Indoors QF PREVIEW #1: #2 Emory vs. #7 Whitman

It was just decided that this will be the first preview written for Indoors! Kudos to ASouth for getting this thing done. Pats on the back for you, ASouth! Welcome to Indoors Week, folks. I have tried to get that hashtag going in the past but I realized that I am not the social influencer that people like Backpack Kid or NewCentral are, so it never really got off the ground. And that’s okay with me. Instead, you get me and my 989 followers (wtf Twitter). Either way, welcome to one of the best weeks of the year. We do it big here at the Blog, and Indoors is the way to start it off. Check back to the site for more previews, more DRAFTKINGS, and basically a lot more fun. If you are feeling rich today and wanting to help out some people who write for the Blog, Men’s or Women’s side, feel free to press the DONATE button at the top left of the site. Every dollar helps a blogger in need. But seriously, there’s only so many delivery fees on Seamless that I can pay. Preview #1, here we go.

INDOORS QF PREVIEW #2: No. 2 Emory vs No. 7 Whitman

Location: ITA D3 National Indoors – Cleveland, OH

Time: Friday February 22 – 12:00 PM EST

I just wrote the Wash U vs. CMU preview in the span of about 45 minutes and wow’ed the shit out of NewCentral. He takes 2 hours to get his shoes on every morning and tweet out what he’s having for breakfast. I get to work, do a preview, and make my company millions in that time. Or, at least that’s what I tell myself. I am feeling the momentum and what better way to continue that than stumping for the Emory Eagles in the first round of Indoor Nationals. While I will certainly be coming out with my special Indoors article featuring my 10 things to watch (usually features Emory’s uniforms and sometimes their haircuts), the previews are where the meat and potatoes are. People love match by match previews, and the Blog gives the people what they want. This one might not be as exciting though, so I’ll try and breeze through this one with style. DIIIWest, you get the night off, I guess.

#1 Doubles, Adrien Bouchet/Jonathan Jemison, EU vs. Ben Kirsh/Daniel Foster, Whitman

AS: I’m not entirely sure if anyone else is going to be joining me for this preview (actually I am, no one is). So, that means you get the full ASouth treatment, which honestly is probably not a good thing given that it’s been like 8 years since I’ve been to college. Or picked up a racket, for that matter. Anyways, Emory is going to be a force this year. And that starts with their senior duo, Bouchet and Jemison. These two guys have not played together other than this year, but I just have a funny feeling that it’s not going to matter. Seniors do their thing, and this is where it begins. Emory, 8-4.

#2 Doubles: Will Wanner/James Spaulding, EU vs. Andreas Mueller-Immergluck/Alex Hwang, Whitman

AS: Let us first begin this section by recognizing the ridiculously incredible name that one of the Whitman players has. Immergluck alone would be amazing, but we even add a hyphen to it and make it the longest name ever. Kudos to that parenting duo. #2 doubles has forever been an important spot for the Eagles. They always seem to have a few random players in there that are fighting for their lineup life. Wanner, who has yet to make a name for himself with the Eagles, is one of those players. Spaulding, on the other hand, is an All-American doubles player. Nice to have that at your #2 doubles guiding a younger player. This duo of big servers is going to take it to their opponents at Indoors. Don’t be surprised if they go undefeated. Emory, 8-3.

#3 Doubles: Hayden Cassone/Antonio Mora, Emory vs. Adam Rapaport/Rajul Chikkalingaiah, Whitman

AS: Whitman really brings the amazing names at least, don’t they. Chikkalingaiah?! You won’t find anything better. Unlucky for the Blues, they’ll be going up against resident, well, resident Hayden Cassone and the freshman Antonio Mora at the #3 spot. I believe that their games will just simply be too much here. Emory, 8-2.

#1 Singles: Jonathan Jemison (UTR 12.92, Senior), Emory vs. Ben Kirsch (UTR 11.60, Junior), Whitman

AS: Simply a mismatch here. Jemison is one of the best players in the nation and is a full 1.3 points ahead of Kirsch in UTR terms. While Kirsch certainly is no slouch, I do not expect him to pull off a huge upset on his first match Indoors, away from Walla Walla, against a senior player who has won a national championship. Put your money on Jemison. Emory, 6-1, 6-2.

