Happy Wednesday everyone! With subzero temperatures across the country, it’s tough to believe that spring tennis is right around the corner. Recently we’ve had previews of Tigers and Bears, and NEWomens has been pumpin out articles like nobody’s business, give them a read here! Today we’re heading to the Pacific Northwest and getting a twofer, with previews of Lewis & Clark and Pacific.
Lewis & Clark
Location: Portland, OR
Coach: Jimmy Chau (1st year as head coach, 14th year on the coaching staff)
Assistant Coaches: Pannhara Mam (Cambodian Davis Cup!), Marco Pineda (Gonzaga)
ITA National Ranking: 29
Blog Power ranking: 41
Power 6 UTR: 58
Twitter: @lclarktennis, good for updates
Hashtag: #P10S
Key Additions: None
Key Departures: Brendan Barrows (#4 singles, #1 doubles), Gordon Barrows (#2-3 singles, #1 doubles), Keane Hindle (some #5-6, #3 doubles), Kei Inoue (#3-5 singles, #3 doubles), Pim Trouerbach (some #6 , #2 doubles), Jackson Powell – no longer listed on roster (#1-2 singles, #2 doubles)
2018 Recap: Led by a senior heavy team, Lewis & Clark took wins over Caltech, Southwestern, 2 wins over George Fox, and a win over Pacific, and 5-4 losses to Trinity (TX) and Whitman, before losing 5-1 to Whitman in the NWC Championship Match and finishing #29 in the country.
Team Overview: This year is the start of a rebuilding process for L&C, as they only return one starter from their NWC Championship match lineup, and bring in no recruits. As Coach Dreves has moved on to the USTA, it looks like it will take Coach Chau a few years to build the program back up. The team only has six players listed on the roster with one senior in Raed Attia. The Pios have a pretty clear top 3 in Raed Attia, Ramez Attia and Brendan Adams, but there’s little proven experience after them. The good news? Opportunities for lots and lots of match experience and development.
Player to Watch: Raed Attia. The top dog for most of his career, Attia has made the All-Conference first team 3 times. Last year he handled the teams below L&C in the NWC but didn’t score any wins over ranked teams. This fall, he won his first round at ITAs before losing to Sean Murphy (Pacific). If L&C wants to remain in the top 4 in the NWC, they are going to need the elder Attia to give them two points against weaker teams
Schedule Analysis: An easier schedule for the Pios this year than in years past. They start with a trip down to Texas on February 8th to take on Southwestern, Trinity and Schreiner. Southwestern and Trinity both have solid teams this year, and I don’t think the Pios will be able to hang with either team from #1-6. After feasting on barbeque and Torchy’s, the team heads back to Portland to open up conference play with home matches against Willamette, Linfield, Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran. The Pios should cruise through Willamette, Puget Sound and Pacific Luthern with no problems, but the match against Linfield could get interesting. With a Power 6 of 56, Linfield is within striking distance on paper, and Coach Belletto will have a starting lineup full of juniors and seniors who will no doubt be thinking upset. I still think L&C pulls it out on the strength of their top 3, but this one will be a lot closer than in years past.
L&C then takes on Whitworth before the annual battle with Whitman. Last year in the regular season, the Pios jumped out to a 2-1 doubles lead, before losing 5-4. Whitman is also down this year, but this one isn’t going to be close as Whitman still has way more depth. Rounding out the schedule are George Fox and Pacific. I previewed George Fox awhile ago and think they are the team to beat in the NWC this year, and don’t think L&C will be able to compete with them. I’ll be covering Pacific in more depth below, but I think L&C will be underdogs in this match as well.
Conclusion: The Pios are basically a basketball team that has lost 90% of its scoring from the year before. Attia2 and Adams should be able to do enough to keep the Pios in the top 4 of the conference, but for the first time in a few years, there is some uncertainty in Portland. L&C came on the national radar a few years ago after grinding away at recruiting and player development. L&C is known for getting the most out of 2-stars and for playing good doubles. With no recruits this year, and none signed so far for next year, it is imperative that Coach Chau stresses positive energy and work ethic to develop the young players he has.
