Bracketology (Article #1) March 31, 2008

I have collaborated with d3bracketology to form an estimate of what the NCAA brackets could look like. We also tried to throw in some twists of things we would like to potentially see. We will try to post a new issue of Bracketology at the beginning of every week after evaluating the past weekend's results. Enjoy and feel free to share your comments.

*Automatic Qualifiers - 25 teams. This is composed of all of the winners of conferences with automatic bids. We did our best to decide who may win the smaller conferences.
*Independents - 9 teams. This is composed of teams from conferences who don't have automatic bids as well as Independents.
*At-Large - 7 teams. This is composed of teams from conferences with automatic bids who don't win their conference such as the NESCAC or UAA.

*Our Independents were: Santa Cruz, TCNJ, Kalamazoo, UW-Whitewater, Vassar, Calvin, Wheaton, Skidmore, Carthage
*Our At-Larges were: Emory (UAA), Middlebury(NESCAC), Redlands(SCIAC), Amherst(NESCAC), DePauw(SCAC), Carnegie Mellon (UAA), Trinity(CT)(NESCAC)
*Teams who are just outside of the At-Large Top 7: Salisbury(Capital), Chicago(UAA), Bowdoin(NESCAC), Bates(NESCAC), Pomona-Pitzer(SCIAC), Hardin-Simmons(ASC)
*All other teams are Auto Bids

Our bracket:

Region 1: Santa Cruz*, CMS, Redlands, Whitman, UT-Tyler
Region 2: Kenyon*, Johns Hopkins, Calvin (MI), Baldwin-Wallace (OH), Transylvania (KY)
Region 3: Williams*, Trinity (CT), Skidmore, Baruch (NY), Southern Maine
Region 4: Washington, Carnegie Mellon, Kalamazoo*, Wheaton (IL), Westminster (MO)
Region 5: Trinity (TX) , W&L*, Christopher Newport, Stevens (NJ), Drew (NJ)
Region 6: Emory, Mary Washington*, TCNJ, Alvernia (PA), Messiah (PA)
Region 7: Gustavus, DePauw, Coe, UW-Whitewater, Grinnell* (IA), Carthage (WI)
Region 8: Middlebury*, Amherst, Vassar (NY), Salve Regina (RI), Ithaca (NY)

An asterisk denotes Host team. The seeds are in order in each region. The top team in each region gets a bye and plays the winner of 4 vs. 5. 2 and 3 both get byes and then play each other. In the final 8...Region 1 plays Region 8, 4 plays 5, 3 plays 6 and 2 plays 7. We specifically made the bracket so that each region is balanced difficulty wise (with the exception of the west). If you look at the current rankings of the top two seeds in each region they all add up to between 18 and 22, meaning each region is the same difficulty. We also had to take into account the 500 mile rule due to NCAA financial restrictions. A team can only go 500 miles away from home or they have to be flown. As few teams should be flown as possible. We will continue to update this bracket as results come in that could potentially change things.

D3tennis.com Singles Rankings March 31, 2008

1. Watts, Washington
2. Greenberg, Kenyon
3. Bryan, Gustavus
4. Kamel, Santa Cruz
5. Maldow, Johns Hopkins
6. Feldman, Trinity (CT)
7. Goodwin, Emory
8. Lerner, Amherst
9. Gates, Bowdoin
10. Greenberg, Williams
11. Pybas, Santa Cruz
12. Ortiz, Santa Cruz
13. Gaines, Trinity (TX)
14. Solomon, Whitman
15. Wang, CMS
16. Boren, Emory
17. Vayghan, St. Thomas
18. James, Mary Washington
19. Keith, DePauw
20. Yook, Chapman
21. Kauss, Gustavus
22. Klimchak, TCNJ
23. Lee, Middlebury
24. Zhang, Chicago
25. Fletcher, Methodist
26. Lim, CMS
27. Loden, Mary Washington
28. Muliawan, Carnegie Mellon
29. Marinkovic, Middlebury
30. Wagar, Redlands
31. Furr, Trinity (TX)
32. Cutler, Washington
33. Yunes, Carthage
34. Liebman, Redlands
35. Phillips, UT-Tyler
36. Nemerov, Carnegie Mellon
37. Pelton, Hope
38. Sajovich, UT-Tyler
39. Simonette, Williams
40. Mark-Griffin, Santa Cruz
41. Starr, CMS
42. Williams, Wheaton
43. Sullivan, Bowdoin
44. Mintz. Amherst
45. Kincaid, Salisbury
46. Vandenberg, Kenyon
47. Thomson, Middlebury
48. Lebedoff, Williams
49. Gillispie, Piedmont
50. Estes, Washington & Lee

