I am going to preface the next statement regarding Monday Night Football with the fact that I started writing on Monday, but failed to deliver the entire article, but hey, better late than never! As I’m writing this, I’m watching James Connor literally carry me to a fantasy football victory over the OG West, CHB, and it’s a really good feeling.You know what else is a really good feeling? The fall air, indicating that the offseason is here. Now is the time where we don’t hear much about the teams, don’t see as many twitter posts, but just know that they are getting to work, putting in the hours in the gym, honing their fearhands and working on every aspect of their games to help their team this upcoming season. Well that’s the ideal scenario at least! After this fall, there are obviously things that each team needs to work on, so I’m going to take the time to go over the good and what can improve for my “top 10” teams!
NC Wesleyan
The Good: The depth. NC WESLEYAN IS DEEP! I have said it before and I will continue to say it. This is going to be the strength of this team all season long and will help them win most of their matches. Their doubles were great in the ITAs and they had 3 quarter finalists in singles. In a traditionally tough ITA with Emory and Sewanee they showed that they can hang with pretty much anyone at any spot and I’m excited for their opening match against Mary Wash. Did someone say barn burner?
Improvements: This team really just needs an elite #1 singles player and they would be making an argument for being a potentially top 10 program. To me, that’s all their lacking to be able to contend with and beat a program like Hopkins or CMU. If someone can step up in the offseason and transform into a beast #1 (shoutout Kjellberg), watch out y’all.
Sewanee
The Good: The freshmen. Sewanee’s freshmen were very strong in the ITA, especially in doubles and I cannot wait to see how they integrate into the lineup this season. It stings losing a player and leader like Jack Gray and they desperately needed some fresh talent to come and boost their lineup. Well, if the fall is any indication of what’s to come, they are going to have plenty of talent and it’s going to be a fun season.
Improvements: I really don’t have a lot to go here, but if it were anything, then I would say the toughness in close matches that REALLY mattered. They had some solid close wins last season but if they were to turn a few of those close losses into W’s, it would turn a good season into a great season. Like I said, this is really nitpicky, but this just comes down to the work in the off season and the desire of the team in the regular season.
Stevens
The Good: Marc Feliu Gomez is very very good. After a tight first round matchup against UMW, he then proceeded to steamroll through Harry Shepherd and Dominic Lacombe in route to the semifinals. Oh, and he’s not too bad at doubles either. This young player is one to build a team around and will be exciting over the next few years to come.
Improvements: The rest of the team on the other hand, really underperformed in this tournament. While I did notice that some of their guys, that I would have pegged for starters, didn’t play, the rest of the team lost in the first round of singles. They need to step it up from 2-6 if they want to remain nationally ranked.
CNU
The Good: Lacombe and Henry both had very respectable tournaments, each reaching the Quarters and picking up some quality wins along the way. They will be the focal points of this team this season. I actually don’t know where Hunter came from, but he is a great addition to the team and will provide the perfect one two punch with Lacombe.
Improvements: Macy didn’t play as well as I thought he could’ve in this tournament and I am a little disappointed with the results. He was a very good 3 last season and I was hoping he would take another step in the right direction, but this fall was rough. Let’s hope the sophomore regroups this offseason and comes back better, because if so, this will be a very solid team.
W&L
The Good: Harry Shepherd looks to be in better form than he was last season. He took out Haverford’s top freshman before taking out a solid Cartledge from Hopkins. Add a run to the Quarters in doubles and you have yourself a pretty solid ITA. The Generals will need Shepherd to return to NCAA qualifying form in order to have a successful season, and this seems to be a pretty good start.
Improvements: I wasn’t as impressed by the rest of the team’s results. It is unfortunate that both of their other doubles teams had first round matchups against CMU and Hopkins, but I was hoping for a little bit more of a fight. The singles was just OK too. Don’t get me wrong, I think this team is perfectly capable with their talent, but this offseason, there is work that needs to be done.