Pacific
Location: Forest Grove, OR
Coach: Pete Yellico (1st year)
Assistant Coaches: None
ITA National Ranking: 40
Blog Power ranking: NR
Power 6 UTR: 60 (Excludes Miyagawa and Hu)
Twitter: @BoxerTennis, great for scores with some flair
Hashtag: #GoBoxers
Key Additions: Reyn Miyagawa (3-star, #176, UTR: 10.91 – unreliable), Quentin Gonzalez (2-star, 384, UTR: 10.38), Joey Hu (#393 in 2017, UTR: 10.20 – unreliable), Koby Murata (2-star, #421, UTR: 8.97 – unreliable)
Key Departures: Oscar Wight (#1 singles, #1 doubles), Sage Katayama (#2 singles, #2 doubles)
2018 Recap: Led by senior Oscar Wight, the Boxers had a great win over Southwestern, and lost to Colby, Trinity (TX), L&C and George Fox before falling to Whitman in the NWC semifinals. With a win over UCSC this fall, the Boxers find themselves in the national rankings at #40
Team Overview: This is going to be an interesting year for a young Boxer team. Losing Wight hurts, but as we have seen in the past several years with Brennan Faith then Clark Wininger and then Wight, someone has always stepped up to fill the #1 spot, and fill it successfully. We got a decent look at Pacific’s lineup against USCS this fall, with a singles lineup of: (1) Sean Murphy (junior), (2) Rayden Murata (junior), (3) Reyn Miyagawa (freshman), (4) Quentin Gonzalez (freshman), (5) Joey Hu (freshman) and (6) Jonathan Chung (sophomore, and according to Twitter, an experienced magician). And doubles teams of: (1) Murata/Murata – the NWC loves its brother doubles pairs doesn’t it??, (2) Miyagawa/Hu and (3) Murphy/Gonzalez. Pacific always plays tough doubles, and with a pretty balanced singles lineup, this is going to be a tricky team. This is clearly a really tight, fun team, and you can never have too much team chemistry.
Player(s) to Watch: Reyn Miyagawa. The first year from Kaneoche, Hawaii on the island of O’ahu had a nice fall, finishing #18 in the region by making the quarterfinals at the Northwest ITA. He was slotted in at #3 against UCSC, but I’d be pretty surprised to see him behind Murphy and Murata all year. Look for him to become a tough out as the year progresses. Murphy is also deserving of a shout-out after beating #4 seed Raed Attia in a superbreaker in the second round at ITAs.
Schedule Analysis: A short schedule put together this year for the Boxers as they play their NWC schedule, a couple local teams, and take a trip down to LA for Spring Break. Pacific starts their spring season with NWC opponent Pacific Lutheran and Bellevue College, before taking almost a month off and taking on Whitworth and Whitman. After losing to Whitman 8-1 and 5-0 last year, I think this match will be much closer this year, and I give the Boxers a chance at pulling the upset at home. Whitman is definitely still the favorite, but hey, I’d love to be surprised. After Whitman, Pacific takes on Pacific Lutheran again and University of Puget Sound in NWC action, before playing D1 Seattle and heading on spring break.
With 5 matches in 4 days, the Boxers will be keeping plenty busy with matches against Chapman, D2 Biola, Colby, Occidental and Redlands. Pacific should be able to get passed Chapman to start the trip without too much trouble, and should then have a good match against a good Biola team with a Power 6 of 64. The Colby match will be the most important match of Spring Break. Colby edged Pacific 5-4 last year, and while Colby has the advantage on paper, the Mules still need to figure out their doubles and bottom of the singles lineup. Look for this one to be another close decision. Pacific should handle Occidental before taking on a Redlands team that has too much talent.
After Spring Break, Pacific will play George Fox, Linfield, L&C and Willamette before the NWC tournament. Similar to the Whitman, I think George Fox will be a little too strong for Pacific this year and while the Boxers will keep it interesting, I think the strength of George Fox at the top of the lineup will carry them to a win. Pacific should take care of Linfield and Willamette without too much excitement and will be favored against Lewis & Clark. The Pios have had Pacific’s number the last few years, but with the stronger team this year, look for Pacific to reverse the script and be the #3 seed heading to the NWC Championships.
Conclusion: This team has all the makings of being really good a couple of years down the line, and I’m excited to see what’s in store. As for this year, Pacific has some great opportunities and not a whole lot to lose, a great place to be for a young team with a new coach.
As always, please feel free to reach out below, on Twitter, or via email! We’ll be keeping the ball rolling with previews over the next couple weeks so stay tuned!
Nice info.