POTW: 04/03-04/09

REGIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: 04/03-04/09

Another week, another slate of ridiculous 5-4 matches and incredible comebacks. As we inch through April, it’s again time to recognize the week that was. Why is this week different from all other weeks?

A-SOUTH

Player: Kenny Zheng

Team: Carnegie Mellon

Results: 2-1 this weekend in singles and doubles

Recap: While Kenny was mysteriously pulled out of his first match against Mary Washington after doubles, the match against Hopkins yesterday would have been way different if he did not play. Zheng notched the Tartans only doubles win as he teamed with Michael Rozenvasser to win at #3 doubles. In singles, Zheng found himself in a familiar place – he was the last match on in a 4-4 battle against a heated rival. Zheng took the final set against David Perez of Hopkins, 6-4 in the third, to give the Tartans a much needed win over the Jays and keep their tournament hopes alive.

What’s next: The UAA Tournament

Honorary Mention: Jeremy Dubin, Hopkins

What was the best comeback of the weekend: I’ll keep it within region and say CMU’s comeback against UMW. While I know that UMW isn’t the best when it comes to clutch matches, CMU gritted it out at the bottom of the lineup with both Prettyman and Zheng being pulled as well.

What was the most impressive 3-0 comeback of the year (so far): Everyone should pick CMS over Bowdoin, because Bowdoin is a freaking good team and taking 5 singles matches from them should be unheard of.

What all these 3-0 comebacks mean to you: It means to me that the gap between top teams and lower ranked teams is widening. While comebacks happen sometimes, some of these comebacks aren’t even dramatic. In the past, the anatomy of an upset would always start with a sweep in doubles. These days, those are few and far between.  Teams like CMS, Middlebury, and others have the singles strength to mow you down at 3-4 different spots, taking the pressure off of their close matches to get the victory.

MIDWEST

Player: Branden Metzler

Team: Kalamazoo

Results: 2-0 at #1 singles and 2-0 at #1 doubles

Recap: Can you believe I’ve gone this long without giving the man, the legend, the Branden Metzler Player of the Week honors? I’m ashamed at myself. Anyway, the Hornets’ senior continued his winning ways, as he has all season, against Alma and UW-Whitewater. Impressively, he allowed a whopping 0 games against Alma in singles and doubles (!) and is a huge factor for why Kalamazoo squeaked by the Warhawks 5-4 on Sunday, winning 8-6 in doubles and 6-2, 6-2 in singles. The senior is the central region’s best singles player, and I’m rooting for him to win NCAAs this year.

What’s next: The Hornets are looking to coast through their final five regular season conference matches before heading into the MIAA Tournament.

Honorary Mention: Mohanad Alhouni (Gustavus Adolphus)

What was the best comeback of the weekend: Middlebury coming back from a 3-0 hole to beat Williams on Saturday. Sure, the Panthers had home court advantage, but to run through five singles matches the way they did against a top 10 opponent is extremely impressive.

What was the most impressive 3-0 comeback of the year (so far): CMS defeating Bowdoin in the Stag-Hen final.

What all these 3-0 comebacks mean to you: “You hear about how many fourth quarter comebacks that a guy has and I think it means a guy screwed up in the first three quarters.” -Peyton Manning

NE

Player: Steven Chen/Cam Daniels

Team: Wesleyan

Results: 2-0 at #1 singles, 2-0 at #5 singles, 2-0 at #3 doubles

Recap: I couldn’t decide between Chen and Daniels, so I’m pulling a D3West and giving a joint award this week. The doubles pair helped the Cards get out to an early lead over both MIT and Williams this week, and then both Chen and Daniels made sure there would be no comeback. Chen dismantled Tyler Barr 1&1, and then beat Shastri 6&0 over the weekend, while Daniels continues his torrent pace, knocking off two highly talented recruits in Go and Taylor, and only dropping seven total games in the process.

What’s next: The Cards host Conn College on Tuesday, and then go to Jumbo country over the weekend to battle Tufts.

Honorary Mention: Allen Jackson (Middlebury), Gil Roddy (Bowdoin), Jordan Sadowsky (Williams).

