It’s 2 weeks until Indoors. The DIII season has already started. And D3AtlanticSouth has not figured out why his Pixel 2 is not sending him notifications from his blog twitter account. While my personal twitter is quite important to me, it kills me to see 20 notifications on my Blog account simply because my phone can’t figure out how to handle the three twitter accounts I have (my fantasy football league has a twitter account. Yep). Now that we have entered February, D3Northeast has told all the bloggers that we need to get on our shit. So, despite the fact that the world is in shambles, countries are on fire, people are getting sick, and we are debating the tan lines of the Commander in Chief, I am here to give you a season preview of the Mary Washington Eagles. We talk about the important things here. And nothing is more important to me than the upcoming season of Mary Washington tennis.
Intro:
Mary Washington has made it’s living training and developing 1 and 2 stars into solid contributors throughout the lineup. They are a school that you don’t think about when you think about the top powers in DIII, but a school that has been blessed with an easy conference. They’ve made the NCAA Tournament every year since before I went to college (2008). When you think consistency, you think Mary Washington. When you think rankings from #15-25 (if you ever do), you think Mary Washington. And when I think of season previews, I think of Mary Washington. Nothing epitomizes the slog of Season Previews like this team, and even though I love them, I also hate them at the same time. This looks to be a tough year for the Eagles as they lost several key contributors from last year, including their #1 and #2 singles players, so let’s get to the breakdown. It’s also important to note that Mary Wash’s conference, the CAC, has been changed to a POOL B conference. I believe that Mary Washington now sits with the Pool B independents, which could mean a lot of different things as we move on into the year. Bracketology will certainly be interesting.
Overview:
Coach: Todd Helbing, 18th Season
Location: Fredericksburg, VA
End of Year Power Ranking: #15
Twitter Handle: @UMWMensTennis
Team Hashtag: #GetDirtyGoWash
Key Additions:
Grant Perry (2 Star, #395), Jacob Quijano (#2 Star, #219), Nicholas Spera (2 Star, #437), Andrew Watson (2 Star, #323)
Key Losses:
Ryland Byrd (doubles and lower level singles), Patrick Hughes (#2-3 Singles, #1-2 Doubles), Matt Miles (#1 Singles, #1-2 Doubles), Derek Hagino (#5-6 Singles, #3 Doubles)
Lineup Analysis:
#1 Singles, Moses Hutchison, Junior, 11.33 UTR
It feels weird to not write “#1 Singles, Matt Miles,” but here I am. Start to mark this as a sign that Mary Washington will need to do a lot of work to keep their Top 15 ranking this year. Hutchison is currently slated as the #1 player here, but he could easily be surpassed by Joseph Brown, who more or less was on the same level if not better last year. Hutchison was seeded #9 in the ITA Regional in the fall and proceeded to lose in the second round in what was a disappointing regional for the Eagles. However, Hutchison really ended the season well last year, moving up to #3 singles and going on an 11 match winning streak at one point in the year. Moses will have to find those blessings this year as he is now slated at the top spot. It will be a learning year for the junior.
#2 Singles, Joseph Brown, Senior, 10.84 UTR
The aforementioned Brown slots in at the #2 spot. He had a decent ITA regional in which he split sets with top seed Dominic Lacombe, so the potential is there if Brown has put in the work this past off-season. Without much success at the #4 spot last year, the Eagles are in a tough position here putting Brown probably 1 spot ahead of where he should be. Similar to Hutchison, it will take a big time effort for Brown in his senior year to finish with a winning record at the #2 singles spot, especially against ranked teams.
#3 Singles, Cole Tecce, Junior, 10.66 UTR
Tecce is one of those guys that just seems to win. Cole has played predominantly at the bottom of the lineup for the Eagles over the past two years, clinching a couple big matches (and losing a couple too). Cole has probably been on of the Eagles most consistent producers over his career. He had a phenomenal year at #6 last year with only a couple of losses. But, the theme of this Mary Wash preview is that old contributors will certainly be challenged in new ways this year. And with that, Cole slots in at #3 which will be a ginormous challenge for him. If I were to bet on another Mary Wash guy to become the next Sam Wichilin/Tyler Carey/etc, though, it would be Tecce.
#4 Singles, Michael Fleming, Senior, 10.15 UTR
Fleming has come a long way from being the best recruit that the Eagles brought in back in 2016. Once thought to be a potential top dog in Fredericksburg, Fleming has settled in in the middle of the lineup for the Eagles. And that’s okay. He has bounced around the lineup a ton in the past, playing as high as #2 singles in some ranked matches. Last year, he was dropped down to the #3-4 position by the end of the year and achieved moderate success. I expect he will be asked to do the same this year, with the potential to move up. He never has been one of those guys you can guarantee a point from, but if he’s the #4 singles player on this team, he better step up to be that consistent point. It’s his senior year.
