Players of the Week: Conference Championships

REGIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Conference Championships

Happy bracket day, boys and girls! While we all wait with baited breath, here is a little something to tide you over: one of the final POTWs of the season. Don’t worry, we will certainly do at least one more after the NCAA Regionals. Keep checking both our LIVE UPDATING POST, and our LIVE BLOG through the day as we wait with you, answer your questions, and perhaps most importantly bring you updates about the bracket. In addition, we will have a rapid reaction to the bracket, and our bracket challenge out tonight. Enjoy the day, and remember that when you have the Blog, you will never be lonely!

A-SOUTH

Player: Justin Kang

Team: Hopkins

Results: Won two matches in the Centennial

Recap: This award should be given to pretty much the whole Hopkins team, but Kang was one of the players that actually finished his singles match. Kang went 2-0 in the finals en route to a drubbing of Swarthmore in the championship match.

What’s next: Hopkins awaits the NCAA draw.

Honorable Mention: Hopkins, Mary Wash

Before the bracket comes out, give us your predictions for the…

RESULT OF THE TEAM FINALS: Middlebury def CMS

RESULT OF THE SINGLES FINAL: Levine def Cuba

RESULT OF THE DOUBLES FINAL: lol. No point in predicting this. Wabash wins.

NewD3CENTRAL

Player: Mark VanderStoep

Team: Hope

Results: MIAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPS (4-0 at 1 Doubles and 2 Singles)

Recap: For the first time in decades Kalamazoo did not lift the MIAA crown, that honor went to the #BeTrueBeStrong Hope squad that defeated Calvin 5-1 in the finals. Hope lost this match 4-5 in the Fall, but were able to ride a doubles sweep to win the finals with relative comfort. VanderStoep stymied all hope for the Calvin Knights with his tiebreak win at 1 doubles to ensure a 3-0 lead going in to singles. Congratulations to Hope for seizing this opportunity in a Hornet-less postseason.

What’s next: Dancing baby, NCAA Tournament.

Honorable Mention: Hope, Vithoontien & O’Kelley (Carleton), Chase Johnson (GAC), Scott Adsit (JCU), Izuku Midoriya (UA), Donald Glover (This is America)

Before the bracket comes out, give us your predictions for the…

RESULT OF THE TEAM FINALS: Middlebury def. Chicago 5-2

RESULT OF THE SINGLES FINAL: Parodi def. Levine 0-6, 7-5, 6-4

RESULT OF THE DOUBLES FINAL: WABASH def Everyone.  6-3, 4-6, 6-4

NE

Player: Bowdoin seniors (Luke Tercek, Kyle Wolfe, Gil Roddy)

Team: Bowdoin

Results: 8-3 at a variety of spots, including going undefeated in singles play!

Recap: We make a big deal about seniors here at the Blog, but this group has the chance to go down as one of DIII’s most influential recruiting classes of all time! The tri-captains all played well this weekend, and led Bowdoin to a NESCAC tournament title and an automatic bid to NCAAs. Tercek beat Finkelman and Farrell, Wolfe knocked off Eusebio and de Quant, and Roddy was the clincher today with a 3rd set win over Eazor. Impressive stuff from an impressive group, now looking to add just one more thing to their already impressive careers.

What’s next: NCAAs! Where Bowdoin should be, in my most humble opinion, the tournament’s overall number 1 seed!

Honorable Mention: Lubo Cuba (Midd), Cam Daniels (Wesleyan)

Before the bracket comes out, give us your predictions for the…

RESULT OF THE TEAM FINALS: Middlebury def. Bowdoin 5-3

RESULT OF THE SINGLES FINAL: Grodecki def Levine, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (17)

RESULT OF THE DOUBLES FINAL: Tercek/Urken def Alhouni/Whaling 7-6 (4), 6-4.

NewDIIIWEST

Player: Avinash Vemuri

Team: CMS

Results: 2-0 at #6 singles, along with a clinching victory for the Stags’ 13th straight SCIAC championship.

Recap: With the SCIAC conference tournament now reduced to 4 teams (instead of 8), the Stags only needed to win two matches to win their conference outright once again. Vemuri was able to win his match at #6 singles against Cal Lutheran and provided the clinch against cross street rival, Pomona Pitzer, by taking out the lefty in Schoenherr. The Stags absolutely dominated west region play once again this year and they’ll represent their region and conference in the regional tournament this coming week.

What’s next: Regionals at their home courts where we could pretty much pencil them in for nationals… once again, at their home courts.