What was the best comeback of the weekend: Given how easily Midd took care of Williams in singles, I’m shockingly going outside my region and taking CMU over Mary Wash. I know, UMW is without their #1, so this was more of an “expected” comeback, but considering all of the tight matches I was more impressed with CMU’s grit than disappointed in Mary Wash being Mary Wash.

What was the most impressive 3-0 comeback of the year (so far): It’s a common pick, but CMS coming back to beat Bowdoin was just ridiculous. Their 3rd doubles deficit of the tournament and 2nd 3-0 comeback in about 24 hours. That, and the quality of the 3-setters we saw to get the clinch, special tennis.

What all these 3-0 comebacks mean to you: What all these comebacks mean to me is that we will have drama throughout the rest of the regular season, and that we could be in line for an absolutely phenomenal couple weekends of NCAAs. At some point, one of these sweeps will come to fruition and a major upset will come to pass. Personally, I’m hoping that happens when it matters most! Couldn’t you see a Kenyon or a Trinity Tx upsetting a top seed after taking a doubles lead?  

WEST

Player: Wilson Lambeth

Team: Trinity (TX)

Results: 4-0 at #1 doubles and #2 singles against Whitman and UT-Tyler

Recap: Trinity’s big-serving sophomore was absolutely instrumental to Trinity’s success in key interregional play this weekend. Against Tyler, he and Tyer came back from down a late doubles break to drill a nail in the Pats, and he followed it up with a 3 and 2 drubbing of Vinicio Hadlich at #2 singles. Against Whitman, he and Tyer notched a quick win over Hoeger/Carter before he outlasted the red-hot Jivkov in two sets to deliver a key momentum-stealing victory and put TU up 4-2 en route to the eventual victory. Lambeth struggled at the beginning of the year at #1 singles, but he’s really come into his own playing #2, and of course, his gargantuan serve makes him especially tough to beat in doubles. With the victories, TU is in good shape to avoid the California region (unless, of course, UWW beats Coe and UCSC gets knocked out of Pool B, but more on that later).

What’s next: A home match against the rising Southwestern Pirates followed by a likely rematch in the SCAC finals the following week.

Honorary Mention: Daniel Morkovine (CMS), Daniel Foster (Whitman)

What was the best comeback of the weekend: I’m gonna go with Midd over Williams just because Williams never even sniffed victory. When was the last time a top 10 team swept doubles and proceeded to not even get close to winning the team match? Other than the one singles set they one (after the match was decided), Williams didn’t win more than four games in any set, and they were down an early break in pretty much every set they played.

What was the most impressive 3-0 comeback of the year (so far): This is a no-brainer. It’s obviously CMS’ win over Bowdoin. They were down 0-4 and needed to win four consecutive three-setters to win the match. It’s not even a contest.

What all these 3-0 comebacks mean to you: It’s a statistical aberration compounded by one team that has been especially bad at doubles and especially good at singles. Take away the three CMS comebacks and it’s like, “Oh yeah, we’ve had like four 0-3 comebacks this year. That’s about right.”

REGIONAL

Player: Spencer Watanabe

Team: George Fox

Results: 2-0 at #1 singles, 1-1 at #1 doubles

Recap: While the Bruins may not be having the season they hoped for, junior Spencer Watanabe has followed up his terrific fall season (where he won both the singles and doubles Northwest ITA) with a sensational spring. The man has lost one dual match in singles this year, in three sets to Fresno State, but he is undefeated in D3 play with a total record of 15-1 in all dual matches. This past weekend, the Bruins took on Willamette and Pacific, and Watanabe came out unscathed once again in singles, with a 1 and 1 win over Gunnar Lee of Willamette, and an impressive 3 and 4 win over Clark Wininger of Pacific. Watanabe comes in at #5 in the west in the most recent ITA rankings, so he should be in good shape to make NCAAs.

What’s next: George Fox takes on Whitman this Saturday. Watanabe should be taking on Zach Hewlin, currently #7 in the west, which will be a huge match.

