Two previews in two days? What happened to the real D3WW and how can I get her back? Today we’ll take a look at the pride of my region, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas, who returned the national championship trophy to where it belongs after almost two decades of Williams & Emory dominance. Bonus points to whomever names the last non-Williams or Emory program before the Athenas to win NCAAs. After last year’s Cinderella story the hunter will become the hunted; how will CMS weather the storm? Let’s take a look.
Location: Claremont, CA
Coach: Dave Schwarz (5th season)
ITA National Ranking: 1
ITA Regional Ranking: 1
Twitter Handle: N/A
It’s kind of a bummer that my mom has both a twitter and an insta and the Athenas don’t have either. How am I supposed to follow your matches? Oh, you play every match at home, have up-to-the-second live stats and Playsight that lets me watch every court? Never mind then, I’ll just be over here crying in the corner waiting for my team to get your setup…
2017-18 finish: What a dream year for the Athenas — winning their eighth straight SCIAC championship, avenging a mid-season loss to Williams in the Final Four, and then stunning the Eagles with a comeback win to clinch the NCAA championship on their home courts! NEW and ASouth have had to deal with me shouting “NATIONAL CHAMPS” all off-season so I’ll just leave it at that.
Key additions: CMS has their typical top-10 class coming in: a range of 2 through 4-stars that will have to fight for playing time and games that will look very different four years from now. New faces include Sarah Bahsoun (4-star; Los Gatos, CA), Crystal Juan (3-star; Arcadia, CA), Sydney Lee (3-star; Oakland, CA), and Georgia Tuckerman (2-star; Bexley, OH)
Key departures: Lindsay Brown (#1 doubles, #3 singles), Kyla Scott (#3 doubles, #4 singles, and some killer ball tosses)
Bold prediction: The Athenas initially feel the championship hangover, losing a match to the Sagehens in SCIACs before rallying to beat them in NCAAs. CMS goes on to beat Emory in a rematch of last year’s title match, claiming their second championship in two years.
Lineup analysis
The Athenas are returning a formidable singles lineup, and their firstyears should add firepower to an already stacked squad. However, losing Brown and Scott will heavily impact CMS in doubles where they were steady contributors. They were down after doubles each time they played Williams and Emory last year, and while the NCAA run was magical it’s a tall task to take 4 of 6 singles from the best DIII programs. Allen/Cox will step into the #1 doubles spot and I bet the whole team has been drilling 2up/2back because they’ll need it come this postseason.
1. Catherine Allen (JR)
Allen is DIII’s version of Simona Halep: someone whose fitness, consistency, and competitiveness propelled her to an undefeated season at #2 last year. The Wildcat followed it up with a big performance in NCAAs, beating Bush and Harding en route to the Athenas’ title. Winning the team title didn’t stop her from bringing her all in Individuals (*cough* Midd men *cough*), where she lost a tight 3-setter to Victoria Yu in the semis. Look for her to cause fits for opponents at the top spot all year long.
2. Nicole Tan (JR)
Tan went 8-5 at #1 and 6-1 at #2 last year, earning an Individuals berth and making it to the quarterfinals. I think she battled a wrist injury towards the end of last season too. She hasn’t been in singles action yet this year though and may be getting her swing back after spending the fall abroad. A solid baseliner, she’ll be one of the toughest #2s out there.
3. Sydney Lee (FR)
Lee is a 3-star from Oakland, but she was also top 100 nationally as a junior and has impressed in DIII so far reaching the singles semis in Fall ITAs before falling to PP’s Casper. If you’re playing #3 on this squad, you’ve earned your stripes.
4. Rebecca Berger (SO)
Despite the above, Berger has earned a reputation as the Athenas’ closer with big wins to seal victories over Williams in the semis and Emory in the finals (oh, and she did it again today against UC San Diego). Moving to the #4 spot, I’m sure Coach Dave has talked her ear off about developing and putting away her own points.
5. Caroline Cox (SO)
Hoping to bring the fire she had in Nationals, “Kentucky” will likely step into the #5 spot permanently after moving around a bit last year. While she had a bumpy middle of last year, Caroline closed the year strong winning her last 7 singles matches and going 6-1 in postseason play at #2 doubles. With all the Georgia’s and Kentucky’s and Wildcats on this team I’m surprised CMS isn’t in the SEC.
6. Jessie Cruz (SR) / Sarah Bahsoun (FR) / Maddie Shea (JR)
CMS will have their usual revolving door at #6, with Cruz, Bahsoun, Shea, and probably a few others vying for playing time. While I don’t know who will play #6, I do know one thing — it won’t be fair for the opponent. This team is deep.
Schedule Analysis
The Athenas are already 4-0, picking up wins against Idaho State, Caltech, Oxy, and UC San Diego. After Brandeis in a few weeks, they’ll travel to Indoors for the first time I can remember (ever maybe? I’m not that old…) to play Wash U in the first round. I don’t expect them to have any issues there, especially after Wash U came thiiiiiiiis close to getting upset by DePauw this weekend. They’ll take on the winner of MIT / Chicago in the semis and probably treating us to a national championship rematch vs. Emory in the finals. Side note — this will be one of the toughest Indoors for the Eagles in a while, likely having to go through both the Sagehens and Athenas to win something that’s normally lopsided.
After Indoors, the Athenas return home to Claremont to host their regular slate of NESCACs over spring break, including Bowdoin, Williams, and Midd. Remember that dig earlier about playing all their matches at home? I’m no longer salty about it because at least it lets me watch the Midd match, which will be a doozy. CMS (probably) plays the following teams in March: #2, #4, #5, #7, #10, #13, and #15, and might play Pomona-Pitzer FOUR times this year. That schedule would cripple almost any other program but I feel they do this like every year.
After all of that, SCIAC play in April may feel like a bit of a letdown. They have a big match against the Sagehens on April 24th they’ll need to be ready for, because I can guarantee you PP will be salivating at the target on CMS’ back. Who doesn’t want to take out the defending national champs? Staying in Claremont for the regional will be nice, but assuming they get past the Sagehens the Athenas will travel to Kalamazoo. Have you booked your tickets yet? I can’t wait for this season!! Make sure to check back here soon for more previews!