Pre-Season Rankings for 2008-2009

1. Emory - This should just be an incredible team next year. You have both Goodwins on the team, and only Ehlers leaves. Boren should be untouchable at 3 and Lopp near the bottom will be excellent. You'll have to beat Emory in doubles, which is easier said than done. If anyone can beat Kenyon next year, it's this team. They have great players top to bottom and outstanding doubles and they fight hard. Couldn't ask for much more. They have to be the favorites for the national title next year.

2. Kenyon - A lot depends on how good Piskacek will be. All of his rankings point to him being the #1 player in D3. Kenyon would then have the #1 and #2 players in the country and probably the best doubles team. With 3 automatic points and Becker/Brody at 2 doubles, it will be almost impossible to beat the Lords. This is why they will be ranked so high. They should be able to get a win between 3 and 6 singles against anyone.

3. CMS - If the Stags can stay out of injury trouble, the sky is the limit for them. If Lim and Wu are healthy and Wang and Schils are in good form, they will be a great team. They bring in some good recruits who could make an impact. They should be able to beat Santa Cruz next year and make a run at national title if they can avoid injuries. The Stags' program just keeps getting better and they have a lot to look forward to next year.

4. Washington - WashU will return every member of their 2008 National Championship team, but they really don't help themselves much with recruits for next year. They bring in a couple of 3-stars. Watts and Cutler are obviously great players and WashU has a lot of depth, but I will be very surprised if they can beat Emory next year. Teams are just getting better and even though they won nationals, WashU stays about the same.

5. UC Santa Cruz - Despite the lack of recruits, UCSC always seems to come up with a great team. They don't lose anyone big, and with Kamel, Pybas and Ortiz back, the Slugs should be very tough again. Coach Hansen is great with developing his players and UCSC should be great again. Whether or not they can beat CMS is another tough question. The teams will most likely be battling it out for a spot in the Elite 8 again next year.

6. Middlebury - Midd was very young this year, but really were outstanding. They were swept in doubles several times, so they know what they need to work on. Marinkovic leaves, but they have everyone back and get an underrated 3-star in Derrick Angle. He should come into the starting lineup. Midd should be in the top 8 again and have a shot at winning NESCAC, but they aren't quite ready to win a national title with this team.

7. Williams -The Ephs lose the heart of their team, but they are bringing in good recruits and will definitely compete next year at a national stage. I don't expect them to be top 3 like this year, but they should be a fixture in the top 10. Lebedoff needs to improve and become a good #1 and Simonette was great at #3. Williams seems to always have very good depth, and this will help them in a brutal NESCAC conference.

8. Amherst - Amherst basically recruited a whole new team to go along with an already respectable group. Lerner is tough at 1 and 4-star Chafetz should be good near the top. I wouldn't be surprised if NESCAC had 4 in the top 10. Garner is an outstanding coach and recruiter and will need to get his guys ready. This team has the potential to be top 5, but I still think they are a few years away. Inexperience could hurt them.

9. Bowdoin - They only lose Gates, but Sullivan proved that he can play with the best in the country. He should step up to #1 next year. They bring in a very good recruiting class and this should have a big impact. Bowdoin fought hard this year towards the end and hopefully they can put together an entire good season next year. This team is very dangerous with their outstanding depth. They need to improve middle of the lineup.

10. Mary Washington - The Eagles had an up and down season, but look for them to be more solid next year. They have some of the best development in the country and they return their whole team. James and Loden just keep getting better, and if they can improve doubles, they have a good shot at being a top 5 team. They should dominate the AS region, with the exception of Emory, and they could find themselves back in the Elite 8.

11. Gustavus Adolphus - Gustavus' season could rest on whether they win Indoors. If they do, they should find themselves in the top 5 again. If not, they will struggle. Andy Bryan is gone and Kauss will need to step up and become their next superstar. Wilkinson is great at developing his players but he will need some real magic in his last season as head coach. The Gusties' are just overmatched by most of the top 10.

12. Trinity(CT) - Feldman did an outstanding job this year turning the Bantams into a national power. Ramsay and Dolan leave, but Trinity(CT) gets 4-star Anson McCook from Florida who should play in the 2 or 3 spot. This team was the #1 seed for the NESCAC tournament and was very dangerous this year. Look for Trinity(CT) to be back in the top 15 and potentially make a run at the top 10 next year.

