Another week, another set of POTW! We have the NCAA title game tonight, the Masters this weekend, and the premiere of Game of Thrones this weekend so it should be just a massive week of DIII tennis coverage. Check back later today for a RegionalNE/C article later today and D3AS actually claims to be working on a Pool-C update. I know, you’ve been burned before, but it’s about this time every year he remembers he runs a DIII tennis blog and gets his act together. Congrats to the POTW
A-SOUTH
Player: James Spaulding
Team: Emory
Results: 2 wins against Middlebury on the road
Recap: I would have liked to give this to another ASouth team, but no one else was really worthy this week. Emory beat Midd 6-3 through the power of doubles and the bottom of the lineup, and James Spaulding was one of the main contributors. With wins at #2 doubles and #6 singles, Spaulding continued a solid senior year with key wins to beat the team that was #1 in my Power Rankings.
What’s next: Sewanee & UAA Championships
Honorable Mention: Antonio Mora (Emory), Clark Safran (CMU), Moses Hutchison (UMW)
Best April Fools prank you’ve ever seen: Sean McVay convincing new coach Kliff Kingsbury that he was about to lose the #1 pick for collusion with McVay. Look it up it’s great.
NewD3CENTRAL
Player: Matt Chen
Team: Case
Results: 2-0 against Kzoo
Recap: Word on the street is that Matt Chen came back from 0-6, 1-5 down to upset Ian Yi of Kalamazoo: 0-6, 7-5, 7-3 ret. I hope that Ian Yi is ok from the injury he suffered, but it’s still a massive comeback for Chen who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Chen is best served with some Hennessey as the duo helped Case snag a 2-1 lead with an 8-1 victory at two doubles. Case dropped 1 game and 2 and 3 doubles against Kzoo 😮
What’s next: Nothing major just a double date with Wash U and Chicago
Honorable Mention: Kenyon Singles, Vlad Rotnov (Denison), Yassine Derbani (GAC), Aaron Umen (Case), Stephan Zweiel (Carleton), Southwestern Tennis
Best April Fools prank you’ve ever seen: Rick & Morty Season 3
NE
Player: Adrian Roji & Noah Lilienthal
Team: Wesleyan
Results: 1-0 at #1 doubles and 1-0 at #3 and #4 singles respectively AT MIDDLEBURY.
Recap: Roji and Lilienthal continued their doubles dominance this weekend knocking off Cuba/Eazor. The duo are now 10-2 on the year with their only losses coming to Bowdoin and Wash U. The first set of spring Regional Rankings came out on March 28th, but they were basically just the fall rankings all over again. The Wes duo should be the No. 2 team in the region when the next individual rankings come out this week, or at worst No. 3. However, the two young Cards did more than just get a doubles point, they each won their singles matches as well, Lilienthal’s early win setting up Roji to clinch it and then proceed to go nuts. These two Cards earned three points for Wesleyan and were the difference in the match!
What’s next: Saturday at home against Williams.
Honorable Mention: Alex Taylor/Peter Frelinghuysen (Williams), Josh Quijano (Bates), Justin Patel (Bowdoin), Harris Foulkes (Amherst), Paris Pentousis (Tufts), Noah Farrell (Midd).
Best April Fools prank you’ve ever seen: Check back through the archives for any CHB article with a 4/1 post date. For something more tangible, I give you man washing door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQcirtmpl6M
NewDIIIWEST
Player: Cameron Krimbill
Team: Trinity (TX)
Results: Big come-from-behind clinch against West region foe, Pomona-Pitzer.
Recap: In a huge West region encounter, the Tigers almost let a 3-0 doubles lead slip away, but Krimbill was able to find a way to win when the match was tied at 4-4. Down 1-5 in the third and saving match points in the process, the sophomore transfer was able to fight back and win 6 straight games to pull the Tigers through. That’s a will to win right there.
What’s next: SCAC conference play
Honorable Mention: Wilson Lambeth (Trinity (TX) – win over Jed Kronenberg), Isaiah Volk (Cal Lu – clinch over Caltech)
Best April Fools prank you’ve ever seen: Me telling the bloggers I’d have a West region article done last week.
REGIONAL NE/C
Player: Alex Gray
Team: UW-Whitewater
Results: 2-0 at #1 doubles, 2-0 at #4 singles against UC-Santa Cruz and Coe.
Recap: UWW’s solid season has been mainly thanks to the fact that they have more depth than they have the past few years. They don’t have any locks, but have shown an ability to get wins at any position, and this weekend it was Alex Gray who stepped up in two of the Warhawks biggest matches of the year. The showdown with UCSC was a much anticipated matchup that was a pretty straightforward play-in match for the second Pool B berth to NCAAs. Gray started off pairing with Jimmy Englehart to complete a doubles sweep with an 8-7(5) win at #1, and then ended any hopes of a Cruz comeback with a 6-3, 6-1 win at #4 to clinch the victory. On Sunday, he came up huge with Englehart again, this time preventing a doubles sweep with an 8-6 win for UWW’s only doubles point, and then in singles his 6-2, 6-1 was much needed as the Warhawks came back to win 5-4 and complete a BIG weekend.
What’s next: Battles for WIAC superiority! Whitewater takes on UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire next weekend. UWEC in particular is having a solid year and will keep it relatively close, though I certainly still favor the Warhawks.
Honorable Mention: Zach Wood (UWW), Jacob Palley (Millikin)
Best April Fools prank you’ve ever seen: This mainly because it was so believable that some legit media outlets picked it up, and then got really pissed when they realized it was a joke.
REGIONAL AS
Player: Juan Vallejo
Team: NC Wesleyan
Results: 4-0 against Averitte and TCNJ
Recap: Mr. Vallejo has only lost one singles match this year to Mary Washington and continued his impressive season this weekend with an absolute beatdown of TCNJ’s Justin Wain. Wain has been pretty solid all season, but Vallejo easily took him down 2 and 2 at 3rd singles. I am excited to continue to follow this freshman and how he progresses over the next few seasons because if the Bishops continue to bring in players of this caliber they could become a regional force in the near future. The Bishops are 17-2 on the season with losses to a solid UMW and a D2 team that I know nothing about. If I were in the Atlantic South I would not want to see this team on the other side of the bracket come May.
What’s next: That was really the last interesting match of the season so from here on out, the Bishops will be prepping for their early conference tournament where they will be one of the first teams to punch their NCAA ticket!
Honorable Mention: Josh Moskovitz (Haverford)
Best April Fools prank you’ve ever seen: https://twitter.com/dog_feelings/status/1112883529279393792?s=21
NEWREGIONAL
Player: Max Schuermann
Team: Colby
Results: 2-0 at #3 singles, 0-2 at #2 doubles against Bates and Amherst
Recap: After a slow start to the season, Colby’s lone freshman had his best week of the season, beating Eisenberg from Bates 6-3, 6-3 before taking out Turchetta of Amherst 7-6 in the third. The Turchetta win is a fantastic win as Will has had several great wins this year. This should give Max a lot of confidence moving forward.
What’s next: Colby takes on Bowdoin on Wednesday before traveling to Trinity on Saturday. If Colby wants to remain in the playoff hunt, they are going to have to beat the Bantams
Honorable Mention: Scott Altmeyer (Colby), Will Leach (George Fox)
Best April Fools prank you’ve ever seen: “The U.S. Open will be using dogs as ball boys this year”