Upcoming Matches

#12 Mary Washington vs. #24 Christopher Newport (April 2)
#12 Mary Washington vs. #14 Carnegie Mellon (April 4)
#3 Williams vs. #11 Amherst (April 5)
#16 Salisbury vs. #21 TCNJ (April 5)
#9 Middlebury vs. #15 Trinity(CT) (April 6)
#5 Trinity (TX) vs. #23 UT-Tyler (April 6)
#14 Carnegie Mellon vs.#18 Johns Hopkins (April 6)
#3 Williams vs. #9 Middlebury (April 9)
#11 Amherst vs. #15 Trinity(CT) (April 10)
GLCA Tournament (April 10-April 12)
#1 Santa Cruz vs.#10 Redlands (April 11)
#4 Washington vs. #25 Coe (April 12)
#8 CMS vs. #10 Redlands (April 12)
#9 Middlebury vs. #22 Bowdoin (April 12)
#16 Salisbury vs. #18 Johns Hopkins (April 13)
#12 Mary Washington vs. #21 TCNJ (April 13)
#11 Amherst vs. #22 Bowdoin (April 13)
#1 Santa Cruz vs. #8 CMS(April 13)

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 29, 2008

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

Today's Results

Washington & Lee d. Johns Hopkins 5-4
Washington d. CMS 7-2

Looking Ahead...

Things to look for in the next few days...

-Finalized Team Rankings tonight

-Updated Singles (50) and Doubles (25) Rankings by Tuesday

-ITA National Team Rankings published on Tuesday

-Upcoming matches happening in the next 14 days

-An interview with a Top 10 coach(undecided) about how their team's season has gone and what we can expect to see

-Bracketology for the NCAA tournament on either Monday or Tuesday. I have been collaborating with d3bracketology to form the bracket as of right now. It will include who hosts, the regions, the top seeds and all 41 teams placed. We put a lot of thought into this.

-Match Previews for next weekend's matches



As the season enters it's last month and conference tournaments approach, I think we can expect to see a lot more drama and suspense unfold. So keep checking the site and voicing your opinions.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 29, 2008

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

Scores from Today

Washington d. Trinity (TX) 5-4
Williams d. CMS 7-2
Trinity (CT) d. Bowdoin 5-1
Salisbury d. Mary Washington 5-4

Match Updates

#9 Williams vs. #11 Redlands, Williams 5-4
#5 Emory vs. #15 Amherst, Emory 8-1
#13 DePauw vs. #15 Amherst, Amherst 6-3
#12 Carnegie Mellon vs. #22 Washington & Lee, W&L 6-3
#5 Emory vs. #13 DePauw, Emory 6-3
#6 Middlebury vs. #7 CMS, CMS 6-3
#12 Chicago vs. #15 DePauw, DePauw 7-2
#1 Gustavus vs. #6 CMS, CMS 7-2
#4 Emory vs. #22 Kalamazoo, Emory 9-0
#2 UC Santa Cruz vs. #7 Middlebury, Santa Cruz 8-1
#5 Gustavus vs. #11 Redlands, Redlands 5-4
#8 Trinity (TX) vs. #10 Williams, Trinity (TX) 6-3
#8 Mary Washington vs. #15 Johns Hopkins, Mary Wash 5-4
#2 Washington vs. #9 Williams, Williams 6-3
#6 Middlebury vs. #10 Redlands, Middlebury 6-3
#5 CMS vs. #7 Trinity (TX), Trinity (TX) 6-3
#1 Trinity (TX) vs. #5 Washington (March 29)
#6 CMS vs. #7 Williams (March 29)
#18 Bowdoin vs # 23 Trinity (CT) (March 29)
#8 Mary Washington vs. #21 Salisbury (March 29)
#5 Washington vs. #6 CMS (March 30)