13. Redlands - They run a tennis factory in Redlands, CA. Wagar is leaving, but they are replacing him with a new crop of players. The Bulldogs should have another good year next year with a solid recruiting class. They will have a tough time competing with CMS and UCSC, but they should be top 15 for sure. I'll be interested to see whether they accept a bid to Indoors because fast Indoor courts don't suit their team.

14. Carnegie Mellon - Carnegie had a good year but someone needs to teach them doubles. If they can get their doubles in order, they can be better than 14. They lose their #1, but he is replaced by an underrated Eastern section recruit. Carnegie should compete well next year and have a similar year to this year. If they can figure out their doubles, it's very hard to beat Carnegie more than 3 of 6 singles because of depth.

15. Trinity(TX) - Trinity(TX) is another team that gets killed with graduates. They lose their top 3 singles players as well as their top 2 doubles team. They have some major rebuilding to do, but a good recruiting year helps that a little bit. They won't find themselves back in the Top 5 like this year, but they should win the SCAC title next year.

16. Johns Hopkins - Hopkins loses their on-court leaders to graduation and this can't be measured in quality of recruits. They are bringing in a good 4-star who should play at the top of the lineup with Maldow and Wang. They'll be very good and should be better than they were this year. They need to work on their doubles as well.

17. Chicago - On paper, Chicago underachieved this year. They've brought in good recruits and continue to do so. I think next year could be a breakout year for them as they make themselves known as a contender on the national stage. Look for Zhang to build on his outstanding Freshman year and become a top player in the Central region.

18. DePauw - Losing Keith really hurts the Tigers. DePauw has good depth, but they will really struggle on a national level at the top of the lineup in singles and doubles. They need to do some good recruiting to find their way back to the Elite 8. They could crack the top 15 next year, but I wouldn't bet on it. They have work to do in Indiana.

19. UT-Tyler - A breakout year for the Patriots this year, but it's going to be hard for them to beat top teams without bringing in good players. They have great development and have really got the most out of their current team, but until they bring in some better Texans, it's going to be tough for them to be the best team in Texas. Expect a similar year for Tyler next year.

20. Whitman - Whitman was very young this year but competed well. They have good development in Walla Walla and the Squirrels will need this for next year. Matt Solomon is a good leader, but Whitman doesn't have the players at the bottom of the lineup to be a top 15 team. They always bring it in doubles, but this won't be enough.

21. Washington & Lee - A pretty good season for the Generals this year but they really get hurt with graduates. They lose arguably their best 4 players and it's tough to recover from that. They are bringing in decent recruits and have a lot of depth, but they won't be able to compete with the best in the AS region due to lack of experience.

22. Bates - Bates suffers from playing in the toughest conference in the country and they just can't beat those other tope NESCAC teams. However, they return Ben Stein and 4 other starters and they are bringing in a pretty good class. They will almost certainly finish 6th in NESCAC but this should be good enough to keep them in the top 25 for the whole season.

23. Carleton - A young team who is starting to recruit on the national stage. They return most of their starters and they also are bringing in some good recruits. They aren't ready to compete with Gustavus or break the top 20 yet, but they should be able to crack the top 25, which they came very close to doing this year.

24. Pomona-Pitzer - Good development out there and they are bringing in some solid players and Cameron Taylor is back to lead this team. Unfortunately, it will be difficult for them to finish better than 3rd in the conference, but they should be able to crack the top 25. They play a tough schedule which will pay off and get their players some experience.

25. Kalamazoo - Maybe the worst year in history for K-College but I have a feeling Riley will be able to shape up his guys during his second year. They don't have the players to compete with the top 20 teams in the country, but they should be able to win their conference and make it back to NCAAs. Solid doubles and depth should win for Kzoo against lesser teams.

