Clearly the story of the week is NEW and her incredible feat of 5 season previews in 5 days! She has inspired us all to step up and get some previews up, so here is my second preview for a Top 20 team in the Central region, this time for the Wash U Bears! The Bears have a long history of success and from what I’ve seen, they compete hard every time they step on the court. Last year they finished with 2 heartbreaking 4-5 losses to end the year – first a 4-5 loss to CMU in the UAA 3rd place match, and second a 4-5 loss to Sewanee in the NCAA 2nd round, so I’m sure they are eager to avenge those losses. Without further ado, some quick facts:
Quick Facts:
Location: St. Louis, MO
Coach: The Amazing Kelly Stahlhuth, 14th year
ITA National Ranking: #13
Twitter: @WashUwTennis
Insta: washuwomenstennis
Key Additions: Divya Sharma (8.79), Emma Verpoucke (8.22), Zoe Park (transfer, 7.52), Hannah Johnston (7.40), Stephanie Ren (8.71p)
Key Departures: Grace Deering (#1 singles/#1 doubles), Kate Lee, Lily Schroeder
Last 5 National Year End Team Rankings (2018 -> 2014): 13, 11, 11, 13, 8
Last 5 National Recruiting Class Rankings (2018 -> 2014): 12, 12, 18, 11, 13
Lineup
I expect this lineup to have some movement throughout the year, as there will be some close competition to see who plays where. WashU’s only tournament in the Fall was the Regionals ITAs, so there is not a lot of information to go on just yet. The Central ITA’s have a huge draw (128), and 8 Bears were in the draw but none advanced past the round of 32, so none of the players got initial regional rankings. But I would never count this team out when it comes to dual match play. Here is my best guess at a season starting lineup:
- Ashley Lessen, 8.69
Ashley compiled a singles record of 13-7 at the #2 position last year and more importantly she gained some big match experience which she will need if she is to be the top Bear this year.
2. Ally Persky, 9.06
Ally compiled a singles record of 14-5 at the #3 spot last year. She also played #1 doubles with Deering last year, so she should figure to be half of the top team again this year.
3. Brigitte Hodge, 8.25
Highest playing senior on the team. Brigitte mostly played at the #4 position last year, with a record of 13-6. She will be looked to for team leadership.
4. Divya Sharma, 8.79
Freshman. lost in the first round of ITAs, so not a lot of info yet.
5. Sanjna Tripathy, 7.85
Sanjna was abroad this past fall and played mostly at the #5 spot last year.
6. Lisa Chionis, 7.93
Lisa played mostly at #6 last year and went 3-4.
Schedule – http://www.washubears.com/sports/wten/2018-19/schedule
As always the Bears have a competitive schedule with the first match coming up on February 10th against DePauw. Then they travel to San Antonio for some good matchups against #33 Southwestern and #21 Trinity of Texas. I expect WashU to come out on top of all those matches. Following that is the ever exciting ITAs Indoor Nationals where I anticipate some great matchups for all the teams that are playing. WashU plays defending national champions CMS in the first round. If they can pull off the upset that would be amazing but if not they will face either MIT or Chicago the next round, which should be a great match either way. For the remainder of the season, they have their Spring Break trip to Orlando where they will face some tough NESCAC teams in Wesleyan and Amherst, and then regional and UAA play, where they will meet their rival Chicago at least once (and maybe up to 4 times if we include Indoors). That matchup has always been very close, so I am very excited to watch those play out! As always they conclude their regular season with the UAAs in Florida.
As for NCAAs, I think WashU will be one of the 8 Pool C teams and therefore how they do against teams ranked around them will be of high importance. Last year they were the LAST Pool C team in. They are currently ranked #13. #10 Chicago will be a key match. If they play #8 Pomona, #9 MIT, #11 CMU, or #12 Sewanee at Indoors, all of those will be key matches. They need to defend against #16 Case and #32 UWW which I think they will be able to do. They do not play Bowdoin this year so that may makes things a little murky, if Bowdoin beats any of their NESCAC foes ranked above them. A lot of exciting tennis matches ahead!!
Keys
- The Youth!
Wash U is a young team this year. There is something to be said for freshmen who don’t know any better than to go out there and play out of their minds.
2. The Numbers
I see 16 players on their roster. Having that may people around generates a lot of energy and can create a healthy sense of competition.
3. The WashU v Chicago rivalry!
As I mentioned above, WashU might wind up playing Chicago as many as 4 times! These are two top 10-15 teams and have big Pool C implications. Not just that, it’s nice to win conference rivalry matches.
Well there you have it, my preview for the relatively young WashU Bears. They may not be the Bears of the Rebecca Ho era, but I think they will give themselves a good chance to be the top ranked team in the Central Region!!
D3WCentral
How do you know so much!? Amazing preview and insight!