Another huge day with tons of upsets, drama and surprises. First, we saw Williams defeat WashU by taking 5 of 6 singles matches in very routine fashion. We thought WashU was the deepest team in the country in singles, apparently this is not the case. This was followed by a thriller in which Mary Washington and Hopkins were tied 4-4, and Eddie Carver came back from 5-2 down in the 3rd set to win in a tiebreaker. This was a valiant effort and kept the Eagles in the top 8 in the country. We then saw Trinity pretty much dominate CMS, particularly in 2nd and 3rd doubles. I think the scores in the that match were particularly lopsided. This could move Trinity to #1 in the country. Lastly, we saw Middlebury drop all 3 doubles to Redlands and then come back to win all 6 singles, 5 of those in 3 sets! Midd was also playing without Andrew Thomson who has been extremely valuable. Looking to tomorrow, we have Trinity putting its #1 ranking on the line and now it's WashU who is going for the upset. We also have CMS trying to rebound from their bad loss today againsta confident Williams team. Mary Washington will also be taking on Salisbury in other action and we will also see Bowdoin taking on Trinity (CT) in an early NESCAC match. Can't wait for tomorrow, should be more surprises and drama to mess up the rankings.

D3tennis.com Rankings March 28, 2008

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

#9 Williams defeats #2 Washington

Williams bounced back from their loss against Trinity and easily defeated Washington University today in Texas. The Ephs won 5 of 6 singles matches. And the shocking thing is that they were all rountine straight set victories. This adds more pieces to the puzzle and this will certainly have an effect on the rankings in the top 10.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 27, 2008

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

Redlands Upsets Gustavus

Redlands upset Gustavus today 5-4 in Redlands, CA handing the Gusties their 2nd consecutive loss. It looks like having the Indoors in St. Peter is an even bigger advantage then we thought. New rankings coming shortly.

Match Updates

#9 Williams vs. #11 Redlands, Williams 5-4
#5 Emory vs. #15 Amherst, Emory 8-1
#13 DePauw vs. #15 Amherst, Amherst 6-3
#12 Carnegie Mellon vs. #22 Washington & Lee, W&L 6-3
#5 Emory vs. #13 DePauw, Emory 6-3
#6 Middlebury vs. #7 CMS, CMS 6-3
#12 Chicago vs. #15 DePauw, DePauw 7-2
#1 Gustavus vs. #6 CMS, CMS 7-2
#4 Emory vs. #22 Kalamazoo, Emory 9-0
#2 UC Santa Cruz vs. #7 Middlebury, Santa Cruz 8-1
#5 Gustavus vs. #11 Redlands, Redlands 5-4
#8 Trinity (TX) vs. #10 Williams, Trinity (TX) 6-3
#8 Mary Washington vs. #15 Johns Hopkins (March 28)
#2 Washington vs. #9 Williams (March 28)
#6 Middlebury vs. #10 Redlands (March 28)
#5 CMS vs. #7 Trinity (TX) (March 28)
#2 Washington vs. #7 Trinity (TX) (March 29)
#5 CMS vs. #10 Williams (March 29)
#2 Washington vs. #5 CMS (March 30)

Trinity had a very good win over Williams today, showing that they are a legitimate top 8 team. The Redlands-Gustavus score is unavailable at the moment and I will post that as soon as the outcome is known. Another results to note is that Salisbury defeated previously undefeated Christoper Newport by a very convincing 7-2 score. This will definitely have an impact on the 18-24 range in the rankings. Rankings for today will be published as soon as the Redlands-Gustavus score comes in. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we have a huge Atlantic South matchup, as Hopkins tries to prove that they are a contender this year. Williams goes for the upset bid against #2 Wash U. The Bears have their first difficult D3 match since Indoors. Redlands is back on the courts against Middlebury, who had dissapointing losses against Santa Cruz and CMS. And lastly, they highlight of the day in my opinion is the CMS-Trinity match being played in Texas. The Stags look to continue their hot streak as does Trinity. I'm really looking forward to this match. It could have important implications for rankings. Going to be a great day tomorrow.

