Oh man, we back. All of us bloggers are just a bit behind on the good ol’ Season Preview Schedule but rest assure, we’ll find our stride. Up next on the Season Preview train comes the Redlands Bulldogs – a team that has been struggling for the past couple years despite having a talented team and a committed coaching staff. Their struggles last year with the suspension really was the final straw that sent this team out of the national and pool-c picture. I hope that the Bulldogs will be able to put last year and the struggles that came with it behind them and put their best foot forward. I mean… they’re Bulldogs.
Location: Redlands, CA
Coach: Geoff Roche (21st year)
ITA National Ranking: N/R (For obvious reasons :/)
Blog Power Ranking: 23rd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uofrmtennis?lang=en
2017/2018 Finish: Ummm…. We won’t go there.
Key Additions: Thomas Reznik (4 star), Andrew Yip (3 star), Henry McNeal (2 star)
Key Departures: Joey Dulle, Cooper Lacetera, Cameron Krimbill (Transfer)
LINEUP ANALYSIS:
- Chase Lipscomb, Senior, UTR 11.64 — The undisputed #1 player and maybe one of the most talented Dogs, well since his brother (let the brother arguments begin), Chase has had a complete stranglehold on the top position and this won’t change in his final year. A two time All-American and the winner of the Fall ITA his junior year, Chase has had an incredible college career, both in singles and doubles. With one of the most lethal forehands in Division III, Chase has the ability to absolutely dominate and take his opponent’s racket out of their hands. With a lackluster junior year for the Dog last year, I see Chase absolutely swinging away and leaving everything out on the court. When Chase is moving quick and swinging hard, he is a tough out for anyone in the country. FEARHANDDDD!
- Brysl Libao, Sophomore, UTR 11.16 — With the departure of Cameron Krimbill and the loss of Joey Dulle, it’s safe to say that there is major hole in this portion of the lineup. No offense, Brysl Libao, you’re a good player, but this is a huge jump for the sophomore that went a combined 10-3 between the 4, 5, and 6 positions last year. I would have liked to have seen him play more last year, but with a small sample size in terms of match play and departing players that once occupied these top positions, I see Libao getting the nod to jump up to 2. I’m interested to see how the sophomore from Redlands will compete with the top guns, but man this is a major jump for a kid that’s played less than 15 dual matches in his career.
- Andrew Leahy, Junior, UTR 11.19 — Similar to Libao, this is going to be a massive jump up for Andrew. Used to playing at the bottom of the lineup for the most part, he played a portion of his matches last year at 4 and 5, going 6-5 at those spots. Again, I really think Redlands is going to miss both Dulle and Krimbill, and it is guys like Libao and Leahy that are going to have to play well above their positions to fill the shoes of the departed. These two can no doubt play ball, but I hope the jump up to the top part of the lineup won’t be too daunting for the junior. The first dual matches of the year will be huge for Leahy, if he is able to pull out some wins, he’ll gain the necessary confidence to show that he can play with anyone at the third spot.
- Thomas Reznik, Freshman, UTR 11.01 — The highest ranked freshman on the team, I see Reznik being able to crack the lineup and at the very least play #4. Not much to go off of as of yet, but as a four star recruit with many wins under his belt, one can assume he’s got the game to make some noise in this Redlands lineup that isn’t as deep or talented as years past. If Reznik can swing away and play with nothing to lose, wins against top teams could catapult him higher in the lineup. I’ll take a gander and say that at the end of the year, we’ll see a Lipscomb/Reznik 1/2.
- Bradley Cummins, Junior, UTR 11.46 — Mostly known for his doubles play with Chase, Bradley can still grind at the bottom of the singles lineup. In the few matches he played last year, Bradley went 6-1 at 5 and 6 – as his style of play makes him a tough out at the bottom of the lineup. The Dogs will needs Cummins to step up this year and be a steady point for them as points will be hard to come by for this team.
- Noah Morrow, Sophomore, UTR 10.71 — As a freshman, Noah came in and made some noise towards the bottom of the lineup. He played at 3, 4, and 5, and though not many matches were played, going 4-0 at #3 is definitely something noteworthy. For some reason, I see Morrow holding down the anchor at #6 – a bit of a stack but a smart move for Roche if he wants to compete with some of the best teams in the country. Morrow will come out on the winning side in most of the matches he plays at this position which will give the young star the confidence to maybe make a move to a higher spot as the season progresses.
Schedule Analysis
The Bulldogs start their spring campaign by playing some NAIA/Div II teams, a smart move for Roche as this team hasn’t played a dual match in quite some time. Though every team across the country hasn’t competed since May, the dogs haven’t been in that tough dual-team atmosphere since February. Having a few matches that don’t affect your ranking will be huge for the players to get back into match play. Their first Div III match will be against a tough Brandeis team – it will be this match that will give us all a great indication as to how sneaky good or poor this Bulldogs team really is.
Matches in March that peak an interest for me are Mary Washington (pretty sure Get Dirty Go Wash hasn’t beaten Redlands since Jefferson was in office… I think this might be the year!), Christopher Newport, Swarthmore, Southwestern (TX), Whitman, and Caltech. Unfortunately, I think Bowdoin will be too tough this year for the Dogs, but matches against the above mentioned teams are absolutely massive if the Dogs want to find themselves back into the top 20.
As the season marches forward into April, inter-conference matchups within SCIAC start to take place. CMS and Pomona seem to be the front runners as of now, but I’d be interested to see how Caltech and Redlands jockey for that third position. Caltech is only getting stronger and picking up talented recruits year in and year out. We’ll see if Tech will be able to back up their third place finish in SCIAC this year once again with a somewhat weak Redlands lineup.
With all that being said, the biggest matches of the year for this Redlands team have to be Whitman, Southwestern (TX), and Caltech. All west coast teams, wins against such teams will be huge for regional purposes and for getting them back into conversation as a perennial top 5 team in the region.
Can the Bulldogs recover from last year’s debacle and regain the top 15 ranking we are used to seeing them at?:
It goes without being said that the Bulldogs had a very rough last year and we all hope they will be able recover. Graduated seniors and a transfer in Krimbill place this team low on my radar, but let’s hope that the team morale is high and that these guys are ready to grind and compete this Spring. Coach Roche is one the more disciplined coaches in the country – with a team that may be hurting both on and off the court, Roche has the ability and the experience to maybe find a winning formula and get by with this team. Only time will tell but only up from last year!