Honorable Mention: Julian Gordy (CMS), Kalyan Chadalavada (PP)

Before the bracket comes out, give us your predictions for the…

RESULT OF THE TEAM FINALS: Bowdoin def. Chicago, 5-2

RESULT OF THE SINGLES FINAL: Parodi def. Jemison, 6-1, 6-4

RESULT OF THE DOUBLES FINAL: Urken/Tercek def. Schlanger/Cuba, 7-6, 6-2

REGIONAL

Player: Dan Levitan

Team: Babson

Results: 1-0 at #3 singles, up a set at #4 singles against MIT in NEWMAC final

Recap: Last Wednesday and yesterday were the semis and finals of the NEWMAC tournament, which MIT took in relatively straight-forward fashion. However, the semifinals match between Babson and Coast Guard was extremely exciting, where Babo came back from a 3-0 doubles deficit to take five of the singles matches. In the finals against MIT, Babo took a doubles match but ultimately fell 5-1. There were several Babo candidates for POTW but I am going to go with sophomore Dan Levitan, who had a great weekend on the singles court. Against Coast guard, at #3 singles, Levitan got a 6-4 6-3 win over Arthur Wicke, which was huge for Babo to get some quick points coming out of doubles. Against MIT, Levitan took the first set against Albert Go, 6-3, and was down 2-1 in the second when the match was decided. Levitan has had a solid year at #4 singles for the Beavers, going 10-2 with a win over Jason Scanlon of Tufts. He’s only a sophomore and will be a big part of the Beavers moving forward.

What’s next: Babson’s season is done after a 2nd place finish in the NEWMAC, but things do look good for the Beavers. They are graduating 3 seniors, but only at lower spots in the lineup, including Ben Roque (#2 doubles) and Dylan Levy (#5 singles). It looks like they are bringing in two 2-star recruits as they look to build on this season

Honorable Mention: Varun Shanker/James Wei (Caltech) – won against Pomona at #1 doubles and also made the finals of the Ojai, a pretty awesome achievement

Before the bracket comes out, give us your predictions for the…

RESULT OF THE TEAM FINALS: Middlebury over CMS 5-3

RESULT OF THE SINGLES FINAL: Parodi def. Grodecki 6-4, 6-7 (9), 6-3

RESULT OF THE DOUBLES FINAL: Parodi / Gordy def. Tercek / Urken 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

REGIONAL AS

Player: Charlie Kittredge

Team: Washington and Lee

Results: 4-0 in ODAC Semis and Finals

Recap: Starting off the season at 6, Kittredge recently got bumped up to the #3 singles spot and answered the call in the ODAC tournament, winning both of his singles matches. He also paired up with aspiring crypto guru Harry Shepherd to go 2-0 at #1 doubles in the tournament. Congrats to the Generals on yet another ODAC championship and way to step up and play Mr. Kittredge! Best of luck in the big dance.

What’s next: NCAAs!

Honorable Mention: Harry Shepherd (W&L), Thibault Vernier (Swat), Coach Mullan (Swat) #Mullan40

Before the bracket comes out, give us your predictions for the…

RESULT OF THE TEAM FINALS: Middlebury def. Bowdoin 5-3

RESULT OF THE SINGLES FINAL: Parodi def. Levine 7-6, 7-5

RESULT OF THE DOUBLES FINAL: Tercek/Urken def. Centurion/Plummer 6-3, 6-2

REGIONAL NE/C

Player: Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez

Team: RPI

Results: Wins at #1 singles and doubles to lead RPI to their first Liberty League title

Recap: The man they call Sebas has had his moments throughout his first two years in college, but Sunday was perhaps his finest day, as he played a huge role in RPI’s dethroning of Skidmore as Liberty League champs. Castillo-Sanchez started off with a big win alongside Andrew Imrie over Northeast #5 Koulouris/Wynne to finish off a doubles sweep, and then just as Skidmore was starting to creep into the match, he laid the hammer down and clinched the match with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Koulouris.  On top of the impressiveness of how clutch he was, SCS lost 8-2 in the same doubles matchup in March, and 6-4, 6-2 in singles to the same guy. I guess Coach Satkowski’s decision to take the team to see Avengers was a good one!

What’s next: NCAAs! RPI will be making their program debut at the big dance, and it couldn’t be more deserved. This team has been building from the ground up for almost a decade with Satkowski at the helm, and this has been a long time coming.

Honorable Mention: Jack Morkin (Augustana), Ian Landwehr (Rose-Hulman), Jordon O’Kelley/Leo Vithoontien (Carleton), Timothy Roe (Hope), Mark VanderStoep (Hope)

Before the bracket comes out, give us your predictions for the…

RESULT OF THE TEAM FINALS: Bowdoin def Middlebury 5-3

RESULT OF THE SINGLES FINAL: Parodi def Urken 6-4, 7-6

RESULT OF THE DOUBLES FINAL: Raclin/Yuan def Tercek/Urken 6-4, 6-2