2018 Men’s NCAA Regional Preview: The Emory Region

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NCAA Regional Preview: Emory Region

I’m getting tired of writing these Intros! By now, you should have all signed up for the Bracket Challenge, as it is now closed to the public. We got over 100+ entries this year, which is a new record! We’re doing great things here in DIII Tennis and I hope you all are enjoying the coverage. Let’s dive into the Emory Region on the Men’s side, with the help of my good friend D3RegAS, who actually covers three of the teams here. He took over for Sewanee and W&L while I took Emory, NCW, and the blog favorite Thomas More. What we got?

No. 6 EMORY

Odds of making the NCAA Quarterfinals: 99%

Power 6 Rating: 75

How they got here: Emory did not take their normal route to the NCAA Tournament this year. For the first time in many years, Emory reached the tournament via Pool C, as Chicago trounced them in the finals of the UAA Tournament. Prior to that, Emory was considered one of the top 3 teams in the nation, but that sentiment has died down a bit with a beating by Middlebury and the aforementioned Chicago loss. Emory still boasts wins over teams such as GAC, CMS, Wash U, and Chicago, but their late season play has me wanting more.

Why they can win: They’ll win the regional because they haven’t lost at home in more than 10 years at least. They also are far and away the best team in the region, obviously, considering that they are the #1 seed in the region. They are strong from top to bottom and will beat all the teams here with their depth. Bouchet at 4, Harrington at 5, and Rubinstein at 6 is something that neither NC Wesleyean or Sewanee will be able to handle, so they will need at least 3 guys to be playing out of their minds on the same day on the road. Don’t count me as a believer that that will happen. Emory is also coming off the national title from last year and this team still has that experience to hang their hats on and go back to when the going gets tough. Emory has always performed in the tournament. They aren’t about to get upset here.

How they can be beaten: They can get beaten at the top of the lineup, and in doubles, much like how Middlebury and Chicago defeated them recently. Problem is, none of the teams in this regional have the firepower up top to take out this team. Not many do. One thing to watch will be the play of Jemison – if you remember from the UAA tournament, he left the Wash U match and retired due to injury. Mostly because of something like this.

Emory isn’t going to lose this region.

Player to watch: Andrew Harrington – Harrington is one of the seniors in this lineup and has also been moved into the #3 doubles spot with Hayden Cassone. Strange to see Emory changing their doubles in the last week of the season, and Max Renke (#2 doubles) is no longer on the NCAA Roster it seems. Coach Browning has decided to go with Bouchet/Jemison at #2 doubles and have Harrington/Cassone at #3. Harrington has been one of the best stories of the year, and his addition into doubles makes him that much more important to Emory’s success.

NC WESLEYAN

Odds of making the NCAA Quarterfinals: 0.5%

Power 6 Rating: 70

How they got here: NC Wesleyan, as they always are, were the first team to win their conference this year and get into the tournament. That leaves them with a lot of downtime prior to NCAAs, which can be a good or bad thing for certain teams. I think it’s good for NCW, who usually play pretty decently at NCAAs. They waltzed through whatever conference they play in, and that’s really all there is to it. Their season consisted of two amazing upsets – over former powerhouses Case Western and Johns Hopkins. A fantastic season for the Battling Bishops.

Why they can win: People forget that Sewanee destroyed NCW in an early season matchup, 6-1, and act like we can take that result and run with it. That’s far from the case. NCW has really come on as of late, and as I mentioned earlier have taken out two top 20 teams in Case and Hopkins on the way. This team honestly might have gotten some mid-season recruits because they have really played well, lol. Their win over Hopkins was a team win, with leads in doubles as well as wins at #1, #2, #4, and #5. Those are some of the stronger spots for Hopkins and that impresses me a lot. Sebastian Sikh is a senior now as well, and one might think that he will add his own little international flair to his final NCAAs. Against Case, they actually were down in doubles and came back by winning 1, 3, 4, and 5 singles. This team sneaks under people’s radar because they are all internationals, but they clearly have been training hard to get their reputation back to where it was. A good team here that can definitely take advantage of Sewanee’s weaknesses.

How they can be beaten: Well, let’s go back to some of NCW’s losses. It looks like they really have no true STRONG spot, where they can count on wins no matter what. And their doubles has been shaky – we haven’t seen them really take a doubles lead against a top 20 team other than Hopkins recently. Sewanee won 2 out of 3 doubles against them. NCW doesn’t have much history playing other DIII opponents this year, but in all their losses they have gone down in doubles. If you take the lead and are able to attack NCW’s weaknesses (#2, #6), you put a lot of pressure on the other guys to really come through in the clutch. NCW/Sewanee should be a fun one for sure.

Player to watch: JD Telles. A lot of talk is made of Sebastian Sikh, who just won the World’s Strongest Man competition, but Telles is a guy that is a two way player and really is one of NCW’s best spots. The Bishops will really need Telles to avenge his losses to Sewanee earlier in the year if they want to move to the Sweet 16.