#5 Singles, Andrew Watson, Freshman, 10.60 UTR
This man Andrew Watson is someone I literally know nothing about. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. With a first round win at ITAs followed by a loss to the #5 seed, there’s not much out there to tell me how Watson is going to perform. He could be one of those freshmen that plays amazing after a winter of working hard, or a freshman who still needs to get his head on straight after a winter of fraternity visiting. Let’s hope it’s the former. He was one of the only wins for the Eagles in their recent match against Longwood on Feb. 1, so that’s a good start. You go, Andrew.
#6 Singles, Priyan DeSilva, Freshman, 9.86 UTR
Mary Washington is going to struggle at this spot. Not only are we in the single digit UTR, but DeSilva got wrecked by the Longwood #6 this past week. While he had a potentially encouraging result in ITAs by beating Jiung of Swarthmore, that probably says more about Jiung than DeSilva. Two freshman at the bottom of the lineup will be interesting for the Eagles. It’s something that worked before when they had Tecce and Hutchison at the bottom, but those guys are a different breed. This will be a learning year for the young freshman.
Doubles
Mary Wash basically has the same formula that they’ve always had for doubles over the years. They will almost always have a shot of going up 2-1 on any team. However, they almost never will go up 3-0, especially on any ranked team. And that limits their abilities to pull off big upsets. The Eagles don’t have the talent to be in the top 12 and even a top 15 finish is a stretch this year. Doubles, as we know, is the great equalizer. They have strong teams in Hutchison/Fleming (NCAA qualifiers) and Brown/Tecce (QF finish in ITAs), but their #3 doubles team will be an all freshman team. They are putting all of their eggs in the basket of the top two spots, which will be quite difficult against ranked teams. Doubles has historically been a strength for the Eagles and they will need their fundamentals to be perfect this year to make some noise.
Schedule Analysis
I’ve had quite the opinion about Mary Washington’s schedule in the past and I am finally happy to say that this is the first year where I STAN their schedule. The Eagles are NOT going out West this year to play Redlands and Pomona, who prior to last year they literally had no success against. This year, they have filled their schedule with teams in the #10-25 range, which is exactly what they need to be doing. Now that they are a Pool B team, all Mary Washington really needs to do is win a couple (maybe even just one) of these matches and avoid a major upset to make the tournament. That seems to be the Eagles goal every year and they have set up their schedule appropriately to do so. Their hardest matches are going to come against Kenyon in Orlando and at Trinity TX (great to see teams traveling to Texas!). While I suspect they come out on the losing end of these, I would hope that the young guys on this team learn from the experience of playing two really gritty and in-your-face teams. Another thing to note about the Eagles is that they are currently projected 2nd in their conference, behind Christopher Newport. This has not happened in like 15 years. CNU is apparently on the up and up this year, so it will be interesting to see how UMW performs as the “underdog” this year. If any of you know me, you know where I’m leaning when it comes to traditional powers versus an up and coming, unproven team. Circle the date of March 28 on your calendars, because CNU visits Fredericksburg on that day. Fireworks.
ASouth’s 3 Keys to Success
- Every Match – Mary Washington is that team that can’t lose anything when it comes to focus. This team cannot have an off day. They don’t have the goods for that. Coach Helbing has done a good job of avoiding these types of losses in his long career and this year will be no different. At the end of the day, 18 years is a pretty good indicator that Mary Washington will come out with their workmanlike style again this year. They will be a team that does not play down to their opponent. And that’s a good thing.
- Just Asking for One – As you saw in the lineup analysis, Mary Wash essentially has 6 players playing in totally different positions in the lineup. There is a dire need for one, if not two, of these guys to step up big time and become a consistent point. I have my doubts on how this will go. I have a lot of hope in the freshman Watson and I really hope Fleming puts in a legit performance at #4 (or #3) this year. If it’s Tecce at #4 (it was against Longwood), then my bets would be on him. Grab two doubles points, grab your two strong spots, and grind out the last point. That is the Eagle formula this year.
- Defend This House – Once again, Mary Wash has scheduled their year so they play a lot of important matches on their home courts. The benefits of having a great indoor facility are real. They will play key matches against Sewanee, NC Wesleyan, Stevens, CMU, Chris Newport, and Johns Hopkins, all at home. There probably is no other team outside of CMS/Pomona that plays that many important matches on their home courts. If the Eagles can win 2 or 3 of these matches, they will be sitting pretty in the top 20 in my eyes. That should be the goal of the year.
Conclusion
I can’t believe I am still blogging about the Mary Washington Eagles and DIII Tennis as a whole right now. But, here I am. And as Eminem showed us at the Oscars, there’s something to re-visiting your greatest hits. So, much like Bong Joon-ho, it’s time for me to “drink until morning” after this preview. Because this was an accomplishment. And just remember, D3NE keeps pestering us to finish our previews, so there’s that too. ASouth, OUT.