What up D3 Tennis world? While the UAA Tournament is always a fun one to cover and follow, it’s only the start of this period of the season, when we finally get to see how teams step up when it matters most. This weekend marks the tournament for the North Coast Athletic Conference, whose members hail from Ohio, Indiana, and Western Pennsylvania. This morning’s podcast with our own d3centraltennis, aka Adam Van Zee, and his former coach and current Wabash head coach Jason Hutchinson provided a nice little audio preview of the tournament, and while I highly encourage you to check it out if you haven’t already (link below), I’ll also try to break things down, starting with a little Q&A:
Who’s playing?
The @NCAC Men's & Women's Tennis Tournaments take place Friday – Sunday, hosted by @KenyonSports and @DenisonSports #ncacten17 #ncacpride pic.twitter.com/CUkl1VZG7I
— NCAC (@NCAC) April 23, 2017
What’s at stake?
Of course the big prize is the berth in Pool A and a trip to the NCAA tournament, which this year will be the only way for these teams to get in, as no one in the NCAC has any shot at Pool C. There are also some opportunities for teams to move up in the rankings, both regionally and nationally.
D3RegionalNEC, please give me some historical perspective on this tournament.
Since you asked so nicely, Kenyon has won the tournament every year since 2006, most commonly beating Denison in the final. DePauw, another challenger in recent years, only joined the conference in 2012. (Fun fact: DePauw actually used to be the SCAC, the same conference as Trinity TX). While the NCAC is like the UAA in that backdraw matches are played so teams finish 1-8 (though there is a slight difference…see schedule below), only recently have these matches had the same sort of ranking implications that they do now. The emergence of teams like Oberlin, as well as the consistently solid Wabash Little Giants and the much improved Wooster Fighting Scots and Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops has made it so every match this weekend should have some intrigue.
When and where are the matches being played?
It’s a heck of schedule, with matches being held at both Denison and Kenyon, and instead of regurgitating it, why don’t you just take a look yourself at the official schedule from the NCAC website.
With the basics out of the way, let’s take a look at the teams and what to expect from each:
The Favorite:
Kenyon Lords (ITA Central #6, National #28)
First, I believe Kenyon is seeded second because they didn’t play Denison or DePauw, and beat Wooster 6-3 whereas DePauw beat them by a bigger margin. Not the greatest reasoning ever, but it’s not a huge deal and that’s what happens when you don’t play the other top teams in the conference. While Kenyon is obviously down this year from where they’ve been, they are still the highest ranked team in the conference, have the most big match experience, and in my eyes it is their tournament to lose. A rough early season stretch started off with a loss to Kalamazoo and then an eighth place finish at Indoors and losses to Amherst, UT-Tyler, and Trinity TX on Spring Break. More recently, they beat Lewis & Clark 7-2 and put a good scare into Carnegie Mellon with a 5-4 loss before going unbeaten in NCAC play, beating Allegheny, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster, and Oberlin. Their wins have not been terribly convincing however, especially a 6-3 win over Wooster, who they play in the first round tomorrow. They’re still the favorites to win the whole shebang, but if this is the year they get upset, it wouldn’t shock me.
The Contenders:
DePauw Tigers (ITA Central #9)
DePauw hasn’t had many eye-catching results this season, which is part of why they are not nationally ranked, but I think this is a team that on the right day has the potential to be very good. The Tigers play good doubles, and Dan Rodefeld has developed into a very solid #1, though he has also been known to have the occasional off day as well. DePauw’s depth is not bad either, and with the ability to win at any position, they are going to be a tough out in this tournament. If you listened the latest podcast you’d know this already, but Patrick Farrell, who has been out since he retired in the first set against Coe on 4/9, is back this weekend, and regardless of where he’s slotted he’ll give the Tigers some extra depth and another good shot at a point. I was surprised by their 5-4 loss to Coe and the fact that they barely got by Denison 5-4 a couple weekends ago, but despite those underwhelming performances DePauw still has a real shot at taking down the Lords this weekend.
