COVID-19 note: We’ve already seen some men’s and women’s teams cancel spring break for this year, and while I’m sad, I completely understand and respect the decision made by teams, coaches and athletic departments. We hope everyone is staying healthy and taking the necessary precautions (wash your hands and don’t pick your noses, please!!!). I’m not sure how much COVID-19 will affect more spring breaks, or even the season (I’ll be interested to see how the NCAA handles the upcoming March Madness), but I’m crossing my fingers that teams stay smart, but still play some tennis 🙂 Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Spring break is here!!!! While I’m stuck in my cubicle wondering whether it’s going to snow tomorrow or if I’m going to need to turn my AC back on, our favorite D3 tennis teams are heading for truly warmer weather and bringing the heat to what look to be some pretty competitive matches. The NE kicks off spring break this week (it feels like it gets earlier and earlier every year) as teams head down to Orlando and out west to California, and I’m here to give you part one of my spring break preview (part two to come next week before our second wave of schools head out on spring break). I’m also going to throw in a mini Blue and Grey Invitational preview because we have a few NE schools heading down to Fredericksberg for that!
Wesleyan
After a much awaited return, we finally get to see Wes back in action on Monday!! The Cards are headed down to Orlando again this year where we’ll see some rare NE vs. AS action (seriously, more NE teams, heck teams in general, should do the southern swing so we get a better look at the Atlantic South – it can only help make Pool C a little clearer…). The Cards kick off their spring break with some Central action, though, as they square off against Kenyon to open their season. Wes shouldn’t have too much trouble with Kenyon, and follow up that match with a face-off with D1 Lehigh. This match has no implications for either team whatsoever, but I’m really excited to see how Wes stacks up. We always say that the top D3 teams can hang with some D1 teams, but we rarely get to see them in action (ok, ok, I know CMS and Emory play a decent amount of D1 teams, but this is a novelty to me!!). Wes will then square off against CMU, who had a phenomenal Indoors last weekend. I don’t think CMU is capable of pulling off the upset, but I think we’ll get to see some pretty tight matches in there. And then we have the big event – Wes vs. Emory. I’ve been eyeing this match since schedules came out, and I’m so excited! CMS vs. Emory was awesome, and I think given that performance, Emory should be feeling very nervous when it comes to Wes. I think Wes takes it (6-3 prediction), but I bet Emory has regrouped by then to give more of a real fight this time.
Amherst
The Mammoths leave their cold Massachusetts climate and head west for spring break to the sunny lands of California. They, too, have a jam packed week with 4 matches in a little over a week. In my opinion, Coach Bagwell has built the ideal spring break schedule for her team – start out slower and build to the big headline matches to close the trip out. After many years of experience, it’s no surprise that she’s got this down to a T. Anyways, the Mammoths start their break with a match against Sewanee. Frankly, I don’t know too much about Sewanee, but I don’t think Amherst will struggle too much against them. Same goes for their next match against Redlands. However, these two matches are key for them in terms of getting mileage under their belts and some confidence built as they head into matches against western powerhouses, Pomona-Pitzer and CMS. The Sagehens are coming off of a mixed Indoors with a good win against MIT, but a heartbreaking loss versus CMU. They have a bunch of matches to regroup before they play the Mammoths, but I think that Amherst has the upperhand here, but it’ll be a close one! To close out their trip, the Mammoths will square off against CMS. I think they might be a bit tired if the Pomona-Pitzer match does go the distance, but I don’t think we should write them off just yet. It’s hard to truly comment on how this match will go given we haven’t seen anything yet from Amherst, but against the new top team in the nation, we’re going to have to see something magical if they want to pull off the upset.
