Wall of Text: Reg ASouth Kickoff – 7 Burning Questions!

WE. ARE. BACK. I know this is getting posted late, but I got a dog today sooooo… there’s that. We’re thinking about doing a DNA test since she’s a mutt, but then we realized, it would just turn out to say she’s 100% that bishhhhh. And just in case you were wondering, yes, she would have won our Dogs of D3 competition and I am not biased in any way shape or form. Let’s be real though, you really don’t care about me or my personal life, so let’s dive into what all of y’all come here for. THE TENNIS! And what better way to kick off the season than a burning questions article! 7 sounds like a great number.

7) What’s going on in Rocky Mount? We saw the Battling Bishops claim the title of best of the RegASouth last season with a big win over Sewanee in the NCAA tournament, but what will this team accomplish this year? They lost Giannis (not to be confused with the NBA Superstar) and JD Telles, who were both significant contributors, but they did gain a couple of new faces. How good are these freshman? I really don’t know, you can look into UTR and all that jazz but at the end of the day, we’re just going to have to see. Hopefully it’s a lot better than what’s going on in Rocky Top. Shout out to Jack Gray.

6) Will Rhodes live up to the hype? This should be the year. The key word here is should. They have the recruiting, they have a very solid senior class, they have a good #1 singles player. What can go wrong? At this point, I really feel like this is perfect storm for a very good season, IF they keep up their doubles play and have some mental toughness in singles. While it’s a cliche thing to say, it’s true. This team needs to be fit and disciplined and ready to fight. If they are, then they will win. Watch out Sewanee.

5) Who will be the next Centurion/Plummer? What a special run, these two gentlemen had a couple of seasons ago. They were deserving of the NCAA bid and everyone loves a good underdog story. RUDY RUDY. Not to be confused with the downright awful KFC Rudy commercials. Anyways. Who is going to step up and earn the next at large bid? My short list for candidates in singles is: Angradi (Salisbury), Chatterjee (Rhodes), Shepherd (W&L), Sorkin (Dickinson), Macy (CNU) and Carro (Sewanee). For doubles, we will revisit in the spring.

4) Can CNU bounce back? I think so. This is a team that dethroned a tanking Mary Washington program a couple of years ago, but suffered a regular season loss to Salisbury. So what can we expect this year? A CAC title? Probably not, but they should be better than they were last year. While they did finish the year technically ranked in the top 40, I would love to see this team make another step forward and wind up in the top 30. They return their top 3 and brought in a few more solid recruits. Show me what you got Captains!

3) Which departed senior will leave the biggest hole to fill in their program? This is a tough one because there were some very good seniors last year, but I think it’s going to be Jack Gray. A NCAA Singles and Doubles qualifier is VERY hard to replace, and he has been a staple in Sewanee’s lineup for a while now. They have a strong senior class and have a few more good recruiting classes on top of that, but losing that kind of leadership and experience is so difficult to overcome. They better hope that some leaders step up on this team, because Rhodes is gonna try to catch the Tigers by their toes.

2) How about those Generals? I am high on this team, which normally doesn’t bode well for the spring season. I’m going to call it the RegASouth Curse. This team is very talented and should be solidly in the top 40, especially if Harry Shepherd finds his magic again. They had a younger team last season and gained some valuable experience. Now with a few more key pieces, I think the gaps should be filled and they could be a team that Mary Washington or Johns Hopkins doesn’t want to see in the regular season. I am excited about following this team.

1) Are there any teams we should keep an eye on to burst into the top 40? Yes. Rhodes, Washington and Lee and don’t sleep on Salisbury. They remind me a lot of Millsaps from a couple of years ago. 

And there you have it! I apologize for the wall of text, but it’s late and the doggo needs some attention. Are there any other burning questions that you want answered? Drop a comment below, @ me on twitter or send me an email. Thanks for reading and until next time, RegASouth out!