2020 Season Preview: Washington and Lee Generals

Happy Monday folks! For the first time in a while, I am actually intrigued by this Super Bowl matchup, because it’s a classic unstoppable force vs. immovable object scenario and I’m here for it. It’s also great that the Patriots aren’t in it. Anyways, along with the Super Bowl, the spring season of D3 tennis is rapidly approaching and I have the pleasure of telling you all about the Generals from Lexington, VA! Let’s crack into it.

Location: Lexington, VA

Head Coach: Dave Detweiler (20th season)

ITA Regional Ranking: #15 (Atlantic South)

Blog Power Ranking: Unranked

Twitter Handle: @Generals_Tennis

Key Additions: Evan Brady (3 star, UTR 9.59P), Julian Hadad (3 star, UTR 9.68), Mac Moorehead (UTR 9.59P), James Torbert (UTR 9.49P), John Schneider (2 star, UTR 8.95P)

Key Departures: NONE!

Lineup analysis/Complete shot in the dark

This is going to be fun because they returned everyone from last year, and their entire freshman class are all coming in as potentially immediate impact players. I will add this disclaimer. I know that they have already played a “spring” match, but it was against UVA and plenty of things can change in a month and a half. 

#1 HARRY SHEPHERD – I have a good feeling about the senior this year. While his junior campaign was not quite up to par with his stellar sophomore season, I think Shepherd will come back and put together a strong season. He lost a tough match to Gomez of Stevens in the Round of 16 at ITAs, but on the way there picked up some good wins over Haverford’s Jiang and Hopkins’ Cartledge. This team will need him to play well and gain some signature wins in order for the Generals to climb back into the rankings, and I think Shepherd’s experience and talents will give him that edge that he had his Sophomore season.

#2 Bobby Neuner? – Mr. Neuner has notably been absent from ITAs and both of their matches against UVA and Emory & Henry but is still on the roster, which leads me to believe he could be battling injuries or something else. With that being said, if it is just an injury issue, I can see him slotting a bit lower in the lineup to start and working his way up. He had some great matches last season with a 22-3 record and seemed to be playing well this summer. If Neuner plays, I expect him to continue to take steps forward and become a legit #2.

#3 Mitchell Thomas – Thomas had a decent showing at ITAs picking up a win over CNU’s Macy (who was a good #3 last season), while staying competitive against Stevens’ Morris (projected #2 or #3) and struggling against Hutchison of UMW (projected #1). He was pretty good last season at predominantly #2 and 3 singles, but is set up to have a good senior year if he remains at the #3 spot. If he has to bump up, Thomas might struggle a bit.

#4 Alex Fedor – Fedor will be one of my players to watch this season.  He was an alright #2 last season, but struggled at ITAs. He did however, flash moments of potential at summer tournaments and I think that he could very well put it all together this season and be a key factor for the Generals making a rankings push. I think taking a step back in the lineup might be the best thing for Fedor. There is no doubt that the talent is there, but playing a little lower in the lineup would help the sophomore gain some confidence and set him up for future success this season. 

#5 Noah Tapp – Tapp bounced back and forth between the #4 and #5 spots last season and was alright, posting a 10-8 record overall. He picked up a fall win over Hampden-Sydney’s Moody, who should slot in at #2 singles, but hasn’t seemed to be able to put together Ws over players who are at a similar skill level or a little bit better. In order for this team to be successful, they will need the Junior to raise his game and pick up some signature wins this season over ranked teams. The good news is that at #5 singles, he is set up for success, and he plays good doubles!

#6 Evan Brady – The Freshman from New York rounds out my lineup projection, but truth be told this could be about 5 different players. This could be a weak spot for the Generals this season, especially if it becomes a revolving door and the match play experience is divvied up amongst a couple of different individuals. 

In the hunt – Hadad, Moorehead, Torbert, Rudden

Schedule Analysis: February – As previously mentioned, the Generals have played a couple of “regular season” matches against Emory & Henry and UVA. They crushed E&H and were crushed by UVA (shocker). Their first real match this season comes against NC Wesleyan and is followed by CNU the next day and Salisbury the following day. If they can come out of that 2-1, I think they will be in pretty good shape the rest of the season. They will then travel to California to round out the month where they will take on Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer. Both of those matches will be tough, but I’m glad to see this team travelling outside the Atlantic South to play some matches!

March – March will begin ODAC play, but also has some key regional matchups as well. W&L plays Mary Washington, Swarthmore and F&M in the middle of the month. Mary Washington should heavily favored, but Swarthmore is susceptible to upset and F&M should be very beatable. The rest of the month is ODAC play. It is worth noting that the last match of the month will be against Hampden-Sydney, who appears to be the second best team in the conference and could be an early preview of the conference tournament finals.

April – April rounds out conference play before a couple more regional and nationally ranked opponents, Sewanee and Johns Hopkins. Both of those matches will have ranking implications as well as seeding implications for NCAAs. The issue is that both of those teams seem to be a bit stronger than the W&L at this point in time. We’ll see how the season goes though!

May – The end of April/early May gives us the ODAC tournament that the Generals should cruise through before getting sent to Emory’s region as most likely a #4 side unless they can pull off some upsets this season. 

What should you expect?:  This team should be better than last year’s W&L’s team especially with their depth, but the question is “how much better?” They added a ton of talent and have some really strong seniors leading the way. It really depends on their doubles play and Harry Shepherd. The returners should have a chip on their shoulder after some close losses last season to Swarthmore and CNU as well as a waaay too close win over Franklin and Marshall. If Harry Shepherd can find his magic again, then expect this team to turn some of those close matches around and gain some signature wins this season. 

Prediction: My gut reaction is telling me to be positive about this team, so I’m going to go with a record of 15-7, with notable wins over CNU, Salisbury, SWARTHMORE, and Franklin & Marshall, and notable losses to NC Wesleyan, Redlands, Pomona-Pitzer, Mary Washington, Sewanee and Johns Hopkins. Realistically, this is not a bad season for the Generals after being unranked to start the season. They should be a top 40 team nationally, but I’m not convinced that they will be able to take down someone in the top 30. I also think Shepherd qualifies for NCAAs.

There it is! Up next is NC Wesleyan with a shallow dive into the USA South conference. What do you think about the Generals? Are they going to dominate the ODAC? Will they get a signature ASouth win over NC Wes, Mary Wash, Sewanee or Hopkins? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Comment, send us an email or send over a tweet. Until next time, RegASouth out!