A wise man once said to me, “ASouth, your future in blogging will be determined by this. It will not be determined by the quality of your blogging, but will be determined by the quantity of your blog posts.” Today, I take that to heart as my real life is getting in the way of my anonymous blogger life, and I will attempt to write this article in about 15 minutes. So, while you’re on hold with Verizon Wireless or doing whatever else you can do in 15 minutes, I will take you through what’s happening outside of the Northeast this weekend, and yesterday. It should be interesting. Spotify, On. Blogging Mode, On.
#8 CMU @ #14 Mary Washington, Saturday 12PM
CMU has won this match many times over the past 10 years and probably even prior. The match will be played on the home courts of Mary Washington, where they get a little bit of an added boost to their upset potential. CMU is feeling good about their chances here as their top 3 are playing absolutely lights out, but that does not mean that this should not be a match you watch this weekend. UMW has proven that they can win the close match this year with multiple 5-4 victories against tough opponents. CMU presents a new challenge, and one that they’ll have to do the following things to win.
First off, UMW must take the doubles portion of this match. They can do this, as CMU has been shuffling teams around like a Vegas dealer shuffles cards. You never know what teams are going to play for the Tartans, and they seem to be winning a lot of their doubles matches based on talent. UMW has kept fairly similar teams all year and should be able to at least threaten to take a 2-1 lead. I don’t believe a sweep is in the cards here, but the Eagles should absolutely be happy with a lead. Secondly, they are going to need to take one of the top 3, and this is where things get even tougher. Daniel Levine has a huge advantage over Miles at 1, and UMW has struggled all year at the #2 spot. Ray Boppana of CMU has been probably CMU’s most consistent player all year, and he plays with a fire that should allow him to really get up for any match. The onus here is on Joseph Brown, who has manned #3 singles most of the year and had success. UMW’s strengths are at #4 (Fleming) and #6 (Tecce, others), and they should have the advantage over the struggle that is the bottom of the CMU lineup. While I expect this to be a close match, potentially a 5-4 battle or at the very least 6-3, UMW showed earlier this year that they might not be ready to get over the top 12 hump. I expect CMU to take 2 doubles matches and the top 3 singles matches, along with #5 singles, to win this match 6-3. Things could absolutely get dicey, but CMU has pulled out their own fair share of matches this year.
#24 North Carolina Wesleyan def. #17 Hopkins 6-3
http://www.hopkinssports.com/sports/m-tennis/stats/2017-2018/0405-ncw.html
And we finally get the upset that seems to have been brewing in Hopkins season all year. Hopkins created their schedule so they weren’t really challenged all year and we didn’t have an idea of where their skill level was, until now. I don’t think they expected NCW to be as good this year, and in a somewhat routine match, the Battling Bishops took their second upset of this year (first over Case Western). This is a disappointing but obviously not back breaking loss for the Jays, but we can definitely validate some things that we have had a hunch on for a while. Hopkins really has no strong spots in the lineup against anyone in the top 25. Their 1 and 2 with Joshi and Yoo are clearly overmatched, and both got routined yesterday against not the strongest 1-2 singles combo I’ve ever seen. I thought Hopkins would beat the Battling Bishops with depth, but the struggle continues for Austin Gu at #5 singles as well. I don’t even know where David Perez went, and it’s quite disappointing to see him absent from the lineup. This team is in disarray and they probably have been since the beginning of the year. It’s been a year of a poor ITA performance, a squeak win vs. Bates, and now a loss to NCW. Hopkins should not be considered a threat this year and their reign over the Centennial Conference is really looking like it will come to an end.
#7 Gustavus Adolphus @ #6 CMS
Wait, but this isn’t an ASouth matchup! This is correct, but as we all know…
CENTRAL RULES EVERYTHING AROUND ME
— NewD3Central (@NewD3Central) April 4, 2018
This preview honestly will probably not give this match the recognition it deserves, because I almost have no doubt that the Gusties are going to come into CMS and give the Stags a 5-4 match at the very least. We’re talking about two teams who do similar things very well, and that starts at the top. I’m not going to go into match by match here, but I want you to take notes of a few things before we give out some predictions. Hopefully NewD3Central will add his thoughts in here later, otherwise watch for a hell of a Twitter thread later tonight.
- Mohanad Alhouni vs. Niko Parodi will obviously be a huge match to watch. Alhouni took an L to Johnny Wu the other day, which was surprising. But, Alhouni is undoubtedly playing well considering he just ousted Jed Kronenberg of Pomona. Nothing to worry about here. Obvious swing match is obvious here.
- If you haven’t noticed, there has been a change in the GAC lineup. Chase Johnson is now at #3 singles and apparently is going to do well here, as he notched a win against Pomona as well. This slots Whaling in at #4, and I believe that the GAC #1-4 singles spots are extremely, extremely underrated. I’d be absolutely shocked if GAC doesn’t split the top 4 with CMS.
- Bottom of the lineup is where things might or might not get dicey for Gustie Nation. Tommy Entwistle is probably the key here, as I believe Park or some other dude will play #5 for CMS and I view him with the advantage. CMS has struggled a bit finding a consistent bottom of the lineup, and Entwistle really brings the goods down there so expect a tough match. Three setters are most likely for a majority of matches in this one.
- We’ve assumed that CMS home court would mean something and GAC on the road would mean something, but who knows at this point. I think it’s way too close to tell for any team other than Whitman.
- Doubles is well, doubles. GAC isn’t as strong as they were in years past in doubles (more perspective than anything). I think the reason for that perception is because their singles is so solid, but the fundamentals from Coach Valentini are here. That being said CMS has really worked to become way better at this portion of the match. More nail biters here.
At the end of the day, I’m going to predict GAC 5-4, because the GAC train has been running all year. GAC needs to start getting the respect they deserve and this is a team that presumably could be #5 in the nation at some point. Any given day. It’s really hard to choose against a CMS team playing at home and pretty well rested. If GAC comes into this one hot, I don’t see why they can’t pull an “upset” that some of us should see coming.
D3NE: As I’m the one putting this up on the site, I can’t resist making a prediction. CMS def. GAC 6-3
Final Thoughts
And that’s all I got for you today, in a 20 minute version. Thanks to all those who raised me and made me who I am today. I am now a blogger who LOVES tunafish and can get mad vies on an article in just 20 minutes, and that means I’m almost as powerful as Jeff Bezos. D3ASouth, OUT.