Match Preview: #4 CMS vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 28)

This is the first time during the season that the Stags must leave Claremont for a competitive match. Trinity is coming off a big win against 10th ranked Williams, and they look to upset a hot CMS team who just beat Gustavus. I feel like Trinity matches up fairly well against the Stags, despite their inferior talent. Trinity is the favorite to win at both 2 and 3 doubles and they definitely can compete in the bottom of the singles lineup. Wang has been streaky for the Stags and Lim hasn't won much lately, even after being demoted to #2. If Trinity can capture 1 or 2 singles, they could be in good shape. I like CMS at 3 and 4 singles so I think the match could come down to 5 and 6, where I feel like the matchups are fairly even. I will give the edge to CMS despite the homecourt for Trinity. I would expect a 6-3 victory for the Stags.

Probable Starters:
1. #8 Wang/Schils (CMS) vs. #13 Gaines/Desantis (T)
2. Hough/MacColl (CMS) vs. #16 Furr/Tran (T)
3. Lim/Wu (CMS) vs. #10 Cocanougher/Kowal (T)

1. #21 Lawrence Wang (CMS) vs. #16 Oliver Gaines (T)
2. #10 Mikey Lim (CMS) vs. #38 James Furr (T)
3. #36 Eric MaColl (CMS) vs. David Tran (T)
4. #30 Michael Starr (CMS) vs. Varun Munjal (T)
5. Ronald Wu (CMS) vs. Bobby Cocanougher (T)
6. Drew Sabater (CMS vs. Crisanto Ramirez (T)

Match Preview: #9 Mary Washington vs. #15 Johns Hopkins (March 28)

This is the first real test of the season for Johns Hopkins with the exception of the national indoors. They will have to win this match to prove themselves as a legitimate top 10 team. Mary Washington has a big homecourt advantage in Fredericksburg. They always have a great fan base and they also have a lot of belief in themselves. This will be a battle at all 9 matches. I like Hopkins to take first doubles and MW to take 3rd doubles, but 2nd doubles is a reall coin flip. In singles, Hopkins is the favorite at the 1, 3 and 4 spots, and Mary Wash is the favorite at 2, 5 and 6. Mary Wash has the advantage as far as depth is concerned. I believe that this match could fall on Maldow's shoulders in both singles and doubles, and if he is able to win both of his points, this could give Hopkins the win. I would expect to see a very close and intense match, but I have to give the nod to Mary Wash 5-4 because of their depth.

Probable Starters:
1. #20 Loden/Murata (MW) vs. #12 Blythe/Vasoontara (JH)
2. Goff/Parrish (MW) vs. Maldow/Wang (JH)
3. James/Dunn (MW) vs. Roberti/Vale (JH)

1. #12 John James (MW) vs. #6 David Maldow (JH)
2. #19 Randy Loden (MW) vs. #46 Andrew Wang (JH)
3. Eddie Carver (MW) vs. Joe Vasoontaara (JH)
4. Jason Dunn (MW) vs. Casey Blythe (JH)
5. Evan Goff (MW) vs. Peter Vale (JH)
6. Bryce Parrish (MW) vs. Rafael Roberti (JH)

Match Updates

#9 Williams vs. #11 Redlands, Williams 5-4
#5 Emory vs. #15 Amherst, Emory 8-1
#13 DePauw vs. #15 Amherst, Amherst 6-3
#12 Carnegie Mellon vs. #22 Washington & Lee, W&L 6-3
#5 Emory vs. #13 DePauw, Emory 6-3
#6 Middlebury vs. #7 CMS, CMS 6-3
#12 Chicago vs. #15 DePauw, DePauw 7-2
#1 Gustavus vs. #6 CMS, CMS 7-2
#4 Emory vs. #22 Kalamazoo, Emory 9-0
#2 UC Santa Cruz vs. #7 Middlebury, Santa Cruz 8-1
#5 Gustavus vs. #11 Redlands (March 27)
#8 Trinity (TX) vs. #10 Williams (March 27)
#9 Mary Washington vs. #15 Johns Hopkins (March 28)
#2 Washington vs. #10 Williams (March 28)
#7 Middlebury vs. #11 Redlands (March 28)
#4 CMS vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 28)
#2 Washington vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 29)
#4 CMS vs. #10 Williams (March 29)
#2 Washington vs. #4 CMS (March 30)

