2019 NCAA Regional Preview: Middlebury Region
Welcome to our first Regional Preview as The Blog is back up and running after some very serious technical issues on Sunday and Monday. Big shout out to the Regional Roundup OG, D3Regional, who spent hours dealing with support and trying to fix the site you all know and love! We’re going to have NCAA Previews for all eight regions over the next few days, and I’m here to kick us off with the NESCAC champions and one of the biggest contenders to the overall top seeded CMS. Middlebury hosts MIT, Stevenson, Goucher, Baruch and Clarks Summit this weekend. When I say “I’m here”, really that means that mercifully NewRegional is here to provide some expert Regional analysis about almost all the teams in this region! That Regional coverage is crucial to your brackets as the first round begins Thursday with a battle between Goucher and Baruch. You’ll have to wait to see either Midd or MIT in action until Friday. Please check out all our other NCAA coverage too, including our blind Pool-C resume test.
MIDDLEBURY
ITA Rank/Blog Power Rank/Slam Tennis Rank: #3/#5/#6
Power 6: 71
How they got here: The defending national champions entered the NESCAC tournament as a No. 3 seed who were on the verge of the Pool-C bubble with a loss to Tufts, and left as tournament champions and a top-3 overall seed at NCAAs! This year they have wins over Amherst, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Williams Pomona, Tufts (2x) and more.
Why they can win: They are back to playing Coach Hansen’s usual standard of doubles, they have quite possibly the strongest 1-2 punch in the country, their depth is playing as well as it has all year, to be blunt, when they’re clicking this team is as good or better than every other team in the country, including CMS. Plus they are playing this regional at home, which can certainly be an advantage…
How they can be beaten: While they have been playing good doubles of late, their doubles let them down often earlier in the year. Combine that with some NCAA inexperience and more than a couple unproven postseason players and there is reason to believe this team could either win it all or get upset in the Sweet-16. Plus they are playing this regional at home, which can certainly be a disadvantage…
Player to watch: Nate Eazor. Nate plays #5 singles and #3 doubles, and is my current NE Player of the Week. He’s been playing incredibly well of late, just as he did last year during the tournament, but that hasn’t been the case all year. Is postseason Nate just something we all have to learn to live with. Does he slightly tank the regular season and turn it on when it matters most? If so, other teams beware. If not, Midd is more vulnerable at the bottom of their lineup than they have been in recent years (during which they made deep NCAA runs).
Odds of making the NCAA Quarterfinals: 91.1%
MIT
ITA Rank/Blog Power Rank/Slam Tennis Rank: #34/#21/#11
Power 6: 67
How they got here: MIT quietly took care of business this year, taking wins over Bates, Babson and Skidmore in the regular season, and beating Babson 5-1 in the NEWMAC finals to clinch their NCAA spot via Pool A. MIT’s only D3 losses this year were to CMS (5-4), Bowdoin (6-3) and Brandeis (5-4)
Why they can win: They’re really talented. We’ve seen MIT push CMS to 5-4 this year, and CMS is (according to our Power Rankings) the best team in the country. Tyler Barr and Alex Cauneac are proven seniors at the top who have shown the ability to compete with the best players in the country during their four years in Cambridge
How they can be beaten: Outside of Barr and Cauneac, they don’t play good doubles, and the #6 singles spot has been an issue. Against CMS, Brandeis and Bowdoin, MIT went 0-3 at #2 doubles, 0-3 at #3 doubles and 0-3 at #6 singles. I’d be shocked if they won one of these points against Middlebury, making their upset bid all the more difficult
Player to watch: Tyler Barr. The former All-American has had really good results this year, beating Parodi (CMS), Aizenberg (Brandeis) and Wynne (Skidmore). The win over Wynne last weekend should hopefully clinch a spot at nationals for Tyler – given his body of work this year, he’s earned it. If MIT wants to pull an upset, Tyler is going to need to be good for two points, which means beating Cuba twice. In their matches against CMS and Brandeis, Tyler went 2-0, and MIT came up a set short. Yes, someone else is going to need to step up, but it all starts with the senior from Chagrin Falls.
Odds of making the NCAA Quarterfinals: 8.8%
STEVENSON/GOUCHER/BARUCH/CLARKS SUMMIT
Power 6’s: 45/56/44/15?!
How they got here: Stevenson clinched its first NCAA bid ever by defeating Messiah 5-1 in the MAC Commonwealth finals. Goucher made a few headlines earlier this year when they beat Stevens 5-4, and locked up their bid for the fourth year in a row, defeating Scranton 5-1 in the Landmark Conference finals. For the third year in a row, Baruch is dancing out of the CUNYAC. The Bearcats came back from a 1-2 hole to defeat the College of Staten Island 5-2. Clarks Summit won the Colonial States Athletic Conference for the first time in school history! The Defenders (great name) defeated Bryn Athyn College 5-3 in the CSAC finals.
Why they can win: As evidenced by their Power 6’s, Goucher is clearly the cream of the crop, and they shouldn’t struggle with Baruch in their first round match. Stevenson should cruise through Clarks Summit, but you never know!
How they can be beaten: Goucher lost to TCNJ and Salisbury 8-1. None of these teams are taking a point against MIT or Middlebury
Player(s) to watch: Elliot Diehl (Goucher), Josiah Meekins (Goucher), Leonard Margolis (Baruch), Peter Appiah (Stevenson), Alex Kiblin (Stevenson), Wornden Ly (Stevenson), Douglas Vaughn (Stevenson). All seniors ending their careers with an NCAA appearance; that’s pretty cool.
Odds of making the NCAA Quarterfinals: <.1%