Happy Friday! What better way to start your weekend than reading a blog post! Spring season is in full swing now and plenty of teams are about to embark on their trips to warm sunny places to compete in highly competitive matches against the nations best. Such an exciting time! It’s been a couple of weeks since I did a solo post, so I figured what better way to talk about the state of the region than power rankings. Some teams have exceeded expectations, while others have fallen slightly short. I know you’re dying to know who rose and fell, so let’s take a look!
#1 Sewanee
Ranking: #23 Nationally, #24 Blogger PR, #4 Atlantic South
Record: 8-2
Notable Wins: Kalamazoo (8-1), NC Wes (6-1), Coe (7-2), Stevens Tech (7-2)
Notable Losses: Kenyon (3-5), Mary Wash (4-5)
If I was grading the Tigers based off the start of their season, I’d give them a solid B. This is a program that had lofty expectations to start the season, but also had plenty of questions surrounding the young talent, as well as how the team would handle the loss of their
true #1, Avery Schober. Jack Gray has stepped up to the plate as the new #1 and so far, met the expectations. While he might not have faced any “elite” #1’s yet, he has shown us that he can hold his own against pretty strong player going 5-1 to start the season. My biggest concern however, is the depth of the Tigers, which I was so confident about in the the season preview. Against teams ranked in the top 25, the #3-6 spots are 2-6, but against teams ranked 25-40, they are 10-0 (2 matches were unfinished). I was very high on the depth of the Tigers and even convinced myself that they could be a top 20, possibly 15 team, but after the start of this season I think they’ll most likely remain put in the 20-25 range. That being said, I am still optimistic that Sewanee has the firepower to pull off an upset somewhere along the way this season. In the next week they take on Swarthmore, Whitman and Tufts. The biggest match will be against Tufts, where they have a chance to make up for some early season struggles and take down a true top 20 team.
#2 NC Wesleyan
Ranking: #24 Nationally, #27 Blogger PR, #9 Atlantic South
Record: 4-3
Notable Wins: CNU (7-2), Case Western (5-4)
Notable Losses: Sewanee (1-6), Emory (1-8)
NC Wesleyan continues to be the most unpredictable team that I cover. This team is always loaded with talent, but the overall desire of the team can sometimes be questioned. The head
coaching change seems to have had a positive effect on the Battling Bishops though, leading them to their first DIII top 25 victory in recent memory against Case Western. While Case might
be slightly down this season in terms of talent, this is definitely a big win for NC Wesleyan. The Battling Bishops also exceeded expectations this season by drubbing CNU, a match that I thought would probably go the other way at the beginning of the season. NC Wesleyan also had a strong showing against Sewanee, even though the score might not indicate it. They lost two 3, very close setters at first and third singles, but if those had fallen in the Bishops direction, you better hold on to your hat, cause we’ve got a match! I truly believe that NC Wesleyan is a legit team this season, but the only problem is that they have to wait until the NCAA TOURNAMENT to actually play anyone again. I guess we’ll find out in May if the Bishops have maintained this high level of play throughout the season or if they have fizzled out before the Big Dance.
#3 Swarthmore
Ranking: #32 Nationally, #28 Blogger PR, #8 Atlantic South
Record: 1-1
Notable Wins: None
Notable Losses: None
There’s not a lot to say that hasn’t already been said, since Swarthmore only has two matches under their belts. They lost a very close match to DI U Delaware, which actually came down to the freshman Jiung Jung in a third set tiebreaker. Then they sprinted through Muhlenberg, a team that I don’t know much about, besides the fact that they finished next to last in the Centennial Conference last year. The Garnet freshmen are talented, yet unproven in key match
play situations, so we will learn a little bit about them against Washington and Lee, but we will know much more this upcoming week at the Stag Hen. Side note: you should definitely check out all the Stag Hen articles coming at you in the next couple of days! Anyways, Swarthmore has a lot to prove this week in California against CMS, most likely Trinity, possibly Pomona, Redlands, Whitman and Sewanee, so check back with me next week to get my real thoughts on this team.