A very big day today in D3 tennis, as the #1 team in the nation was beaten very easily and the one-time national powerhouse Kalamazoo got ripped by Emory and dropped from the top 25. UC Sants Cruz is now #1 after a dominant performance against Middlebury. Tomorrow, we will see if Gustavus can bounce back against a fiesty Redlands team. This is the perfect scenario for an upset, but I think Coach Wilkinson will have his guys ready. We then see Trinity play Williams, in a match that is important for rankings in the 7-10 spots. This match could have eventual implications involving a #1 regional seed in NCAAs. I will try to publish some match previews for the matches happening on March 28th. Great to see action on the comments boards, keep it coming.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 26, 2008

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

Match Preview: #8 Trinity (TX) vs. #10 Williams (March 27)

Williams brings a very strong team to Texas where they will face Trinity, who comes off a win over Bowdoin and a split championship at the Stag-Hen invitational. Trinity has been playing very well all year and their doubles have been nothing short of spectacular. Their 3 doubles team has lost only 1 match all year and their 1 and 2 teams have also been excellent. Williams struggled in doubles in its last match, so they will need to pull out at least 1 doubles match. Greenberg should pull out 1 singles and Simonetter should pull out 3. I like Trinity at 2 singles. The bottom of the lineup is pretty even, but I think Williams is slightly stronger. I would expect this to be a very close match, but I will give the nod to Trinity with an exciting 5-4 win as they sweep doubles.

Probable Starters:
1. #13 Gaines/Desantis (T) vs. Greenberg/Thacher (W)
2. #16 Furr/Tran (T) vs. #25 Lebedoff/Simonette (W)
3. #10 Cocanougher/Kowal (T) vs. Furmaga/Devlin (W)

1. # 16 Oliver Gaines (T) vs. #5 Dan Greenberg (W)
2. # 38 James Furr (T) vs. Nick Lebedoff (W)
3. David Tran (T) vs. #37 Gary Simonette (W)
4. Varun Munjal (T) vs. Karol Furmaga (W)
5. Bobby Cocanougher (T) vs. Ricky Devlin (W)
6. Crisanto Ramirez (T) vs. Jeremy Weinberger (W)

Match Preview #1 Gustavus vs. #11 Redlands (March 27)

Gustavus will be coming off a match against CMS the previous day, and no matter the outcome, this match has the potential for an upset. While I don't expect Redlands to pull it out, I do expect them to put up a very good fight. The Bulldogs need to be able to compete at 2 and 3 doubles. I don't expect them to win 1st doubles. I think Redlands has a good chance to win at singles anywhere from 2-6. There is a good possibility that they can pull out 3 of those 5 matches with their homecourt advantage. If somehow they can win more than 3, this could turn out to be a suprising result. At the end of the day, I would expect to see a 6-3 or even 7-2 result in favor of the Gusties, despite the outdoors and the hostile Redlands environment.

Probable Starters:
1. #5 Bryan/Paukert (GA) vs. #24 Wagar/Cook (R)
2. #7 Kauss/Burdakin (GA) vs. Reading/Hasenyager (R)
3. #17 Hansen/Tomasek (GA) vs. Wong/Hammond (R)

1. #3 Andy Bryan (GA) vs. #26 Matt Liebman (R)
2. #8 John Kauss (GA) vs. #40 Eric Wagar (R)
3. Mike Burdakin (GA) vs. Aron Ouye (R)
4. Charlie Paukert (GA) vs. Mike Reading (R)
5. Aaron Zenner (GA) vs. Ransom Cook (R)
6. Ben Tomasek (GA) vs. Chris Trippel (R)

Match Updates

#9 Williams vs. #11 Redlands, Williams 5-4
#5 Emory vs. #15 Amherst, Emory 8-1
#13 DePauw vs. #15 Amherst, Amherst 6-3
#12 Carnegie Mellon vs. #22 Washington & Lee, W&L 6-3
#5 Emory vs. #13 DePauw, Emory 6-3
#6 Middlebury vs. #7 CMS, CMS 6-3
#12 Chicago vs. #15 DePauw, DePauw 7-2
#1 Gustavus vs. #6 CMS (March 26)
#4 Emory vs. #22 Kalamazoo (March 26)
#2 UC Santa Cruz vs. #7 Middlebury (March 26)
#1 Gustavus vs. #11 Redlands (March 27)
#8 Trinity (TX) vs. #10 Williams (March 27)
#9 Mary Washington vs. #15 Johns Hopkins (March 28)
#3 Washington vs. #10 Williams (March 28)
#7 Middlebury vs. #11 Redlands (March 28)
#6 CMS vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 28)
#3 Washington vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 29)
#6 CMS vs. #10 Williams (March 29)
#3 Washington vs. #6 CMS (March 30)