Denison Big Red (ITA Central #10)
Denison and DePauw always seemed to get lumped together in both ITA and Blog Power Rankings, and for good reason. They’re both around the same level, play in the same conference, have the same goal of upsetting Kenyon, and start with the letter D. The Big Red have also not had a terribly interesting regular season, with 6-3 losses to both Kalamazoo and Lewis & Clark as well as the aforementioned 5-4 defeat at the hands of DePauw. Still, with recent wins including an 8-1 victory over Wabash and a 7-2 triumph over Oberlin, Denison seems to be peaking at the right time. A first round battle with Ohio Wesleyan should test them, as they went 6-3 with them earlier this year, but assuming they get through that they’ll likely have a competitive match with Kenyon on Saturday.
Looking to Pull an Upset
Oberlin Yeomen (ITA Central #11)
There’s a definite gap between #3 and #4 in the NCAC, but it’s closing and Oberlin will be looking to prove they belong in the conversation with Denison and DePauw. While a potential semifinal against DePauw is an exciting proposition for the Yeomen, they’ll have their hands full on Friday against Wabash. They did beat the Little Giants 6-2 back in February, but Wabash is a solid team with upset potential and I think this one will be tight. The winner will have quite a reward, as they’ll get a shot at two of Kenyon, DePauw, and Denison. Oberlin lost to Denison and Kenyon by 7-2 scores, but certainly they’d be more than happy to have another crack at them. While I’d be surprised to see Oberlin finish higher than fourth, they are good enough where all three of their matches will be worth following.
Wabash Little Giants (ITA Central #13)
If you’re looking for Wabash tennis commentary, today’s pocast interview with their head coach Jason Hutchinson and alum/blogger AVZ is your best bet. I think this team is going to come out fired up and hungry against Oberlin and like I said, I’m expecting a good battle. As Coach Hutchinson said on the podcast, this team has had some tight matches even when the score may not indicate as such, so look for them to once again go to work. A loss to Oberlin would drop them into the fifth place match against probably Ohio Wesleyan, who they beat 6-3 last week. If that match does happen, I wouldn’t expect any different a result.
http://www.division3tennis.com/van-zees-vault-podcast-ncac-preview-rankings-discussion/
Along for the Ride:
Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops (ITA Central #16)
OWU doesn’t have any real noteworthy wins this spring, but has competed well against a number of opponents, losing 5-4 to Wheaton IL and 6-3 to Denison. The best win for them was probably a 6-3 triumph over Wooster, which helped to get them to #16 in the rankings but also to get them seeded sixth this weekend. OWU has improved nicely over the last few years and has added to the depth of the conference, and while they will probably finish sixth, they only have one senior and should continue to get better.
College of Wooster Fighting Scots
The most impressive result for Wooster this spring was a 6-3 loss to Kenyon’s full lineup (I think, anyway), where they took a 2-1 doubles lead and Titas Bera, an underated #1, also won. Wooster’s another team that’s improved a bunch in recent years and it’s excellent to see for the conference, but they’re pretty much locked into seventh place this weekend. They beat Wittenberg 8-1 recently so the seventh place match should be smooth sailing, but unfortunately unless they pull the upset of the year and beat Kenyon, seventh is where they are poised to finish. Still, hats off for making the tournament and a solid year.
Wittenberg Tigers
This is my first time writing about Wittenberg and I don’t really know much about them. Their top player, Martin Mora, has had some nice wins of late, beating both Dan Rodefeld of DePauw and Kevin Brown of Denison, but beyond that Wittenberg has mostly been getting beaten handily by their NCAC foes. They qualified thanks to a 6-3 win back in February over Allegheny. I’d be shocked if Wittenberg finishes anywhere but eighth, as they’re going to be facing teams much stronger than them in both matches.
SNACK OF THE WEEK!
There’s always that one parent of a player who comes to the match with some delicious treat, often homemade, for the team. You all know what I’m talking about. This is a shoutout to the unsung heroes that make that happen, and a reminder to the bench guys not to eat everything during singles.
Prediction Time!
First Round
DePauw def. Wittenberg 5-0
Kenyon def. Wooster 5-1
Denison def. OWU 5-1
Oberlin def. Wabash 5-3
Semifinals
DePauw def. Oberlin 5-3
Kenyon def. Denison 5-2
Final
Kenyon def. DePauw 5-4 (went back and forth on this for a while)
Third Place
Denison def. Oberlin 5-4
Fifth Place
Wabash def. OWU 5-2
Seventh Place
Wooster def. Wittenberg 5-1
Enjoy the tennis everyone!