Welcome back! Central and Northeast Regional Kickoff!

Well, here we are. Another year of Division III tennis is upon us, my second as a blogger. Don’t expect any sophomore slump from me, though. Like the Blog as a whole, I’ve got big plans for this season, and am excited to get back to writing, tweeting, and reading all things D3 Tennis.

First on the agenda is a quick run through of some of the teams I’ll be covering this year. I say some, because the list is LONG. I love to give credit to schools for big results whether they are nationally ranked, regionally ranked, or not ranked at all, so expect lots of shoutouts throughout the season. And, of course, don’t hesitate to tweet or email me results or info, because as much as I try, some results sneak past me. Anyway, I will keep the team-by-team details brief, since we’ll be getting to full season previews a little bit further down the line (though realistically not every team below will get a full season preview…sorry!). For now, let’s see who we’re dealing with and give each team a MAXIMUM of two sentences each (brevity is a virtue). Teams are listed in ITA Ranking order:

CENTRAL

University of Wisconsin, Whitewater
Despite taking a step back last year, this team maximizes what they have and still found a way into NCAAs thanks to a late season win over Coe. I’m interested to see how far their workmanlike approach gets them in 2018.

Coe College
Coe brings in their first three-star since Brady Anderson, and should provide some nice depth for the Kohawks. This team should be solidly in the mid 30s, and will be looking to avenge their loss to Whitewater to rise up from #39.

DePauw University
I believed that DePauw had the pieces to win the NCAC in 2017, but they weren’t able to put it all together. It’s going to be an uphill battle this year, and I believe it’s much more likely for Oberlin and Denison to surpass them than for them to top Kenyon.

Oberlin College
Oberlin has yet to bring in any really big time recruits despite the academic reputation of the school, yet they continue to slowly get better. With another modest recruiting class, I’m expecting another modest improvement, though it may not be reflected in the rankings very significantly.

Denison University
I’ve heard some very positive things about the Big Red, and it’s understandable with a four-star, three three-stars, and a two-star all coming in.  One senior and seven freshmen is not an ideal ratio, however, so while the talent may be there, I refuse to get too high on Denison yet (though I did already see some solid results at the Kenyon Invite last weekend).

Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
The Fightin’ Engineers are fondly remembered for their dramatic 5-4 win over Wheaton in the first round of NCAAs in May, though losing their top two players means even making NCAAs could be tougher this year. I’m intrigued by the improving Heartland Conference, where I believe there are legit challengers to RHIT this season.

Wabash College
Whenever I see the #WAF hashtag (Wabash Always FIghts) I think in my head “Wabash as f*ck,” which makes no sense but still sounds cool as hell. Anyway, Wabash sits at #5 in the NCAC right now, and I think they’ll stay there.

Wheaton College
I really like the Thunder, but losing Matt Steiner and Justin Ancona is going to hurt badly for a team that really struggled lower in the lineup. Dane Paulsen was a solid #2 but I’m not sold on him at #1, so overall I have to think this squad takes a step back in 2018.

Carleton College
Even after a year of blogging I still don’t know anything about this team other than that they went to Hawaii on Spring Break last year. They’re not going to beat Gustavus in the MIAC, and I don’t know if they’ll have they schedule (or just straight up if they’re good enough) to move up in the rankings.

University of St. Thomas
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t identify a team on only two guys, but the Tommies most recent success of note was Marty Beck and Luke Elifson’s victory in the ITA Regional last fall. Elifson graduated, so we will see what Beck and the rest of the crew can do.

Ohio Wesleyan University
Perhaps a bit of an underrated team, OWU is a very solid team for being sixth in their conference, and senior Shouta Fukamachi is a name that higher seeds won’t want to play early on at ITAs. He already notched a win over Denison #1 Kevin Brown last weekend.

John Carroll University
A team that ASouth is a bandwagon fan of, JCU must move on without the very solid Jad Abdul-Aal at the top of the lineup. Their website recap of their opening tournament at Kenyon described it as “baptism by fire,” so you can expect a bit of a rebuilding year for the Blue Streaks.