We can look forward to some fantastic action tomorrow. Kalamazoo will travel to Atlanta and try to upset a very hot Emory team. Middlebury will try to bounce back from their close loss today against the #2 ranked Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz. I believe that we can expect to see the return of Brian Pybas in D3 action. But the real highlight of the day is #1 Gustavus Adolphus finally being tested in an away match against #6 CMS. The Stags had a big win today and will need to play even better to defeat the Gusties. I'll try to provide results of these matches as soon as they become available.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 25, 2008

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

DePauw defeats Chicago

15th ranked DePauw defeated 12th ranked Chicago today 7-2 to redeem itself after weekend losses to Emory and Amherst. Look for DePauw to take over the #13 spot in the national rankings. Scores are not yet available and we are still waiting for a result from Middlebury and CMS.

Match Preview: #1 Gustavus Adolphus vs. #7 CMS (March 26)

The question here is how well will CMS fair in doubles? Gustavus is ranked #1 in the country, but they have yet to leave their home courts in St. Peter. They now travel out to California to test their outdoor skills against a very talented and intense Claremont team. The CMS team will be battle tested as they play #6 Middlebury the day before this match. Expect to see CMS to take 4 of the 6 singles match. But the Stag teams will be the underdog in all three of the doubles matches, as this is Gustavus' specialty. If CMS can manage to steal one of the doubles matches, they have an excellent chance of winning this match. They have too much depth for Gustavus. The Gusties will be in trouble after 1st and 2nd singles. This match should come down to doubles.

Probable Starters:
1. #5 Bryan/Paukert (GA) vs. Wang/Starr(CMS)
2. #7 Kauss/Burdakin (GA) vs. Hough/MacColl (CMS)
3. #17 Hansen/Tomasek (GA) vs. Lim/Wu (CMS)

1. #3 Andy Bryan (GA) vs. #21 Lawrence Wang (CMS)
2. #8 John Kauss (GA) vs. #10 Mikey Lim (CMS)
3. Mike Burdakin (GA) vs. #36 Eric MacColl (CMS)
4. Charlie Paukert (GA) vs. #30 Michael Starr(CMS)
5. Aaron Zenner (GA) vs. Ronald Wu (CMS)
6. Ben Tomasek (GA) vs. Drew Sabater(CMS)

Match Preview: #6 Middlebury vs. #7 CMS (March 25)

A match between two top 10 teams, but the fact that Middlebury hasn't played much outdoors could be the deciding factor. All the matches are fairly even and could go either way, but the outdoors and the homecourt should be in favor of CMS. The doubles could favor Middlebury and I wouldn't be surprised if they take an early 2-1 lead. The tables are likely to turn in singles and CMS is just a little bit stronger almost everywhere in the lineup. Wang and Lim have been inconsistent of late, but I would expect them to get back on track in the upcoming days. This match could have major implications for seeding in NCAAs. I like CMS to pull out a very hard fought match. Middlebury feels more comfortable in Vermont and the fact that they are a little out of their element will hurt them.

Probable Starters:
1. #1 Marinkovic/Thomson (M) vs. #8 Wang/Schils (CMS)
2. #21 Lee/Mason (M) vs. Hough/MacColl (CMS)
3. Jia/Peters (M) vs. Lim/Wu (CMS)

1. # 20 Andrew Lee (M) vs. #21 Lawrence Wang (CMS)
2. #43 Eliot Jia (M) vs. #10 Mikey Lim (CMS)
3. Filip Marinkovic (M) vs. #36 Eric MacColl (CMS)
4. Andrew Thomson (M) vs. #30 Michael Starr (CMS)
5. Andrew Peters (M) vs. Ronald Wu (CMS)
6. Richard Bonfiglio (M) vs. Ben Hough (CMS)

