Happy Friday to all! The blog has been super active this week with TWIH, Power Rankings, Siblings PART 2, Pool C updates and an Emory vs D3NE(SCAC) Preview, so you should check all those articles out while you’re here! I’m here with a quick regional roundup to recap what’s happened over the past week or so and provide you a brief preview of what’s to come. There were some awesome matches between Rhodes and Millsaps, and a not so awesome match between Jack Gray and Jonathan Jemison, but overall things are really heating up in the region. While the end of the season approaches it becomes crunch time for many teams and individuals to fight for the coveted NCAA bid, so without further adieu, let’s take a look at what’s going on from North Carolina to Missippi!
What you missed:
NC Wesleyan punched their ticket to NCAAs – In a pretty straightforward fashion, the Battling Bishops have punched a ticket to their 10th straight NCAA tournament appearance. If our Bracketology is correct, NC Wesleyan will be heading down to Atlanta, GA to be a 3 seed in Emory’s region, with Sewanee most likely earning the 2 seed. This could be a very interesting rematch, that I will elaborate more on once everything is set in stone. Congrats to Coach Brice on leading his team this far and I think these Battling Bishops are a dangerous sleeper team that no one should overlook come dancing time.
Sewanee cruises through W&L 8-1 – A match that could have been fairly interesting turned into a pretty average match after a doubles sweep took the wind out of the Generals’ sails. W&L’s Harry Shepherd tried to bail out some water by dismissing the Tigers’ Jack Gray, but overall, Sewanee’s depth proved to be too much. If there happens to be an NCAA rematch, I would still put my money on the Tigers, but the Generals certainly could make things interesting if they were to take a doubles lead.
Rhodes takes a Major step back – While I wouldn’t say the Lynx’s loss to Millsaps was a “bad” loss, it seemed to take a toll on this squad as soon after they fell convincingly to SAA opponent, Birmingham-Southern, a team that (no offense) I thought stood 0 chance in this match. This bumped Rhodes down from the 3 to the 4 seed in the SAA, which in my opinion is a huge step back. On top of that, they will be playing Sewanee in the second round, if they manage to get through Oglethorpe and that is a less than ideal situation.
Swarthmore continues to prep for Hopkins by playing tough matches – The Garnet have played
one of the toughest schedules of any of my teams taking on W&L, CMS, Trinity, Case, Redlands, Whitman, Sewanee, Case (again), Kenyon and Wesleyan, with Mary Washington and Hopkins still to come. Their most recent loss was 1-8 to Wesleyan, a top 4 NESCAC team as well as one on the cusp of an NCAA Pool C bid. While their 9-10 overall record might not say it, I think that Swarthmore might be one of the most battled tested teams in the Atlantic South and they are 100% going to be ready for whatever the Jays throw at them.
What’s to look out for:
SAA Tournament: Can anyone take down Sewanee? – While Rhodes’ 4th place finish isn’t ideal for the defending champs, I don’t think they will struggle too much in the semifinals, seeing as they dispatched of them 5-2 in the regular season. On the other side of the bracket, the Majors are thanking the tennis gods that the Panthers of Birmingham-Southern upset the other big cat in the SAA. They should have a much easier time against BSC and have a nice tune up match per say to prepare for a slugfest against Sewanee. The veteran Majors vs. the young, yet talented, Tigers will be a match to keep an eye on. Millsaps had everyone watching earlier this season after taking a 2-1 doubles lead, but couldn’t find 3 singles points to back it up. If the same scenario plays out, and the Majors have the doubles lead, I think the singles matches could potentially be a little closer than they were on the last day of March. I still think that Sewanee takes this match and the title, but it won’t be as easy as it has been in years past.
CNU vs. W&L: Will the Generals get their first “big” win? – The Captains have struggled all season and the Generals have been waiting for an opportunity to move up in the national rankings. While W&L has had their opportunities against teams like Swarthmore, Hopkins, Mary Washington, Emory and Sewanee, I think that this matchup against CNU will be their best chance all season. I can’t 100% count the veteran Captain squad out though. They will be hungry for a good win since their season has been lackluster at best and if they want to prove that they will have any chance against Mary Washington, they’ll need a convincing win. I’m still going to have to go with W&L 6-3.
NCAA Individual Watch:
Singles
Harry Shepherd (W&L)
Regional Rank: 4
Chance to get in: Virtual lock
The Emory transfer has defeated Fallati, Joshi, Miles and Gray this season, while only suffering one loss in three sets to Cassone. If he doesn’t qualify for NCAAs, I will be very surprised. A kid who played minimally for a top tier program, transferring and making a name for himself is always a great story and I find myself rooting for this young man moving forward. He’s a virtual lock for the individual tournament and rightfully so.
