Stag Hen QF #4: No. 4 PP vs No. 5 Swarthmore
Match time: Friday, 9 a.m. PST
Match location: PP
This stinks because New Central just had one of the greatest intros of all time… How the hell are you supposed to follow that up? Oh well. Here we have the fourth and final match of the Stag Hen and it is brought to you by myself (RegASouth) and DIIIWest! The Sagehens have the home court advantage in this matchup and are looking to get back on track after a great first round win at indoors. The Garnet are looking to find their way back into the top 25 and really need a signature win to do so. This match doesn’t have really any huge implications later on down the road, but there is plenty of pride on the line in this first round matchup!
PP Facts – DIIIWest
National Ranking: 14
Blog Power Ranking: 12
2019 so far: Ehhhh. A promising win in the first round of Indoors against Gustavus but blowout losses to Emory and Wash U along with head-shaking losses to Brandeis and Mary Washington leave me wondering if PP’s season is all but done. They are evidently not as deep or talented as in years past and that seems to be surfacing most on both the doubles court and at the bottom of the singles lineup.
Biggest strength: Jed at #1 singles seems to be the most efficient position so far this year. The sophomore is one of the best #1’s in the country, but he can only lead this team so much.
Biggest weakness: Doubles… Is that even a question?
Why this match matters to PP: This match is really about boosting team morale, as their last four matches really have not gone their way. Now I do see them coming out with the win and the opportunity to play a tough Bowdoin team in the semis is what this team may need to see what they need to work towards.
Key to the match: Doubles again. Neither singles lineup will blow one another off the court, so a doubles lead may prove important once singles starts to get tight.
Why PP will win this match: PP is going to win this match because despite some tough losses in the recent past, they are simply the better team. We saw Swarthmore fall to a deep Caltech team 6-3 and I’m fairly certain PP would do better against that same Tech team. Going off that line of reasoning, I’m giving PP the edge in this one. Oh, home court always helps a little too.
Swarthmore Facts – RegAS
National Ranking: 31
Blog Power Ranking: 33
2019 so far: A team that showed so much promise this season has struggled up to this point this year. Coming in to the season with a national ranking of 19, a new coach and second straight top 20 recruiting class, we were expecting pretty big things however graduation hit hard and they look to be slipping. They are 5-4 on the season with not so great losses to TCNJ, CalTech and Redlands, three teams that they should have been able to beat or at least compete with. This team is teetering on the edge of the rankings and needs a big weekend at the Staghen in order to begin to salvage the season.
Biggest strength: #1 doubles and John Lathrop’s singles would probably be the biggest strengths for this team that has struggled this season.
Biggest weakness: The top of the singles line up is sincerely missing Mark Fallati at this point in time and they’re super young.
Why this match matters to Swat: This is a chance for Swarthmore to gain some momentum going into the rest of the season. I don’t have a lot of faith in this team for the first round, but I think losing might be good for them and allow them to get valuable experience in matches against teams closer to their level. If they do win this first round match, chances are this young team is gonna get smacked around and that could do some damage to their confidence.
Key to the match: Doubles is going to be a key to this match and whoever takes that lead will greatly strengthen their chances to take this match.
How Swat can win this match: Pomona comes out slow and gives up a sweep to the Garnet. Then from there Lathrop does his thing and they hope and pray for someone else in the lineup to pull out a big 3rd set win to seal the deal.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION
DIIIWest: PP def Swat 6-3
RegAS: PP def Swat 7-2
NE: PP def Swat 7-2