#7 Amherst spring break precap
I’m taking a page out of D3AS’ playbook here as I have three major spring breaks to cover this week. Wesleyan, Amherst and Bowdoin have all taken a trip to warmer weather, and all three teams are playing a crazy amount of matches in a short amount of time. Over the next 48 hours I’ll bring you a precap for each of these three teams, all of whom have something to prove while outside of New England. First up, cool off with a refreshing swig of Kool-Aid as I looked at Wes’ week in Florida. Next up I have the Amherst Mammoths, also bucking the Cali trend and taking a trip to the Sunshine state.
What we know so far
Results:
#7 Amherst def Oglethorpe 9-0. Nothing to see here, just your run of the mill first match drubbing. The Mammoths laid it on and laid it on thick, giving up a total of five games in doubles, and no player dropping more than four total singles games. It wasn’t the Colby/Southern Maine box score, but it was still a good performance. Now that the tune up match is over, Amherst will take on its first ranked opponent of the spring early on Monday morning, before running the UAA gauntlet with CMU, Wash U and Case later this week.
Lineup:
#1D: Bessette/Fung
#2D: Wei/Foulkes
#3D: Ruparel/Turchetta
#1 Sean Wei
#2 Zach Bessette
#3 Kevin Ma
#4 Jayson Fung
#5 Damien Ruparel
#6 Harris Foulkes
Takeaways:
- doubles team will be a force. I love the pairing of Bessette and Fung. These two guys are both excellent doubles players and these two have plenty of chemistry at this point. I expect this to be a position of extreme strength for the Mammoths not only this week, but all season long. If the freshmen can produce lower down in the doubles lineup, this could be the strongest doubles we’ve seen from Amherst since they were still the Lord Jeffs.
- means Bessette must be ballin’. I was pretty surprised to see Bessette playing above Ma in the singles lineup. Not because Zach doesn’t have the ability, but because K-Ma had a torrid end to the spring 2018 and an equally impressive start last fall. If the senior has jumped Ma for good, it means he must be playing close to the best tennis of his career at this point, which puts Amherst in very good shape. We’ll soon know for sure, because he’ll likely get Diehl, Downing and Neves over the next few days…
- heralded freshmen all contributing early. We knew this was going to be a strong freshmen class for the Mammoths, but I did not think we’d see all three contributing this early in the year. Ruparel was definitely behind Foulkes in the fall, so he must be playing well at this point. In addition, Coach Doebler must have confidence in his young guys because starting a freshmen doubles team at #3 in both your first week of the season and against your biggest Pool-C competitors takes some serious
kahonestrust. So far so good, but ask me again after their first tight match…
What’s still to come
Monday #7 Amherst vs #13 Kenyon (8:00 a.m.)
Why it matters for Herst: Before, this was just the first real test of a match. Now that Kenyon lost to Wesleyan, it carries some indirect properties too. However, seeing as Amherst will play Wes and a slew of other teams Wes plays this week, it’s more about setting the right tone for the rest of the ranked foes later this week.
Why it matters for Kenyon: After a tough loss, this would be a heck of a rebound win, and go a long ways towards getting the Lords back in the top-10 for the first time in a few years. Realistically, it doesn’t matter in terms of making the tournament, but a win would have a big impact on seeding.
Why Herst should win: They are stronger where Kenyon is strongest. Does that make sense? Wei, Bessette and Ma should be a formidable trio atop the Mammoth lineup. Yes, Kenyon is strong at the top three as evidenced today against Wes, but on paper Amherst presents a tougher challenge than the Cards. Take that, the fact that Amherst should be a better doubles team, AND the idea that Kenyon played a very long grinding match earlier today while Amherst waltzed to a sweep should mean that the Mammoths are fresher early tomorrow morning.
Key to the match: GRIND. I’ve said that Amherst should be better on paper, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot when your legs are tired and your team is in desperate need of a point. If Kenyon can get hot early and put some pressure on Herst, it will reveal their true colors, which at this point remain to be seen. I know it won’t be in Gambier, but the Bench Mob, the passion, and the GRIND need to be on full display tomorrow for Kenyon. On the other side, I want to see Amherst grind. If they are as good as we think they are, they’re going to have to grind out a few wins here and there. Might as well get some tread on those young tires.
Swing match(es): Top three singles spots. Kenyon MUST get at least two of those three spots to win this match. If Herst gets two of those three, look for this to be one-sided.
Final score prediction: Amherst def Kenyon 6-3.
Tuesday: #7 Amherst vs #15 CMU (11:30 a.m.)
Why it matters for Herst: Because a loss puts the Mammoths on the wrong side of the Pool-C bubble. A win keeps Amherst in the top-10 and avoids the plethora of bad indirect losses that CMU carries including Case, Wash U, GAC, PP and Brandeis.
Why it matters for CMU: Because it’s a chance to erase the entirety of the early season woes with one swing of the racquet. A win over Herst would not necessarily put the Tartans back on the right side of the Pool-C bubble, but it would come close to eliminating another of CMU’s most direct competition for the final Pool-C spot.
Why Herst should win: I believe Amherst is a 1B title contender and I don’t believe CMU is there right now; however, this matchup does scare me a little, and I wouldn’t use a word like “should” in this context. Herst plays better doubles, but CMU is more battle tested right. Herst is strong at the top, but so is CMU. Herst has strong freshmen, but so does CMU. Overall, I like Herst to take a doubles lead and then get the necessary three points, even if CMU is playing well, but it COULD be tough to get two from Levine, Downing, Boppana, Levin and Safran.