Luther College
The Norse had some great moments last year, most notably this legendary win over Grinnell. They’ve got four recruits coming in, including a two-star and a guy from Nepal, which is cool.

College of St. Scholastica
Serhii Tykhonenko is a nightmare to spell, but I should probably learn it, because the sophomore is a guy to keep an eye on after an impressive freshman year where he finished regionally ranked.  CSS won the UMAC which didn’t have an AQ, and I feel like I heard that starting this year the conference does offer a bid, in which case the Saints may be dancing in May.

Carthage College
They’re outside the top 20, but with Wheaton expected to be weaker, they have a shot to win the CCIW, as does Augustana. I’ll be interested to see what Herman Abban does in the Fall ITA.

NORTHEAST

Skidmore College
Skidmore will no longer be covered by D3RegionalASouth, and either myself or D3NE will have the pleasure of covering the Thoroughbreds. They’ve got a bunch of recruits, none of them too highly ranked, though there are a couple international wild cards in there for the Kai-less ‘Breds.

New York University
They’ve got the talent, with Umberto Setter back for another year and another very solid recruiting class coming in. Their win over Brandeis last year was huge, but the jury’s still out on whether NYU can consistently play at the level they are absolutely capable of.

Colby College
It’s low hanging fruit, but it has to be said that Murad and Reid graduating is going to hurt a lot. This is still a respectable team, they’re just in over their heads in the loaded NESCAC.

The College of New Jersey
This is a team with some grinders that can pull an upset, as they really don’t beat themselves. If Mitchel “One L” Sanders can continue to develop into a strong #1, the always double-adept Lions could rise in the Northeast rankings.

Hobart College
Let’s go ‘Bart! I’m on the bandwagon for this team that’s been improving slowly but steadily for a while now. The wide open Northeast ITA is full of opportunity for these guys, and I don’t think a Liberty League championship is out of the question.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
RPI underperformed last year, but with a year of experience under their belts and another crop of solid freshmen coming in, I think 2018 could be a bounce back season for the Engineers, and they’ll be in the mix with Hobart looking to knock off Skidmore in the Liberty League.

Stevens Institute of Technology
With Ithaca out of the Empire 8, the Ducks can sleepwalk into NCAAs. Unfortunately, the Heinrich and Foran days are only getting further away in the rear view mirror, and a regional ranking in the 14-16 range appears to be the new normal.

Vassar College
This scrappy bunch is feisty and has a flair for the dramatic, with several 5-4 wins last season. Three two-stars isn’t a bad class, but it’s going to be tough to replace three graduated starters, including Nick Litsky at #1.

University of Rochester
Like Stevens but on a lesser scale, the ‘Jackets are a step below where they were a few years ago, and about 17-18 in the region is where they will probably be for most of the season.

Ithaca College
Minos Stavrakas has some serious game, but I don’t know how much he has behind him to get Ithaca moving up too far in the rankings. Now that they enter the Liberty League their schedule gets beefed up, but I don’t know which team ahead of them they have the best chance to beat.

Babson College
Two three-stars and a two-star will be welcome additions for Babo, who return the underrated Alberto De Mendiola at the top of the lineup. They’ve got a nice schedule for the spring with some chances to make noise (and get De Mendiola the big wins he needs to make NCAAs) and I’m excited to see what the Beavers can do!

Whew, these articles don’t get any easier, I guess! Thanks so much for reading! We truly appreciate all the support from readers, and I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all those who have donated to us already. On top of the actual donations, it’s been a pleasure to read the nice notes from longtime readers.  

Alright, as always, feel free to tweet at me or shoot me and email with your thoughts on the year to come! I’m going to try to be more active on twitter this year, but it’s a lot easier when I’m not just talking to myself, so join the conversation! Have a great official last weekend of summer (unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case, Spring is almost here!)