REGIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: 05/20-05/26
Welcome to our final POTW of the year! Sadly, NCAAs have come to an end which means the DIII season is finished and our blogging season is just behind it. For all those of you looking for content, never fear. We still have some interviews, final Power Rankings, and hopefully even our year-end awards and the championship journey articles to get to this week! Plus…DOGS!!! Congrats to Emory, Wesleyan, Jonathan Jemison, Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico, Grant Urken/Jerry Jiang and Catherine Allen/Caroline Cox on terrific NCAA runs, and congrats to all of you for continuing to read a blog about division three tennis even after the season ends. You’re the real heroes here.
A-SOUTH
Player: Jonathan Jemison
Team: Emory
Results: Won 2 National Titles and did some shit in the doubles tournament
Recap: Unlike many of the characters of Game of Thrones, Jonathan Jemison’s career arc has come to a satisfying end. The senior ended his career with the clinching point of the national championship, winning the singles individual tournament over cinderella story Leo V., and did well in the doubles portion of the event as well. He has cemented his status as one of the most accomplished Emory players of all time and his relatives have also filled up my inbox with emails. This was an easy pick for a proven winner.
What’s next: no idea, but in this context, who really cares?
Honorable Mention: Adrien Bouchet (Emory), Antonio Mora (Emory)
Sum up the 2019 season in 5 words: Let’s do it again sometime.
NewD3CENTRAL
Player: Erik Kerrigan & Ninan Kumar
Team: Chicago
Results: Another (see 2017) Top Four Finish in the Country – Semifinalists at NCAAs
Recap: Kerrigan and Kumar capped off their junior year partnership by reaching the semifinals of NCAAs in the Doubles Draw for a second time before falling to the eventual champions Bowdoin 6-4, 6-7(8),4-6. Kerrigan also nabbed another singles All-America honor at the tournament. Kerrigan & Kumar ended the season as All-Americans again with a record of 26-8. More exceptionally, Kerrigan & Kumar went undefeated in postseason dual match play defeating: Rochester, Brandeis, Wash U, Augustana, GAC, Amherst, and CMS along the way.
What’s next: SummerSZN, Kerrigan & Kumar return as seniors to try and lead this team to the promised land.
Honorable Mention: Bernardo Neves (Wash U), Ethan Hillis (Wash U), Levi Ackerman (Scouts)
Sum up the 2019 season in 5 words: Sophomores. Best Class in Country.
NE
Player: Grant Urken and Jerry Jiang
Team: Bowdoin
Results: Tough Quarterfinal Monday against CMS, but both made Day 2 of singles (Jiang to the Quarters and Urken to the Semis), and…am I forgetting something…oh yeah…NCAA DOUBLES CHAMPS!!!
Recap: The two Bowdoin seniors earned a fitting end for their careers. Not many people get to say that they won the last college match in which they played! In fact, it’s a perfect bookend for these two who helped change the Bowdoin program. They started their careers with a team championship way back in 2016 and ended it with one as well! As RegNE/C pointed out, Urken joins what must be a VERY small group of players who have earned the career triple crown (and he did each one in a different year). Jiang also accomplished a rare feat this year, as he won the New England ITA and finished 2nd at The Oracle Cup (A.K.A. Small College Nationals) with one doubles partner, and then won the NCAA championship with another. Two All-American statuses and two top-2 finishes in the country, both earned with a different doubles partner, and all in the same year!
What’s next: Graduation! Well, not the real Bowdoin graduation, these two already had a nice little ceremony with the Bowdoin President before heading off to NCAAs.
Honorable Mention: Roji/Lilienthal (Wesleyan), Sean Wei (Amherst), Cuba/Farrell (Midd)
Sum up the 2019 season in 5 words: Parity?! Not when it matters.
NewDIIIWEST
Player: CMS
Team: CMS
Results: Frankly, not the best week for West teams or for individual players. Since no one player stands out from the rest this week, I thought I’d make this week’s POTW a TOTW. An incredible 33-2 record and two fiery wins against Bowdoin and Chicago before losing a tight final to Emory, the Stags put on quite the show this year. Parodi/Katzman have more than proved themselves as the best 1/2 combo in the country, Gordy can play some serious doubles, and Liu/Park/Meister make this team one of the deepest in the country. For the final POTW, I’ll pour one out to the whole CMS squad – what a season.