Rhodes
The Good: CHATTERJEE. I feel like there can be some really dope nicknames for this kind sir, so hit me up if you have some Rhodes. Along with having an awesome name, he once again had a strong ITA and nearly took out Brewer, who will be contending for the Sewanee’s top spot. I hope they can get a few more nationally ranked teams on their Spring Break schedule that will also allow Chatterjee to have a few more chances to make his case for NCAAs. The senior should be contending for a spot this season and will be a handful for a lot of #1s.
Improvements: Doubles was yuck. And that’s a nice way to put it. They need to be better if they want to contend for an SAA title and national ranking. If there was any year to do it, it would be this one with their three seniors. I would be watching all the pro doubles videos ever recorded ever and emulating them this off season.
Salisbury
The Good: I’ll give you $5 if you can guess what I’m about to type… An… otha one! Just kidding. That was a terrible joke, but I digress. Angradi is a stud. I said last season, I wish he had a chance to play ITAs last fall to make a better case to qualify for NCAAs, well he made NCAAs last year by the skin of his teeth, and confirmed that he is legit AF this fall. If there is any year to do big things in the CAC, this is the year behind this top dog. Oh, and Siew is legit too.
Improvements: The rest of the singles needs some improvement if they want to contend with Mary Wash or beat CNU. The top of the Seagulls’ lineup will be able to contend with both of those teams, but I am worried about the depth. They didn’t bring in any freshman either, so hopefully the rest of the team is on the court and in the gym all offseason because they’ll need to find another 1 or 2 points somewhere at 3 to 6 singles, because I am not confident after this fall that they have the rest of the supporting cast.
Haverford
The Good: Kevin Yan barely escaped a TOUGH first round matchup against Mary Wash’s Tecce before taking our Dickinson’s projected #1 Sorkin. Yan was a pretty good #2 last season and has seemed to have taken the necessary steps to fill in for Moskovitz and take over the top spot in the Black Squirrels’ lineup. Doubles on the other hand will need some improving.
Improvements: I think Coach Kincaid has done a fine job so far, but the talent on this team needs to be developed further because I think they have what it takes to be a top 40 teams. Historically this team has not performed up to standards, but I think the culture will slowly change over time and we will see these players grow and develop more than in the past.
Dickinson
The Good: Oh hi Mr. Coan. I see you picking up a couple of good wins over CNUs Mason and Swarthmore’s Lathrop. Oh, aaaand you pushed Salisbury’s Siew, who is a very legit player himself? Good job kid. Coan was a good 2/3 last season and looks to have continued to put in the work in the off season. He is going to be a GREAT compliment to Sorkin this season and for a couple of years to come.
Improvements: Similarly to Salisbury, the rest of this team will need to step up to in order to produce big results. The good news is that this team is much younger than Salisbury and I think has a brighter future. They also need to work on their doubles.
Millsaps
The Good: The Millsaps fans probably were like, “screw you RegASouth, you forgot about us,” and stopped reading once they hit Salisbury, but alas, if you are a Millsaps fan, congrats! You made it all the way down to the bottom of this wall of text! Unfortunately they did not have the best ITA and are in rebuilding mode. The good news is that the offseason is long and they have a good coach that knows what it takes to be successful at Millsaps after being mentored by Coach Box.
Improvements: This team lost some player leaders and their head coach a couple of seasons ago and haven’t quite been able to fill that gap. I think Coach Elkins had a solid first recruiting class and I’m excited to see what he can bring in this year. In order for this team to be successful, they need to go back to their workmanlike days and out grind anyone that stands in their way. #JustACoupleOfTwoStars
There it is y’all. Please don’t freak out too much, because I have said before, the fall is the fall and things can DRASTICALLY change in the off season, I was also half awake when writing part of this article. These are my speculations based on pretty much one or two tournaments and the spring could go very differently. Anyways, after checking our content calendar, I realized that I need to answer another hot take. Check out the site daily for either some hot takes, women’s articles, or to just go back to look at the dogs of D3 series. Enjoy the grind of the offseason boys and be on the lookout for season previews in the coming months! RegASouth out.