#2 Singles: Hayden Cassone (UTR 11.83 WTF?, Sophomore), Emory vs. Daniel Foster (UTR 11.00, Junior), Whitman

AS: Can someone explain to me how Hayden Cassone’s UTR is 11.83 only? This doesn’t seem to be right. I am still miffed that UTR has taken away our premium access to their site, even though we didn’t do anything to get it removed, but so be it. Start a petition on change.org or whatever the kids do these days. Maybe it’ll work in this case. Anyways, I’m pretty sure Cassone’s UTR is a full point lower than where it actually should be given his results. That does not bode well for Foster, who sits at an 11.00 UTR right now. Emory, 6-2, 6-2.

#3 Singles: Adrien Bouchet (UTR 12.18, Senior), Emory vs. Adam Rapaport (UTR Unknown, Year Unknown), Whitman

AS: This match keeps throwing me for a loop with these people. Adam Rapaport is not listed on the Whitman website as on the roster, however he was listed as playing in the last match. He is not listed on the roster, therefore he has no UTR to be searched, and I don’t really know his year (although this is easily googleable, but I am being lazy). I would guess that his UTR is in 10.5-11 range, and that’s just not going to be enough for one of the winningest players at Indoors, Mr. Bouchet. I will not forget when Adrien won me the Draftkings crown two years ago. Should I go back to the well and pick him again? Emory, 6-4, 6-1.

#4 Singles: Andrew Esses (UTR 12.01, Freshman), Emory vs. Alexander Hwang (UTR 11.01, Junior), Whitman

AS: If this were #NYFW, maybe Whitman would win this one. Shout-out to all of those who get that joke, you are my people. Unfortunately, I highly doubt that Mr. Hwang has the fashion prowess of the other AW and in this case will probably not have the tennis prowess to keep up with the freshman from Emory. I have yet to see Esses play and am looking forward to it this weekend, but this first match may not be the best match to judge off of. Maybe some early match jitters but other than that, don’t think there is much to see here. Emory, 7-5, 6-2.

#5 Singles: Antonio Mora (UTR 12.14, Freshman), Emory vs. Andreas Mueller-Immergluck (UTR 10.53, Sophomore), Whitman

AS: IMMERGLUCK. IMMERGLUCK. IMMERGLUCK. Okay, that’s enough of that. Another freshman in the lineup here for Emory and another 1.5+ UTR advantage in the hand of the Eagles. This is becoming redundant and I will not waste any more 200 wpm on this preview. Emory, 6-3, 6-3.

#6 Singles: James Spaulding (UTR 11.35, Senior), Emory vs. Rajul Chikkalingaiah (UTR 10.80, Junior), Whitman

AS: Wow! This is the closest of any of the matches in terms of UTR, other than the Cassone match which doesn’t really count because something is clearly wrong there. However, I think Spaulding probably has too low of a score on UTR as well given the fact that he’s played as high as #3 and #4 singles and had some pretty damn good success there against top teams. Spaulding has been there, done that, and this will not be the match that Emory loses either. Emory, 6-3, 6-0.

PREDICTIONS

AS: Emory def. Whitman 9-0

NE: Emory def Whitman 9-0

CHB: Emory def. Whitman 8-1 hhhhhhhhhhhhomer alert

DIIIWest: Emory def. Whitman 8-1 (ALSO HOMER)

NewCentral: Emory def. Whitman 8-1 (not sure why)

And there you have it. Not much to see here IMO, where Whitman has been absolutely devastated by graduation this year and unfortunately could not backfill that talent leaving. It’s okay, programs go through their bumps, but this is a serious speed bump for the Blues that could drop them into the 20s, or even further. For them to go up against Emory in one of their first matches is something to be scared of. This is probably going to be the fastest of the four quarterfinals, but that’s okay. One of these teams is a national title contender and the other team is going through a small rebuilding phase. Here’s to a good experience in Cleveland, Ohio for both teams. Hey, the Browns have Baker Mayfield now. Okay, that’s all for tonight folks. By the way, I promise to get that Emory Season Preview out this week as well. ASouth, OUT.