D3tennis.com Doubles Rankings March 24, 2008

1. Marinkovic/Thompson, Middlebury
2. Kamel/Vartabedian, UCSC
3. Cutler/Hoeland, Washington
4. Goodwin/Lopp, Emory
5. Bryan/Paukert, Gustavus
6. Keith/Swanson, DePauw
7. Burdakin/Kauss, Gustavus
8. Wang/Schils, CMS
9. Gates/Sullivan, Bowdoin
10. Cocanougher/Kowal, Trinity (TX)
11. Greenberg/Polster, Kenyon
12. Blythe/Vasoontara, Johns Hopkins
13. Gaines/Desantis, Trinity (TX)
14. Weterholm/Hunt, Cal Lutheran
15. Glidewell/Mook, Christopher Newport
16. Furr/Tran, Trinity (TX)
17. Hansen/Tomasek, Gustavus
18. Solomon/Solomon, Whitman
19. Klimchak/Mosteller, TCNJ
20. Loden/Murata, Mary Washington
21. Lee/Mason, Middlebury
22. Becker/Brody, Kenyon
23. Yunes/Lopez, Carthage
24. Wagar/Cook, Redlands
25. Lebedoff/Simonette, Wiliams

D3tennis.com Singles Rankings March 23, 2008

1. Watts, WashU
2. Greenberg, Kenyon
3. Bryan, Gustavus
4. Kamel, UCSC
5. Greenberg, Williams
6. Maldow, Johns Hopkins
7. Gates, Bowdoin
8. Kauss, Gustavus
9. Goodwin, Emory
10. Lim, CMS
11. Boren, Emory
12. James, Mary Washington
13. Lerner, Amherst
14. Zhang, Chicago
15. Klimchak, TCNJ
16. Gaines, Trinity (TX)
17. Solomon, Whitman
18. Keith, DePauw
19. Loden, Mary Washington
20. Lee, Middlebury
21. Wang, CMS
22. Yunes, Carthage
23. Fletcher, Methodist
24. Vayghan, St. Thomas
25. Yook, Chapman
26. Liebman, Redlands
27. Cutler, WashU
28. Phillips, UT-Tyler
29. Muliawan, Carnegie Mellon
30. Starr, CMS
31. Taylor, Pomona-Pitzer
32. Sajovich, UT-Tyler
33. Pelton, Hope
34. Boyd, Sewanee
35. Ortiz, UCSC
36. MacColl, CMS
37. Simonette, Williams
38. Furr, Trinity (TX)
39. Feldman, Trinity (CT)
40. Wagar, Redlands
41. Nemerov, Carnegie Mellon
42. Mark-Griffin, UCSC
43. Jia, Middlebury
44. Sullivan, Bowdoin
45. Gillispie, Piedmont
46. Wang, Johns Hopkins
47. Sutton, Greensboro
48. Vandenberg, Kenyon
49. Moss, Hampden-Sydney
50. Mintz, Amherst

Rankings

Singles and Doubles rankings coming later.

I will try to provide match previews for the Tuesday matches soon as well.

I am planning on updating team rankings after every day of matches this week, as teams may move a lot based upon results. I will also take into consideration any feedback I get about the team rankings, as I sometimes like to take into consideration other's viewpoints. Any feedback you have on the recently posted team rankings will be considered.

Match Updates

#9 Williams vs. #11 Redlands, Williams 5-4
#5 Emory vs. #15 Amherst, Emory 8-1
#13 DePauw vs. #15 Amherst, Amherst 6-3
#12 Carnegie Mellon vs. #22 Washington & Lee, W&L 6-3
#5 Emory vs. #13 DePauw, Emory 6-3
#6 Middlebury vs. #7 CMS (March 25)
#12 Chicago vs. #15 DePauw (March 25)
#1 Gustavus vs. #7 CMS (March 26)
#4 Emory vs. #22 Kalamazoo (March 26)
#2 UC Santa Cruz vs. #6 Middlebury (March 26)
#1 Gustavus vs. #11 Redlands (March 27)
#8 Trinity (TX) vs. #10 Williams (March 27)
#9 Mary Washington vs. #16 Johns Hopkins (March 28)
#3 Washington vs. #10 Williams (March 28)
#6 Middlebury vs. #11 Redlands (March 28)
#7 CMS vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 28)
#3 Washington vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 29)
#7 CMS vs. #10 Williams (March 29)
#3 Washington vs. #7 CMS (March 30)

