Christmas Wish List: 7 Pool C Spots, the ITA to admit they wait for Power Rankings before posting their own rankings, wireless headphones that look less dorky than airpods (shouldn’t be hard), more quality Twitter content from NewD3Central, COLBY SEASON PREVIEW!
Colby has become a blog favorite over the past few years due to a combination of talent (Carl Reid, Vlad Murad) and Twitter presence / annoyance (Jason Cohen, Shaw Speer), but this year we have a completely new look Colby team. The Mules came out firing this fall with Scott Altmeyer looking like a bona fide #1, but as we’ve seen with Colby in the past, a top-heavy lineup doesn’t guarantee a spot at NESCACs. Colby’s recruiting consistently improved under Coach Cohen, and Colby is starting to develop the depth to compete at all spots in the NESCAC. One of our favorite teams to cover, here’s to hoping for another year of growth for the Mules.
Location: Waterville, ME
Coach: Adam Reeb (1st year!)
Assistant Coach: None
ITA National Ranking: NR (though they should be)
Blog Power ranking: 34
Power 6 UTR: 66
Twitter: @ColbyTennis, great for in-match updates and friendly banter
Hashtag: #mulesmakingmoves
Key Additions: Max Shuermann (3-star, #193, UTR: 11.18)
Key Departures: Shaw Speer (#4 singles, #3 doubles), Jeremy Mendoza (#5 singles, #2 doubles)
Buddy the Elf Scenario: Altmeyer builds off a stellar fall, Pathi and Reiter ball out and Schuermann fits nicely in the middle of the lineup giving Colby a reliable point. Coach Reeb works some doubles magic and suddenly Colby is a team no one wants to play. The Mules come in hot to start the season, taking out Deis before running the table on Spring Break. Colby dismisses Bates and pulls the upset on Tufts, earning a 4 seed as NESCACs due to wonky tiebreakers
The Grinch Scenario: Altmeyer takes a step back from his fall season and Pathi and Reiter suffer from a sophomore slump. Colby gets blanked by Deis to start the year before taking a tough loss to Pacific or Santa Cruz on Spring Break. Losses to Bates and Tufts ensure Colby is sitting at home during NESCACs again (unless the field was expanded to 8, as proposed, in which case they get a brief taste of postseason play before following the rest of the tournament on Twitter).
D3NewRegional Scenario: Colby loses to Deis, but takes out either Caltech or George Fox on Spring Break. The Mules head to Bates and pull out a 5-4 win before losing a close one to Tufts at home. Another building year for Colby as I think this team has the potential to do some real damage next year
Lineup Analysis:
1. Scott Altmeyer, junior, UTR: 12.21, range= 1. We’ve written / you’ve read a lot about Altmeyer this fall so I’ll direct you to our Wallach recap and just provide a brief recap: Scott is really good. Colby always plays a loaded schedule and he’ll compete for a spot at nationals this spring. As important as Scott’s play is on the court, it’s just as important that he is a great leader for a young, impressionable team
2. Sumukh Pathi, sophomore, UTR: 11.12, range= 2-3. Sumukh burst onto the scene last year by taking out Tyler Barr in the second round of ITAs. While this was by far his best win of the year, Sumukh put together a solid freshman campaign with wins over Eusebio (Wesleyan) and Rodriguez (UT-Tyler). Rumor has it that Sumukh struggled with a few injuries last year and had to retire from a match this fall, so hopefully the Rec Spec-wearing sophomore can have a healthy spring and play to his full potential.
3. Max Schuermann, freshman, UTR: 11.17, range= 3-4. Schuermann comes into Colby as a highly-rated recruit and will provide some stability in the middle of the Colby lineup. The freshman didn’t have a great fall, falling to Guo (Midd) in 3 sets at Midd and losing handily to Fung at the Wallach. I try not to put too much stock into fall performances, and if anything, I hope this fall gave Schuermann a taste of college tennis and he’ll work his ass (mules, get it) off this winter and be ready for showtime in the spring.
4. Garrett Reiter, sophomore, UTR: 11.05, range=3-4. The sophomore from Texas had a solid freshman year playing #3 and finished strong with wins over Leiner (Bates) and Shaff (Tufts). This fall Garrett had a nice win over Travis Leaf (Skidmore) at the Wallach and a tough 3 set loss to Vilys (Midd, #1 seed in B flight) at the Midd Invitational. Based on highlight videos Colby posted last year (Always great content and I hope Coach Reeb continues these this year) Reiter doesn’t have picture perfect technique, but hey, whatever gets the job done. Moving Garrett down a spot in the lineup is big for Colby. This is a point Colby is going to have to win against similarly ranked teams.