Honorary Mention: Ben DeLuca (Lewis & Clark) – won in doubles and singles in a big 5-4 win against Pacific, clinching the match with a 6-3 third set win.

What was the best comeback of the weekend: Middlebury coming back from 3-0 down to Williams

What was the most impressive 3-0 comeback of the year (so far): For me, it is still the CMS comeback from being down 3-0 to Bowdoin in the Stag Hen. Coming back from 3-0 down to take out the defending champs was pretty darn impressive and made a bold statement. The Vassar 3-0 comeback against Rochester was also pretty good!

What all these 3-0 comebacks mean to you: It’s incredibly hard to upset favorites. I’ve been on both sides of a 3-0 comeback, and while the underdog is on such a high after a doubles sweep, once they come back down to reality, winning two singles matches against a favorite is really difficult. However, this is also why I love the D3 format. While winning two singles matches can be really hard, winning three of six against a higher ranked team is significantly harder!

REGIONAL AS

Player: Diego Marti-Vertiz

Team: Millsaps College

Results: 3-1 against Centre and Sewanee

Recap: Millsaps is a team that’s been cruising under the radar this year in the SAA, but after a big win over Rhodes last weekend and a nice 3-6 result against Sewanee, the Majors have caught my attention. They are currently 20-5 (yes, you read that right, 20-5) on the season and their top singles player Mr. Marti-Vertiz had himself quite a weekend taking down Sewanee’s Schober, a likely NCAA individual contender. If the Majors want to make a late season push in the SAA tournament, then Diego will need to continue the excellent play that he exhibited this weekend.

What’s next: The Majors wrap up conference play against Oglethorpe and Berry before heading to Little Rock, AR for the SAA tournament.

Honorary Mention: Jack Gray (Sewanee)

What was the best comeback of the weekend: Atlanta’s 26 point comeback win over Cleveland. Defending champion who?

What was the most impressive 3-0 comeback of the year (so far): CMS over Bowdoin in the Stag Hen final for sure.

What all these 3-0 comebacks mean to you: It means that no one is safe. Many coaches put a strong emphasis on a doubles lead and while it certainly is helpful, at this point, it doesn’t mean as much as it used to. The high quality of singles from elite teams seem to be what will bring home the title this year. *cough*CMS*cough*

REGIONAL NE/C

Player: Brady Anderson

Team: Coe

Results: 3-0 at #1 singles, 3-0 at #2 doubles vs Wabash, Rose-Hulman, and DePauw

Recap: Anderson had a huge weekend for the Kohawks, who left Indiana with three wins under their belt against solid teams, including a 5-4 victory on Sunday against #9 DePauw. The #10 Kohawks should move up in the regional rankings with this result, but curiously, despite being ranked behind DePauw in the Central region, the Kohawks are #36 nationally while DePauw is unranked. That’s another story, though. Anderson’s perfect weekend wasn’t easy, as he twice had to go three sets, first against Will Reifeis of Wabash, and then again against Dan Rodefeld of DePauw. The win against Rodefeld (#4 in the region) was particularly important not only because it clinched the match, but also because it solidified Anderson’s (#7 in the region) already solid case for making NCAAs.  On top of his singles play, the junior also did work on the doubles court alongside Nate Greiner, winning their matches by 8-6, 8-5, and 8-2 scores.

What’s next: The frontloaded Coe schedule is easing off for the rest of the month, with a doubleheader vs IIAC teams Simpson and Dubuque this Thursday, then matches against Luther and UW-Whitewater later in April.

Honorary Mention: Allen Sokolov (Vassar), Michael Drougas (Oberlin), Mitchell Sanders (TCNJ), Dane Pierantoni (Millikin), Eric Pohl (Augustana Ill.)

What was the best comeback of the weekend: The Angels coming back from 9-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Mariners 10-9.

What was the most impressive 3-0 comeback of the year (so far): CMS against Bowdoin in the Stag Hen final.

What all these 3-0 comebacks mean to you: Not quite ready to say this means all that much yet. I am looking forward to seeing if these kinds of results still happen once we get to NCAA time.