~Blue and Grey Invitational~
Ok, to be completely honest, I’m not sure how this tournament works, but it seems to be a round robin style tournament where NE teams get to play a mix of ASouth and Central teams. Looking at the rosters of who’s showing up, I think we’ll get some stellar matches from teams in the top 10-25 range, which is a super cool opportunity. But something to keep in mind for these teams in the hunt for Pool C – some rogue losses here might come back to haunt you later in the season…
Skidmore
The T-breds are already off to a good start to the season, picking up wins against William Smith and Wellesley. They’ll also play Williams before they head down to Virginia for the Blue and Grey. They’ve got a strong slew of matches starting with Mary Washington. I think this match will be very close, as the two teams are pretty comparable and they’re ranked right near each other. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a nail-biter, and I’m really excited to see how it shakes out. The next day, Skidmore will have another challenge in Johns Hopkins. Hopkins always seems to be a wildcard, but regardless, I think this is going to be another tough one for the T-breds. Again, both teams are fairly similar and I expect this match to be super competitive. In their third and final match of the tourny, Skidmore will play Denison. After two really competitive matches, I think the T-breds will be able to relax a little on this one, but I don’t think it’ll be smooth sailing – Denison definitely shouldn’t be underestimated, but I think the T-breds will still be able to comfortably walk away with the win.
Tufts
Tufts’ spring break is a combo of the Blue and Grey, plus a bonus match against Emory to cap off the trip. Tufts’ first match is against W&L. We haven’t seen much of Tufts’ this year (just the few individual tournaments they played back in the fall), so I’m curious to see how they’re shaping up for this season. Regardless, I don’t think they’ll have too many issues against the Generals. Up next, they take on Trinity TX. I’m really excited to see this one, as these teams don’t really get to play much. Trinity TX already has a ton of matches under their belt, but have had pretty mixed results. Given that, I think Tufts will also get through that one pretty easily. Their final round of the Blue and Grey has them up against Hopkins. This is the match that I’m really looking forward to. Hopkins also hasn’t had much match play before the Blue and Grey, so it really could go in either direction. To wrap up spring break, Tufts heads down to Emory, which is awesome! I feel like I haven’t seen Emory on many NE teams’ schedules unless they go out of their way (which they should!!!), and it’s really great to see Tufts getting into that rotation. That being said, I don’t think that we should expect much from that match. Frankly, Emory is a stronger team all around, and despite the disappointing loss to CMS at Indoors, I don’t think they’ll falter against the Jumbos.
Bates
Bates getting in on the Blue and Grey action! They’ve got a pretty solid string of opponents down in Virginia, starting with Hopkins. While Bates has been climbing in the rankings over the past few years, I don’t think they’ve gotten to the level to really challenge Hopkins. They then will take on GAC – a more competitive match for the Bobcats, but this one I think they’ll take home the win without too much fuss. To round out the tourny, they’ll play Southwestern, and I think that’s the match to have our eyes on. Southwestern has had a hot start to their season and have played a ton of matches already. Southwestern will definitely be the favorites going into this match, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Bates gives them a bit of a hard time.
Colby
Colby is one of those schools #blessed with a 2 week spring break, and they are certainly making the most of it by hitting up both the Blue and Grey, but then cruising down to Orlando for some more out of conference play. At the Blue and Grey, they’ll be up against Trinity TX, Denison and Hopkins – a strong schedule and one that I think will be challenging for the Mules. They’re looking to claw their way back into the rankings, and picking up a win against any of these teams would be a huge catalyst for that. I think the match where they have the best shot at that is against Denison, but even so, Denison is a strong team this year, so I’m hesitant as to whether Colby will be able to pull off the upset. After some time in Virginia, the Mules head to Orlando for some fun in the sun and some tennis mixed in. Jk, they’ve got another full week of tennis where they’ll play Kalamazoo, Luther, St. Catherine and Centre. I really don’t know a lot about these teams, but I will make an effort to educate myself as the season wares on. Centre is the only ranked team of the bunch, but I bet Colby comes home with mixed results against these teams. They’re all solid teams with some strong players that are battling it out right on the edge of the rankings.
That’s all I’ve got for you today! I know this preview seemed super NESCAC heavy, and I promise we are trying to expand our coverage to more regional teams as well (HMU if you want to join the women’s blog, as a regional writer or not, we want you!), but based on what I could tell by schedules, these are the teams that actually do spring break trips. It seems a lot of schools in my region don’t travel for spring break, and so there isn’t really anything for me to preview there. Anyways, tune in next week for the second part of my spring break preview where I’ll be taking a look at *shocker* more NESCAC (plus one Liberty League) teams!