Happy Tuesday! Wednesday! Thursday everyone! I hope everyone’s weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are filled with music, constant re-runs of Elf and Home Alone and watching LeBron become the King of LA (Pencil in a Championship for the Lake Show and don’t @ me). If any teams are feeling the holiday spirit and want to send a shirt to be repped at random gyms and men’s league doubles matches, feel free to drop an email to d3newregional@gmail.com, slide into the DMs on Twitter or stalk me on my way home from work and the gift would be well loved! Now onto the tennis with our GEORGE FOX SEASON PREVIEW.
The Bruins are a team that has gradually been easing into the national spotlight. A lot of this is due to All-American Spencer Watanabe who graduated last years. It’s incredible how one extremely talented player (and former 2 star!) can make such a difference and lead to recruiting that turns a team that used to be an afterthought into my DARK HORSE TO WIN THE NWC! Your 2019 George Fox Bruins
Location: Newberg, OR
Coach: Neal Ninteman (11th year)
Assistant Coaches: Jeff Cero (played at Portland State), Steve Robertson (played at Boise State)
ITA National Ranking: #32. And I’ll beat a dead house and point out rankings haven’t been updated yet
Blog Power ranking: 29
Power 6 UTR: 66
Twitter: @GFUTennis – pretty active, decent updates
Hashtag: #TrueBlue but I’m sure the marketing department is accepting applications
Key Additions: Luke Lemaitre (4-star, #122, UTR: 12.33), Rex Rogers (2-star, #451, UTR: 10.22)
Key Departures: Spencer Watanabe (All-American, #1 singles, #1 doubles)
Lineup Analysis:
1. Luke Lemaitre, freshman, UTR 12.33, range= 1-2. Freshman stud! While I think Lemaitre’s UTR might still be a little inflated from juniors, he has the highest UTR in the NWC and it’s not that close. We got a look at the freshman this fall at ITAs where he made the finals, falling to teammate Leach in two relatively routine sets. I was a little surprised to see Lemaitre playing above Leach when UCSC came to town, but I love that Coach Ninteman has the confidence to put Luke at the top spot. Unfortunately, due to injury, Lemaitre didn’t get a crack at Le Duff, and instead had to settle for a solid win over Dugan. This fall showing puts him at #8 in the region, and while he will have chances to solidify a case for nationals given George Fox’s tough schedule, I don’t expect him to factor into the top 7 at the end of the year. Lemaitre has big shoes to fill at the top spot, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him at #2 at some point this year
2. Will Leach, sophomore, UTR 11.24, range= 1-2. Leach stepped right into the number 2 spot last year and performed well with a 14-4 record, and partnered with Watanabe to become and All-American in doubles. Last year was a solid year for Leach, winning the matches he was expected to, and losing the matches where he was an underdog. However, the sophomore came out firing this fall, running through the Northwest ITA without dropping a set, taking out Kirsh (Whitman #1) and Lemaitre along the way. Leach got smoked by Bode (Concordia) in the play-in match so he didn’t get his 3 matches at the ITA Cup, but an encouraging fall for sure as he finished #5 in the region. Looking back at his results from this summer, Leach lost to teammate Alex Namba in August, but college tennis is always much harder to project, and I think Leach will be a rock at #2 for the Bruins this year.
3. Keaten Baker, sophomore, UTR 10.56, range= 3-5. Baker had a similar year to Leach last year, with his best win probably coming at #4 against L&C. Baker had a great ITA, taking out Hwang from Whitman, Murphy from Pacific, and Chikkalingaiah from Whitman before falling to Lemaitre 6-3 in the third. He followed this performance up with an easy win against UCSC. Baker is moving up to #3 after playing #5 last year, but if he made a jump this summer and can play players like Lemaire close, he’s going to have a lot of success at #3
4. Alex Namba, junior, UTR 10.71, range=3-5. The elder half of the Namba brothers, Alex slots in just ahead of his brother Payton. Namba played #3 last year and lost against all nationally ranked teams he played. A move down to #4 should help, and based on UTR, he should be competitive in a lot of matches this year.
5. Payton Namba, sophomore, UTR 10.3, range= 3-6. The other half of the NambaBros™, Payton had a nice win over Brendan Barrows last year, but nothing much to report other than that. Payton fell to Chikkalingaiah in the round of 16 at ITAs, and will need to step up this year if George Fox wants to achieve their goal of winning the NWC.
6. Pete Gibson, junior, UTR 10.55, range= 5-7. Along with Alex Namba, Gibson is the oldest starter for the Bruins. Experience at the bottom of the lineup is massive, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Gibson move up to #5 if Namba struggles
IN THE HUNT: Rex Rogers, freshman, UTR 10.22
Doubles: Couldn’t tell you. Leach/Baker should be a lock at #1 and after winning their ITA could be one of the top teams in the region and compete for a spot at nationals. Having Leach/Baker at #1 is huge because it allows Lemaitre to play either 2 or 3 (note that he didn’t play dubs against UCSC). Having that talented of a player lower in the doubles lineup can hopefully allow him to carry a team and let George Fox take a doubles lead against a lot of teams
Schedule Analysis: A short but stout schedule for George Fox this year with a few chances to move up in the rankings and a couple of trap matches that could result in the team dropping. George Fox already took down UCSC this fall, and I expect them to be ranked either 29 or 30 when the ITA decides to put out a set of national rankings.
Schedule Highlights: Whitman (3/16), Tufts (3/22), Occidental (3/23), Midd (3/24), Colby (3/25), Caltech (3/27), Pacific (4/6), L&C (4/7), NWC Tournament, NCAAs?!?!?
The Bruins don’t wait long to get into the heart of their schedule, with a few warmup matches before making the trip to Walla Walla to take on Whitman. Whitman has been the class of the NWC for years now, but this year the teams have identical Power 6 Rankings and George Fox won a lot of head-to-heads at ITAs. This would be a massive win for George Fox and either way could set the tone for their season.
The team takes a trip to Claremont for Spring Break and I want to highlight the matches against Colby and Caltech. I don’t think they have the firepower to take down Tufts, but I like that that’s the first match scheduled on the trip. Let the team go out there with nothing to lose and get used to the California weather and tennis and try to pull the upset. The Colby and Caltech matches are toss-ups, but I think Caltech has a slight edge. I look forward to doing a spring break precap of the Bruins and maybe teaming up with anyone that wants to write some match previews with me!
X-Factor: Jay Tee, Dan Greenberg, Paul Settles, Bob Hanson. Those are a few of the names that come to mind when thinking about the top D3 coaches, but I LOVE the staff that George Fox has put together. Coach Ninteman has taken a team that went 5-16 with a last place finish in the NWC in in 2010, to a 13-5 and nationally ranked team last year. In addition, Assistant Coach Cero played at the DI level and has been a head coach, and Robertson was a top-ranked DI player, and I have no doubt they will be focusing on doubles and use their playing experience to help their team.
Final Thoughts: Maybe I’m overestimating this team. They’re young. They’re unproven. But they’re talented and have a strong coaching staff and I’m looking forward to what they can do on the court this spring. I really think this team has the talent to take down L&C and Whitman and win the NWC, therefore qualifying for NCAAs. The conference is wide open so let’s see if the Bruins can grab it! Here’s to hoping any sportsmanship issues from last year have been resolved and we see a team that fights hard for every point but does so respectfully.
As always, drop a comment below, respond on Twitter or reach me via email! Until next week!