Stags, and scheduling the lower-ranked team first is usually a good move. If Trinity can take advantage of their sometimes-rowdy fanbase and rattle the freshmen in CMS’ lineup, they could certainly put a scare into CMS, but I’m predicting a 7-2 CMS victory with wins at #1 and #2 doubles for Trinity.

#2 Emory @ #17 Trinity Tx, Saturday April 1st, 10 A.M. EDT

AS: This will be Emory’s second match of the weekend, and they perfectly placed this match in the middle of their Middlebury and CMS matches as a “break” of sorts. Not to disrespect the Tigers, but Emory is probably a few tiers above them this year, so expect a few starters to take a breather in preparation for the big kahuna, aka Sunday vs. CMS. It just makes sense.

What I Expect –

Emory will probably rest some starters in singles here. It’d be somewhat careless not to rest some players in the hot Texas sun before your biggest match of the year. Emory is fit, but they will need all they can get.  I do expect them to run out a full doubles lineup so they can be super sharp for the next day against the Stags. It also depends on how they do against Middlebury. Either way, they are definitely licking their lips for a potential sweep of CMS, so they need to come out strong. In singles, they should be favored in every spot in the lineup.  

I would also expect to see Hassan Kenawi or Rex Serituk play in this match. With Spaulding/Josepher suffering a couple lackluster performances recently, this is Browning’s chance to get a look at some of these kids in a dual match. Now, they need to make sure they don’t pull a Gustavus, as Trinity is a proud and winning program that can elevate their games. However, I do think the talent gap is too deep here and Emory should take this one fairly handily. Amherst did beat the Tigers pretty easily, and Emory took out the Hamsters.

West: Just a quick reminder that Emory scheduled Trinity last year and canceled at the last minute for undisclosed reasons. Rude. People don’t forget. Putting that little bit of salt aside, this should be a pretty straightforward match for the Eggles. Each of the supposedly untouchable top 3 singles for Emory have suffered a loss this year, so it’s not like they’re totally unbeatable, but this isn’t a great matchup for Trinity to try to pull off the upset. When the two teams played at Indoors, Trinity came within a couple points of sweeping doubles, but even that would not have been enough, as the Tigers managed a solitary singles set. If there’s hope for Trinity, it lies in a doubles sweep, a great day from Mayer against Manji, and an upset at the bottom of the singles ladder. AS mentioned the possibility of resting singles starters, and if that were the case, Fujitani, Oliver, or Tyer are more than capable of pulling off the upset, but I don’t see it happening. Honestly, I think that Emory will play some better doubles, take a 2-1 lead and never look back for an 8-1 Eagles Win.