This preview was supposed to be done early last week and unfortunately life happened, so here we are. The good news is that I just wrote this preview! Tonight we will be covering a new Atlantic South team, Stevens, and some other MACtion. Credit to real ASouth for the pun. Anyways, for those who have been following the blog for a while, I used to cover Stevens, before passing them over to RegNEC, however now that they have been bumped to my region, I will be taking over the reigns. Let’s get into it!
Stevens Fast Facts
Location: Hoboken, NJ
Head Coach: Steve Gachko (15th Season)
ITA Regional Ranking: Preseason Unranked (Atlantic South)
ITA National Ranking: 31
Twitter Handle: @Ducks_Tennis
Key Departures: Bryan Szayna (was a sophomore last year, but no longer on the roster)
Key Additions: Phillip Szkudlarski (3 star, UTR 10.14 *Provisional)
Team Overview: I’m really glad that this is a blog and not a podcast, because I would have no idea how to pronounce these names. Szayna is a big loss for the Ducks in singles (as a placeholder at #2) and doubles as an NCAA qualifier, but Szkudlarski should help ease that pain just a little bit. While he didn’t have the best ITA, he will do just fine lower in the lineup, especially in conference play. Gomez is and will remain a stud at #1. The rest of the lineup should look something like Kanevsky, Morris, Sifuentes , Szkudlarski, and Krishnun (the Junior since there are literally two Arjun Krishnun’s). Anyone who plays #2 will most likely struggle against the nationally ranked competition, but #3-5 should hold pretty strong. My gut feeling says #6 will be a revolving door.
The schedule starts off with a bang at the annual Mary Washington Invitational, where the Ducks will take on Mary Washington, Sewanee and Johns Hopkins. If they can win 1 match, they will be in good shape, if they win 2, they’ll be in great shape. The season is still salvageable if they lose all 3, but it will be an uphill battle, especially since all 3 are regional opponents. They have plenty of other quality matches scheduled throughout the year including Haverford, NC Wesleyan, Salisbury, NYU, TCNJ and Skidmore. I still think the Ducks are 1 year out from regaining a top 25 ranking, but these tough matches will give great experience to all the young ducklings moving forward.
Truth be told, their move to the MAC doesn’t affect much at all besides the shift to the Atlantic South as opposed to the Northeast, which is honestly better for individual purposes because of how stacked the Northeast Region is. Stevens will still qualify for the NCAA tournament because the conference unfortunately isn’t competitive. Not by a long shot. See graphic below:
What should you expect?: Honestly, I am expecting the Ducks to struggle because of their schedule, but realistically any team would struggle with this schedule. There’s plenty of opportunities for them to garner signature wins, but also opportunities to lose some close matches. I’m going to lean toward the latter and guess that the Ducks are going to end up on the wrong end of a couple of 4-5 and 3-6 battles, but like I said earlier, this is all good experience and if Gachko can piece together another solid recruiting class, they should set themselves up well for the next two years moving forward.
Prediction: I’m going to go with a 12-5 record with losses to Mary Washington, Sewanee, Mary Washginton, NC Wesleyan and Skidmore. The wins over Haverford, Salisbury, NYU and TCNJ should be enough to keep them nationally ranked and also break into the top 10 in the region. Look for Gomez to qualify for NCAAs in singles as well, especially since the transition into a historically weaker Atlantic South region.
The Rest of the MAC Freedom
Wilkes – Wilkes get’s the worst deal with Stevens move because their NCAA bid just got ripped away from them after winning the MAC Freedom the past 12 years. The departure of Courtney Murphy doesn’t help either. They are going to be the second best team in the conference, but will struggle against Stevens. Congrats on a great 12 year streak, but unfortunately all good things must come to an end.
DeSales – DeSales is going to have a battle with FDU Fordham for the 3rd spot in the MAC Freedom. Last year they finished third behind Wilkes and Manhattanville, but with Manhattanville departing to the Skyline, they will look to maintain their spot in the top 3.
FDU Fordham – FDU is right on the heels of DeSales and should definitely keep things interesting in the fight for 3rd place. They narrowly edged out the Bulldogs last season in a 5-4 and I would expect a similar match this season. The good news is that history is in favor of the Devil, who have won the past 9 meetings.
Delaware Valley – The Aggies might actually have the second best #1 singles player in the MAC Freedom, but unfortunately, the rest of their lineup doesn’t help them. The coaches voted for the Aggies to finish in the 7th spot, but I think they should be fighting for the 5th or 6th spot in the conference with King’s College.
King’s – King’s just missed out on the MAC Freedom tournament last year with a 4-3 conference record and will look to bounce back this season. Unfortunately, it feels like the Monarchs are taking a step back, while others are moving forward, which is why they’ll be competing for the 5/6 slot and not the top 4.
Eastern – The Eagles have some similarities to Stevens. Their colors are red and grey and their mascots are both birds! Unfortunately the tennis isn’t quite on the same level. They have a young team and put together a decent season last year, so hopefully the valuable experience gained will help them this season.
Misericordia – Rounding out the MAC Freedom is Misericordia. The current and 12th governor of Alaska is an alumni and they are currently rebuilding their tennis program. That is pretty much all I have to say about that.
There you have it! Unfortunately I probably will not have time to preview the MAC Commonwealth, but my pick is for Stevenson to take that side of the conference. Stay tuned for more previews as the season is rapidly approaching and as usual, leave a comment, tweet @ me or send an email. Until next time, RegASouth out!
Thanks. Didn’t know much about the Mac…so this helped. UTR Power 6 image says a lot.