2008 Recruiting Class Rankings

1. Emory
2. Amherst
3. Kenyon
4. Bowdoin
5. Williams
6. CMS
7. Johns Hopkins
8. Trinity(TX)
9. Chicago
10. Trinity(CT)
11. Middlebury
12. Redlands
13. Swarthmore
14. Pomona-Pitzer
15. Washington & Lee
15T. Wash U

Summer and Ideas (Please Read and Respond)

Unfortunately this post would have to come sometime. I need to know if everyone wants to keep the site going over the summer, and if so, how? We don't have a lot to talk about during the summer months as there isn't much action in recruiting or in playing. If anyone has any ideas about what we can discuss over the summer on a weekly/monthly basis or even more often than that please let me know. Also, I'm going to explore the settings and layout part of the blog to make things more exciting. Some of you suggested to turn the site into a real site instead of a blog, I would be willing to discuss this with you now. E-mail me at division3tennis@gmail.com. Also, please let me know what you want to see more of and less of on the site for next year. I'm open to as much criticism as you want to give me now. If you think I underrate or favor certain teams or players, let me know that as well. If anyone else wants to contribute articles as well, I would welcome that.

Also, what do you think the format should be for the year-end article/next year outlook? I was planning on doing recruiting class rankings 1-15 for D3. After that, we can have pre-season rankings for Fall '08, and a team by team discussion of what each team should be looking like for the Fall. If anyone has any other idea let me know. This would hopefully be done by Tuesday.

Singles & Doubles

All comments about play and results in singles and doubles go here.

Singles Champion- Mike Greenberg, Kenyon

Doubles Champion- Schils/Wang, CMS

All-Tournament Team

1st Team:

#1 doubles-Cutler/Hoeland, WashU
#2 doubles-Watts/Choradia, WashU
#3 doubles-Kaufman/Lopp, Emory

#1 singles-Goodwin, Emory
#2 singles-Marinkovic, Middlebury
#3 singles-Simonette, Williams
#4 singles-Lopp. Emory
#5 singles-Hoeland, WashU
#6 singles-Stein, WashU

Coach: Follmer, WashU
Bracket Selection: jags!

2nd Team:
#1 doubles: Goodwin/Caplan, Emory
#2 doubles: Becker/Brody, Kenyon
#3 doubles: Stein/Woods, WashU

#1 singles: Wang, CMS
#2 singles: Boren, Emory
#3 singles: Starr, CMS
#4 singles: Weinberger, Williams
#5 singles: Ehlers, Emory
#6 singles: Odell, Middlebury

Coach: Browning, Emory
Bracket Selection: Lennart Lepner

D3tennis.com Year-End Team Rankings

1. Washington
2. Emory
3. CMS
4. UC Santa Cruz
5. Middlebury
6. Williams
7. Kenyon
8. Gustavus Adolphus
9. Mary Washington
10. Bowdoin
11. Trinity(TX)
12. Redlands
13. Trinity(CT)
14. Carnegie Mellon
15. TCNJ
16. DePauw
17. Washington & Lee
18. Johns Hopkins
19. Amherst
20. Whitman
21. UT-Tyler
22. Christopher Newport
23. Salisbury
24. Chicago
25. Denison

Singles Draw

I just took a look at the singles draw. It's absolutely terrible. Watts-Kamel first round. Steve Sullivan-Miguel Yunes first round. Dan Greenberg-Randy Loden first round. And my favorite...Kortney Keith-Cameron Taylor first round.

Finals

Washington University Bears are 2008 National Champions with a 5-3 win over Emory in the finals.

Final Four Comments

All Final 4 comments go here.

Emory wins 5-1 to advance to the finals. A dominant doubles performance by the Eagles.

WashU wins 5-1


e-mail radiotennis1@gmail.com and tell the guy stats about the matches

Elite 8 commentary and a quick look at the Final 4

The day starts off with a pretty good match. Emory really won this one in doubles and broke Kenyon's spirits. Despite a good effort from the Lords, just a little too much from Emory. Greenberg didn't get it done for his team today when we knew he needed too if they wanted to have a chance to win. Vandenberg had been untouchable all year and he comes up with a loss today which also really hurt Kenyon. A great effort by Becker and Brody though in singles and doubles. We expected Emory to win in the fashion that they won. They were the better team. But all in all, a great season for Kenyon and they will certainly come back next year to make another run at an NCAA title.

This was followed by the most surprising result of the day. I expected a battle here, and I even thought Mary Washington had a chance to win. Middlebury was just too good in doubles and in singles. Not sure why UMW chose to change their doubles lineup right before NCAA's, but this came back to kill them in the end. Loden had been the team leader all year and seeing him go down so easily had to suck the life out of this team. Give credit to Midd, who must have really played well. They have been under the radar all year and have a great chance at winning the whole thing. UMW really had an average season, and this disappointing performance really capped it off. Despite their win over Trinity(TX), the Eagles shouldn't be too happy with this season. They return everyone though and should be tough next season.