Key to the match: Amherst’s freshmen. Safran has been a revelation for the Tartans so far this year, and should be favored against his fellow freshmen Ruparel, but on the flipside the CMU #6 has been their most vulnerable spot (for years now), so Foulkes should have the edge there. In doubles the Mammoth frosh comprise half the total lineup. If the Amherst freshmen can get three of their possible four points, Amherst will win this match. If not, we could be looking at another CMU nail biter.
Swing match: #1 singles. Sean Wei and Daniel Levine promises to be a heavyweight fight and people should be tuning in. Before the year I’d have hyped this as a battle between two of the country’s top five players. Given Levine’s start to 2019 I can’t say that, but we all know he has it in him and at some point those 3-set losses will become clutch 3-set wins. On the other hand Wei’s fall wasn’t out of this world, but he was still quite good and is probably the slightest of favorites in this match.
Final score prediction: Amherst def. CMU 6-3
Thursday: #7 Amherst vs #8 Wash U (3:00 p.m.)
Why it matters for Herst: This is neither of these team’s biggest matches of the week, as if the tournament started today both of these teams would get in, but a win for either comes a full step closer to sewing up a bid. Obviously that depends on the other results from this week, but this is the highest ranked team on either squad’s spring break. Whichever one of these teams wins this match might very well go undefeated this week. An undefeated spring break for either team all but locks up a Pool-C spot.
Why it matters for Wash U: A win over Herst would, in all likelihood, secure an NCAA berth. Wins over CMU, PP, and possibly CMU and/or Wesleyan again all tagged with a 5-4 loss to #1 Chicago would mean that Wash U has room for error (which is not something you can usually say about Pool-C in this day and age). As of early Monday morning a loss to Herst isn’t the end of the world, unless Amherst lost to a team that Wash U didn’t play (like Williams) putting another NESCAC team above the Bears in the Pool-C chase.
Why Herst should win: You can never use a word like should when Coach Follmer is coaching the guys on the other side of the net! This matchup is about as even on paper as it gets, so Herst will win if they can take a doubles lead. We haven’t seen Amherst play somebody on their level yet, so it’s tough to gauge the doubles teams, but I think it will be tough for either team to come away with 4 singles points so the leader after doubles should have a big edge in this one. Again, we haven’t seen enough to judge Amherst’s doubles yet, and Wash U just made a swap to their teams, which could spun as a good or bad thing, but shockingly doubles could be a slight Achilles heel for the Bears this year.
Key to the match: Top of the lineup. Both these teams are really really good in multiple facets of the game. Doubles should be close, singles should be close, I’m extremely pumped to watch this match. However, Wei vs Hillis, Bessette vs Neves, Ma vs Li and Fung vs van der Sman are INSANELY tight matchups. I guess it’s the slightest of edges to Neves and Ma respectively, but those four matches could all break either way. If either team takes three of the top four, it will be very difficult (though not impossible) for them to lose the match.
Swing match: #4 singles. Jayson Fung and Ben van der Sman should be a good one. BVDS has had a very solid start to his spring, and Fung is one of the few Mammoth upperclassmen still in this Herst lineup. I think Fung has the potential to be one of the best #4’s in the country, but he also has this nasty habit of playing a lot of close matches. We’ve seen something similar from van der Sman so far this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one go DEEP into the 3rd set.
Final score prediction: Amherst def. Wash U 5-4
Friday: #7 Amherst vs #14 Case Western (8:00 a.m.)
Why it matters for Herst: Yet another Pool-C contender from the UAA, and one that comes with the same indirects mentioned above in the CMU section. A loss to Case, more than negates a win over CMU, and it would put Amherst behind Brandeis and PP in the Pool-C chase. The Mammoths can negate that with a win over Wash U, but why make those waters murky when a win could keep them so crystal clear?
Why it matters for Case: Could be the last regular season chance to thrust themselves back into the Pool-C conversation after the tough 5-4 loss to CMU on Saturday.
Why Herst should win: They are a better version of Case. Strong doubles, strong at the top with some solid but truly untested guys down below (with the exception of Stroup). Amherst should be exhausted at this point in their week, but given that Case will have played 10 MATCHES in just six days the Mammoths won’t have any grounds on which to complain.
Key to the match: Mental and physical fatigue management. Case is a team that gets under your skin, even outside of Cleveland. Imagine your a Mammoth, you’ve just had a great week and knocked off Kenyon, CMU and Wash U, firmly establishing yourself as a national title contender. Now imagine you’re tired and happy, and you really don’t want to play another tough match. Luckily it’s just Case, right? They just lost to CMU who you beat. WRONG-O PERRY. That’s when Case is at their most dangerous, when they’re overlooked. Come in strong, get the job done, and earn your relaxation time. Amherst needs to manage both the mental and physical fatigue or else they’re in for a long day.
Swing match: #6 singles. Harris Foulkes was the biggest name in the Amherst recruiting class, and he had a very nice fall picking up wins in dual matches and big tournaments alike. However, this is his first real week of tests, and at the end of it comes Joshua Powell, who might be Case’s strongest position at this point of the season. It’s a match Case probably needs to win, but it’s close and if Harris pulls it off then Amherst should be in the clear.
Final score prediction: Amherst def. Case 6-3