I’m fairly certain that these four are locks, even though the order might vary. After Reiter, things get a little more dicey for Colby and I don’t think they even know who will be playing at the #5 and #6 spots. Colby’s first match is in 80 days, so there’s plenty of time for any of the following four guys to grab a spot and run with it:
Luis Gonzalez Kompalic, junior, UTR: 9.79. Luis split time at #6 last year with Jonathan Hallal (below), but apparently missed the fall action due to injury. Luis is a junior captain along with Altmeyer and as he’s not a lock for the lineup, I’m guessing this is a result of leadership skills which, again, are really important for a young team. Look for Luis to contribute more in the doubles lineup than the singles lineup
Jonathan Hallal, junior, UTR: 9.59. Hallal started last spring at #4 before moving down to a platoon role at #6 with Gonzalez Kompalic. Hallal was missing this fall (abroad). He’s clearly talented, having started last year ahead of Speer and Mendoza before falling in and out of the lineup.
Hans Hwang, sophomore, UTR: 10.76. Hwang’s UTR places him at #5 but as he didn’t play singles last year, I don’t know what to expect. He played a ton over the summer and had a nice win over Tegtmeier this fall.
Peter Messenger, sophomore, UTR: 9.91. Messenger saw limited action last year, but had a win over Martinez (#1 for Wheaton last year) this fall, and played Ruparel (Amherst) decently close.
Doubles: Altmeyer / Pathi had a lot of success last year, finishing 12 in the region, so I expect them to stay together. Other than that, the team experimented with other teams this fall without a ton of success. Losing 2 doubles starters and only adding one player to a team that was already weak at doubles last year isn’t great and I expect Colby to struggle to put together strong teams at #2 and #3 this year.
Schedule: Find Colby’s schedule here: http://www.gocolbymules.com/sports/mten/2018-19/schedule
Schedule Highlights: Brandeis (3/17), George Fox (3/25), Caltech (3/26), UCSC (3/27), Pacific (3/28), Bates (4/4), Tufts (4/21)
Schedule Analysis: A nice schedule for Colby as they play the typical NESCAC slate and add in a nice non-conference schedule. Colby starts off the year with three easier matches before traveling to Brandeis for an early season match between two of my teams! Looks like I won’t have to wait too long for my first match preview. This will be a nice test for Colby early and let Coach Reeb see where his team is at before spring break.
Colby is heading to sunny Claremont, CA for spring break and has a great slate of matches. Colby and George Fox have identical Power 6 rankings, and this is a great chance for Colby to get nationally ranked. Colby follows this up with a grudge match, fight-to-the-death, two men enter one man leaves, matchup with Caltech and former coach Jason Cohen. Caltech is a slight favorite on paper and I tend to agree, but I think this is going to be a 5-4 decision either way.
Colby rounds out its spring break against down UCSC and Pacific teams. I expect the Mules to win both of these matches, but keep an eye on the Pacific match. If Colby falls to both George Fox and Caltech, this could be a trap match, and the Boxers played Colby to a 5-4 decision last year.
After spring break, Colby heads to Lewiston to face a rebuilding Bates team where we will see the annual song and dance of Colby and Bates wanting to play each other early in the season so the match can be indoors. I actually have Colby ahead of Bates in my Power Rankings, and I think Colby is the favorite outdoors or on a neutral court, but anything can happen on Bates’ hockey rink, and I think we’ll get a close match that can go either way. Tufts comes to Colby this year and the Mules will definitely be thinking upset. Colby isn’t an easy place to go and with Tufts playing Conn and MIT in a doubleheader at home the day before, this match certainly won’t be a walk in the park.
Final Thoughts: Colby is a team that always seems to be one or two pieces away from really bursting on the scene and becoming contenders, and I see that continuing this year. They really need to figure out their doubles because trailing 2-1 after doubles is a pretty big hole for a team that isn’t super deep, trailing 3-0 is basically a death sentence. I think Colby goes 2-2 against Deis, George Fox, Caltech and Bates, gets themselves back in the national rankings with an eye towards next year where they already have a strong recruiting class and can look to break into the top 25.
As always, drop a comment below, respond on Twitter or reach me via email! Until next week!
Love reading these.