Williams didn't lose this one. CMS won it. The Stags were the most impressive team today and going into tomorrow, they have to be the favorite to win it. They slipped in singles, but Wang was able to lead this team to victory. He and Watts will have a great battle tomorrow. Williams also had an up and down season with some really good wins and some bad losses. They have good recruits in, but lose Simonette and Greenberg which will be huge. A great fight by the Ephs, and if Greenberg had held on to that 3-0 lead in the 3rd set, things could have turned out differently. A good run for first year head coach Donn, he really gets his guys to fight hard. The Stags are confident right now but they will have a tough one tomorrow.

I don't like to insult teams, but Gustavus being here is a joke. Their "strength" is doubles, and they get blown out in doubles by a team who's weakness is doubles. It's terrible that they can just get a couple good wins at Indoors and make it to the Elite 8. They were not a good team this year. I won't hesitate to say that Amherst would beat Gustavus on a neutral outdoor court this year, and Amherst didn't even make the tournament. That's how ridiculous this is. It's terrible that Gustavus gets here when they belong around 15 or 16 in the country and we have deserving teams losing in the regionals. Take nothing away from WashU, who took care of business appropriately and played good doubles. Another rematch with CMS playing WashU. They should be even in singles and if WashU can pull out 2 of 3 doubles, I really like their chances. Bryan is gone for Gustavus and unless AC has some secret weapon recruit up their sleeve, they won't crack the top 15 in the preseason rankings. I can go on and on about how much of a travesty it is that you have Gustavus in the Elite 8 and teams like UCSC, Redlands and Trinity(TX) not there.


I like Emory to win fairly comfortably and CMS to win a close one tomorrow. Please add comments.

Comments about Elite 8 matches

All comments about today's matches go here. There is live scoring as well as broadcasting online by radiotennis.com

Emory defeats Kenyon in a very hard fought first match.
Midd crushes Mary Wash in an impressive performance.
CMS wins 5-2. Almost a great comeback from Williams.
WashU wins 5-0


Midd vs. Emory
CMS vs. WashU

Commentary to come a little later.

Thoughts on the quality of D3 tennis

To me, since the 2006 recruiting class came in (players who just finished sophomore year), the quality of D3 tennis has taken off. In the early part of the decade, you may see 5 or 6 top 300 juniors going to Division 3 each year. Now we have at least 25 if not more than that. If you don't have at least 2 players coming in who will impact your team it's like a bad recruiting class. D3 coaches are able to sell their schools, and for a lot of juniors, playing for a national championship is more attractive than being in the middle of your D1 conference.

Schools such as Gustavus, Kalamazoo, Trinity(TX) and UC Santa Cruz have the attitude that we will recruit juniors who weren't ranked as high and then develop them into national quality players. While this has worked, I don't think this method will continue to work with all of the talent coming into D3. You have schools like Amherst and Carnegie Mellon just barely cracking the top 15 and their teams are filled with 4 star recruits. Teams such as Emory and Bowdoin have incredible recruiting classes, and you can't compete with that if you are bringing in a couple of 2-stars and hoping to teach them good doubles. We saw a sneak preview of this with the fall of Kalamazoo this year and Gustavus seeming more vulnerable than ever. On the other hand, WashU has suddenly made themselves known on the national scene and we now have Chicago and Kenyon turning into national level programs. This was simply done by recruiting very good players. You cannot be in the top 20 anymore if your team isn't filled with D1 level players. Coaches really have work to do and they have to draw good players (transfers and recruits) to their schools if they want to compete.

However, there could be a bad side to this. D3 tennis used to be about competing hard and enjoying the sport. It's going to start becoming about winning as coaches get more competitive with better teams and compete for recruits. The motto used to be student first and athlete second, and while some schools still maintain that, I believe the emphasis on tennis is being pushed on the kids more and more and it may be bad for them. Very few current D3 players will have a career based on tennis. While the level may go up and that's great, the environment will become more like D1 with 2 a day practices and mandatory conditioning.

I'll discuss all of these issues and more when I publish an outlook for next season after the tournament is over. This will include a team by team analysis and pre-season rankings. Exciting day tomorrow and I hope everyone will have their eyes on Maine.