Recap: You know the Stags wanted to go one step farther and I’m sure this loss to Emory will sting, but they lose just one player in their top 6 and I’m sure they’ll be favorites to win it all next year.
What’s next: Finance Internships.
Honorable Mention: Niko Parodi’s QF Individual run, Kronenberg battling past Downing, Lipscomb taking out Yuan, Shanker making the second round, Lambeth beating seeded Zalenski in the first round, Cummins/Libao becoming All-Americans. Longest honorable mention list ever?
Sum up the 2019 season in 5 words: 6 GREAT teams, then everyone else. ASouth edit: 6 words too.
REGIONAL NE/C
Player: LEO
Team: Carleton
Results: Made the finals of NCAAs
Recap: Leo has been a favorite of mine for a while and more recently NewCentral, but he’s now gone completely mainstream with his run to the NCAA finals, where he fell in 6-4 in the third to Jemison. Along the way he topped Bouchet (Emory), Lambeth (Trinity TX), Hillis (Wash U), and defending national champion Urken (Bowdoin). His only D3 losses all year were to Jemison in the final and none other than Jake Trondson of HAMLINE. Carleton head coach and Blog favorite Stephan Zweifel said it best: “Talent, determination, and most of all class. He elevates all around him. The next two years are going to be a real treat!”
What’s next: Two more years of this guy! He’ll no longer be any sort of unheralded underdog, and is going to have a target on his back from here on out. It’ll be interesting to see whether Leo and the rest of the Knights are able to continue to bridge the gap between themselves and Gustavus in the MIAC.
Honorable Mention: JT Wynne/ Noah Williamson (Skidmore), Gabi Kitchell (UWW)
Sum up the 2019 season in 5 words: Long but fun to follow.
REGIONAL AS
Player: Alec Angradi
Team: Salisbury
Results: Lost in 3 sets to Neves
Recap: The former D1 transfer had himself a very good spring. In fact, good enough to qualify for NCAAs! He got a tough draw facing Neves from Wash U and ended up pushing him to 3 sets. Overall congrats to Angradi! He will certainly be fun to follow over the next couple of seasons in the ASouth.
What’s next: Summer prep for his first D3 ITAs this fall!
Honorable Mention: Dominick Lacombe (CNU)
Sum up the 2019 season in 5 words: Best year of D3 blogging!
NEWREGIONAL
Player: Varun Shanker
Team: Caltech
Results: Lost in the round of 16
Recap: Shanker finished off his great sophomore year by beating Vishnu Joshi 6-2 6-3 in the first round before falling to eventual champion Jonathan Jemison 6-2 6-4 in the second round.
What’s next: Hopefully a short break from tennis to enjoy the summer before heading into his junior year. Shanker was one of the most improved players in the country this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he’ll compete with the top players in the West and in the country over the next two years!
Honorable Mention: JT Wynne (Skidmore)
Sum up the 2019 season in 5 words: Brandeis should have made it
AVZ’S PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Player: Jonathan Jemison and Polina Kiseleva
Team: Emory and Wesleyan
Justification: Because I don’t play by anyone’s rules, I had to pick two people for this award. And I also am the first one to ever pick a female on a men’s article! What can you say about what Jemison did this past week that hasn’t already been said? He got to experience the championship moment twice in clinching the team championship with a huge win over Parodi and then again with his singles title. His smile in the championship photos say it all. What a way to wrap up a big time career at Emory. As for Kiseleva, that girl can flat out smack a forehand. She is a bulldog in doubles and shows her emotions on the court which is awesome, but her ability to hit huge winners off the forehand side to clinch the team title for Wesleyan was not only impressive, but made me envious of her style of play. Two big time players both deserving of the recognition.
Sum up the 2019 season in 5 words: Find the fairway, score well.