#4 CNU
Ranking: #30 Nationally, #29 Blogger PR, #7 Atlantic South
Record: 4-5
Notable Wins: Oberlin (Fall 9-0), Millsaps (6-3)
Notable Losses: CMU (Fall 4-5), NC Wes (2-7), Case Western (3-6), CMS (2-7), Cal Tech (3-6)
I just can’t seem to put my finger on this Christopher Newport squad. Maybe I put too much weight into the Captains after their fall season win over Oberlin and 4-5 scare of CMU, but I really
thought that this team was going to have a better spring season up to this point. I definitely did not think they they were going to lose to NC Wesleyan at home and Cal Tech. A team that showed so much promise prior to the spring has returned to the middle of the pack, however, there is good news for the Captains! Last year around this time, they had similar lackluster results, but peaked towards the end of the season and downed a Mary Washington team that they had struggled against in years past. The bad news for the Captains is that this year’s Mary Washington team is more put together than they have been in years past (much to real ASouth’s chagrin), so it will be a much tougher test moving forward. I still think that CNU will have a chance to take down the Eagles come postseason with the talent they have, but they will definitely need to put in the work moving forward.
#5 Millsaps
Ranking: #37 Nationally, #37 Blogger PR, #10 Atlantic South
Record: 6-2
Notable Wins: Southwestern (6-3), DePauw (8-1)
Notable Losses: CNU (3-6)
Slowly becoming a blog favorite, the Majors have earned a national ranking for the first time since 1982 by taking down another blog favorite, the Southwestern Pirates! Diego Marti Vertiz has been a stud so far at first singles and Davis Plummer has not been too shabby at all at second
singles. That’s a nice little one two punch there. Centurion has seemed to find more success at the third position going 4-0 this season. Senior Avinash Anath has also been a staple at the bottom of the lineup going 5-1 between fourth and fifth singles. First and second doubles has also been a strong spot for the Majors, combining for an 11-3 record to start the season. The Majors do have their flaws though. Anath has mainly been playing fifth singles for Millsaps, but they have been relatively weak at the fourth position, maybe the switch between Anath and Shearin will fix these issues. They also haven’t found a reliable six or third doubles team so far this season. The road ahead of the Majors is a tough one, taking on Emory and Kenyon over Spring Break and UT Tyler the following week, but it will provide experience against elite teams that will be much needed when they face Sewanee in SAA play.
#6 W&L
Ranking: #31 Nationally, #31 Blogger PR, #6 Atlantic South
Record: 3-0
Notable Wins: None
Notable Losses: None
This team is pretty similar to Swarthmore at this point in terms of just not knowing too much about them due to lack of matches. That will all change in the upcoming weekend where they will play Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins. While I don’t expect wins against either team, I’ll be interested to see how they match up against other Atlantic South teams. Harry Shepherd, the 6’4” Emory transfer, will have tough matches against Mark Fallati and Vishnu Joshi, but also have a tremendous opportunity to make a name for himself in a General uniform.
#7 Rhodes
Ranking: #11 Atlantic South
Record: 6-3
Notable Wins: DePauw (8-1)
Notable Losses: Coe (1-6)
Rhodes is a team that I have been high on since I started my blogging career, but have never quite fulfilled the lofty expectations. I was hoping that the match against Coe this season would be the breakthrough match, but unfortunately I think the Lynx might still be a year or two away from a jump into the top 40, but I could be wrong. Rhodes has come a long way in the past couple of years and are definitely continuing to take steps in the right direction. The Lynx are oozing with talent and could definitely upset Sewanee or Millsaps later this season if they don’t come to play.
There you have it folks! Do you think I missed anyone? Are some rankings too high, too low? Let me know! I would love to talk about it. As always, tweet @ me, leave a comment or email me. Until next time, Reg ASouth out!