SEWANEE

Odds of making the NCAA Quarterfinals: .05%

Power 6 Rating: 70

How they got here: Sewanee won their conference for the umteenth time behind some all-around effective play from their top of the lineup, particularly Jack Gray.

Why they can win: This is an unbelievably tough Tigers team that has only taken 5 losses on the season. These losses were to Kenyon, Mary Washington, Swarthmore, Tufts and Emory and 4 out of those 5 matches were 5-4 or 5-3 losses. Regardless of who they play, this team is going to go out there and fight like hell and that kind of mentality goes a long way, especially in NCAAs. Jack Gray has proven that he can hang with the best of them at #1 singles and he has the supporting cast behind him with a very solid 2-6 singles. They really flexed this depth out in California where their 4-6 only dropped 3 matches against Swarthmore, Whitman and Tufts. The Tigers will have the advantage in depth and I would expect Sewanee to be favored at the 4, 5 and 6 spots against the Battling Bishops.

How they can be beaten: Doubles, doubles, doubles, doubles, doubles. Earlier in the season when the Tigers played the Battling Bishops, they notched 2 out of 3 doubles wins, but have been shaky at best ever since. In almost all of their losses this season, Sewanee has been down 1-2 or 0-3 after doubles, and struggled against some middle of the pack teams in doubles as well. If the Tigers want to take down NC Wesleyan, they must take 2 out of 3 doubles otherwise it might be a little too much of an uphill battle. They are also a very young team with no seniors, 1 junior, 3 sophomores and 2 freshmen starting. Sometimes pressure moments can get the best of a young team without much senior leadership. This first round matchup between Sewanee and NC Wesleyan is going to be a very good match, and I don’t think it’s going to be quite as easy for the Tigers the second time around.

Player to watch: I’m going to have to go with Jack Metzger. This freshman has had a very good first year in both singles and doubles and he will play a key role in the first round match. If Metzger can lock up 2 points for the Tigers by continuing his great play, I don’t see the Tigers losing this one, but if he feels the pressure and underperforms, it could be a very long bus ride back for him and his team.

WASHINGTON & LEE

Odds of making the NCAA Quarterfinals: .049%

Power 6 Rating: 67

How they got here: Similarly to Sewanee, the Generals won their conference for the 9th time in a row and 37th time overall to punch their ticket to the big dance.

Why they can win: There once was a man, who was very hairy and herded sheep, that made a long pilgrimage from New Jersey to Atlanta. After spending a year in Atlanta, he decided that he wanted to herd his sheep closer to home so he ended up in Lexington, Virginia. This is the story of Harry Shepherd. Harry has been a staple for this Generals team all season and he will be the key to threatening his old Emory team. If Shepherd can snag a couple wins at 1 doubles and 1 singles, he might be able to light the fire under some of his teammates and reel off a couple more wins. While this is highly unlikely, stranger things have happened.

How they can be beaten: Unfortunately this team just might not have the firepower this season to compete with these top 3 teams in this regional. They are about a year away from becoming a real threat, but the good news is that they aren’t losing too many big time starters (sorry March Zheng) and they are bringing in some very solid recruits. Look for this team to be a 2 or 3 seed in this regional come next year.

Player to watch: Harry Shepherd. I know I have talked about this kid a lot this year, but he really has been a game changer for this Generals squad that I didn’t have too high expectations for going into this season. He has already locked up an NCAA singles bid and will be looking forward to that after transferring from Emory, where he barely played in his first season. Look for Shepherd to bring the heat in his second round match against his former Eagles teammates.

THOMAS MORE

Odds of making the NCAA Quarterfinals: .001%

Power 6 Rating(s): 48

How they got here: As it always happens in their conference, Thomas More played a huge ladder-type competition to determine which team would make it to NCAAs. They edged Grove City for the second straight year and are now sent to Emory for the second straight year. Remember, this team is moving to the NAIA next year, so this will be the school’s swan song. Also to note – Thomas More had not won the conference in a long time before last year, so kudos to them for winning it again.

Why they can win: Thomas More, much like the other lower seeds, doesn’t have much of a chance to make it out of the regional. They will really just be going for a point here and there if they can possibly get one. Or, as we mentioned last year, if aliens abduct every other team in the region. Or maybe, the Thomas More team will be so fired up from this bulletin board material that they will call us “keyboard jockeys” and shock the world with three straight upsets over teams with 20+ Power 6 points on them.

How they can be beaten: W&L should have the advantage at every spot in their first round match.

Player(s) to watch: Marvin the Martian

Final Thoughts

Make sure you keep checking back to the site for more and more coverage as we hit every region, Women’s and Men’s, before their matches start. We already have had the GAC Region start! Make sure to click the top left tab labeled 2018 NCAA Tournament if you are looking for all the tournament coverage, because our site for some reason doesn’t let you go back more than 10 posts on the homepage. WordPress is the worst. Also, if you’re looking for the bracket challenge, I’ve added that link to the left of the site in the blogroll section. Thanks peeps, ASouth, OUT.

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