Jack Gray (Sewanee)
Regional Rank: 3
Chance to get in: Sitting comfortably
While Gray has had a slightly tougher go at things recently falling to Jemison and Shepherd, he has built up his resume enough over the course of the season to be sitting very comfortably moving into the home stretch. At this point, the only way I see Gray missing out is if he loses to whoever the hell Hendrix’s #1 is or Rhodes’ Chatterjee. This won’t happen though since the matches are played to completion and the Tigers’ depth should take care of business well before Gray finishes.
Mark Fallati (Swarthmore)
Regional Rank: 5
Chance to get in: Needs to hold serve
Fallati has put himself into a solid position moving forward, but he will need to hold serve in order to lock up his spot. He has upcoming matches against #9 Matt Miles and #12 Vishnu Joshi and will need to win both to 100% secure a spot. Fallati is incredibly fortunate to have had a great fall to set him up in this position, but will need to prove himself against Mary Washington and Hopkins before he can safely lock up a spot.
Sebastian Sikh (NC Wesleyan)
Regional Rank: 7
Chance to get in: On the cusp
Hayden Cassone’s most recent win over Harry Shepherd really messed with the big Swede’s NCAA chances. Cassone is currently ranked #8 in the region and with a win over the #4 (soon to be #3) ranked player, he will make a jump in the rankings, leaving Mr. Sikh on the cusp. His only two DIII losses this season were to Gray and Jemison, both in 3 sets, so he definitely has an argument to make. I say there’s about a 50/50 chance than Sikh qualifies for individuals.
Diego Marti-Vertiz (Millsaps)
Regional Rank: 10
Chance to get in: An upset could make the difference
One match to rule them all… An upset could make the difference for the Major this year. This upset of course will have to come over Jack Gray in the SAA finals. That also means that his team needs to set himself up by allowing him to have time to finish the match and pull off this match. While this seems like a difficult task, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility. SAAs will have more riding on it than just a trip to NCAAs.
David Reed (CNU)
Regional Rank: 13
Chance to get in: Needs a big win and a little help
The good news is that David Reed still has a chance to make NCAAs. The bad news is that he needs a BIG win, as well as a little help. First and foremost, he will need to take down Harry Shepherd in the upcoming match against W&L. Second, he will need Fallati or Gray to lose to a team like Haverford or Hendrix, to open up the regional rankings just enough for him to sneak in. While this is unlikely, it’s still a possibility.
Mitchell Thomas (W&L)
Regional Rank: 14
Chance to get in: Unfortunately only Browning qualifies 2 players
This stems from a conversation we had in the group chat, but unfortunately for Thomas, Browning is normally the only coach that can qualify his top 2 players for NCAAs. Great season Mr. Thomas, but unfortunately it looks like it might not be enough.
Doubles
Centurion/Plummer (Millsaps)
Regional Rank: 1
Chance to get in: Lock it up and throw away the key
After an early season loss to Cerny and Reed of CNU, the Major team has really stepped it up notching wins over Emory and Sewanee in the Atlantic South, as well as Southwestern, Kenyon and UT Tyler nationally. One of the hottest teams of the spring season, Centurion and Plummer have locked this up and can throw away the key. Book your flight boys, you’re going to NCAAs.
Cerny/Reed (CNU)
Regional Rank: 5
Chance to get in: Hope and pray and beat UMW
Cerny and Reed have put themselves in a position where they have a must win match against UMW’s team of Fleming and Byrd. Even if they win that match, they have to hope and pray that the NCAA will select them as wildcards for their early season win over Millsaps.
Fallati/Powell
Regional Rank: 6
Chance to get in: Nice run, but unfortunately just not good enough
With no real opportunities to advance in the rankings, the Garnet duo realistically have no chance to make NCAAs. This has been a nice run for the seniors, but unfortunately it’s just not good enough. I can’t see the rankings shifting anywhere near enough to give this team a chance in the big dance.
Gray/Becker
Regional Rank: 7
Chance to get in: Take down Millsaps and root for W&L
This is an interesting situation moving into the SAA tournament. If and only if Gray and Becker can take down Millsaps, they have to root for W&L’s team of Shepherd and Kittridge to take down Cerny and Reed of CNU. On top of that, they will probably need Cerney and Reed to beat Fleming and Byrd to create a colossal ranking clusterf@#k and hope that they end up on top.
Round up complete! Don’t forget to check D3 ASouth’s twitter for polls on the sibling articles, and if you have any comments or questions feel free to leave a comment, drop me an email or @ me on Twitter. Until next time, you stay classy DIII Tennis, Reg ASouth out!