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 23, 2008

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

Match Preview: #12 Carnegie Mellon vs. #22 Washington & Lee (March 22)

The Tartans are a very confident team right now coming off a successful spring break trip and the opposite can be said of the Generals. They have been struggling this year and have yet to put it together, particularly in doubles where they are always strong. If W&L wants to compete at all in this match, I think they need a doubles sweep. Carnegie is too strong in singles from top to bottom and I would expect them to take at least 4 singles matches if not 5 or all 6. W&L needs to come out hot and break Carnegie's spirit by winning all 3 doubles, which is a difficult task because CMU's doubles is formidable. I like CMU to dominate this match, particularly in singles where they should win 2- through 6 singles fairly easily. I would expect a 7-2 or 6-3 win for Carnegie Mellon, continuing Washington & Lee's poor season.

Probable Starters:
1. Muliawan/Mactaggart (CM) vs. Ross/Estes (WL)
2. #15 Clearfield/Raghavan (CM) vs. Hopson/McCardell (WL)
3. Nemerov/Spero (CM) vs. Brooke/Sanford (WL)

1. Andrew Clearfield (CM) vs. #41 Tim Ross (WL)
2. #37 Alex Nemerov (CM) vs. Nat Estes (WL)
3. #30 James Muliawan (CM) vs. Seth Feibelman (WL)
4. Jon Spero (CM) vs. Jamie McCardell (WL)
5. Ravi Raghavan (CM) vs. Morgan Hopson (WL)
6. Yiran Liu (CM) vs. Nelson Bunn (WL)

Match Preview: #13 DePauw vs. #15 Amherst (March 22)

This is an intriguing and evenly matched mid-season matchup between two teams looking to break into the top 10 in the country. Both teams have the players to do so and to me the result of this match depends on matchups. I like the DePauw team at #1 doubles as they are one of the best teams in the country and have had great success so far. I would also expect DePauw to take 2 or 3 doubles, giving them a 2-1 advantage going into singles. The singles lineups favor DePauw at 2 and 3 in my opinion and Amherst should take #1 with Lerner. The match should come down to 4, 5 and 6 and hopefully at that time for Amherst, the Jeffs won't need all three of those matches. DePauw should have the stronger team and be able to pull this out in the middle of the singles lineup, but Amherst should give them a very hard time. I would expect DePauw to be able to sneak out a 5-4 victory and stop their fall in the rankings.

Probable Starters:
1. #6 Keith/Swanson (D) vs. #25 Lerner/Doerfler (A)
2. Heck/Sandager (D) vs. Wan/Schwartz (A)
3. Schouweiler/Nash (D) vs. Mintz/Avrahmi (A)

1. #14 Kortney Keith (D) vs. #8 Zack Lerner (A)
2. Scott Swanson (D) vs. Mike Mintz (A)
3. #31 Bryan Heck (D) vs. Sean Doerfler (A)
4. Hunter Schouweiler (D) vs. Jeff Wan (A)
5. Scott Sauer (D) vs. Moritz Koenig (A)
6. Will Gates (D) vs. Daniel Kim (A)

Match Preview: #5 Emory vs. #15 Amherst (March 21)

A very intriguing matchup as Amherst has started the spring very well defeating Sewanee 9-0, and Emory has shown a little vulnerability, particularly in doubles. This match is a great test for both teams. It is conceivable that Amherst is a top 10 team, and this match will tell us a lot about their team this season. It is also conceivable that Emory does not belong as high as #5, and this will be great test for the Eagles. I would expect Emory to come out firing with the home court, but look for the Jeffs to give Emory a very tough time at 2 and 3 doubles. In singles, almost every match could go either way. These teams are very evenly matched in singles in my opinion, but I think the doubles could swing the match in Emory's favor. I would expect a nail-biter maybe coming down to the last match, but I would think Emory should come out ahead.


Probable Starters:
1. #4 Goodwin/Lopp (E) vs. #25 Lerner/Doerfler (A)
2. Ehlers/Caplan (E) vs. Wan/Schwartz (A)
3. Boren/Jordan (E) vs. Mintz/Avrahmi (A)

1. #19 Michael Goodwin (E) vs. #8 Zack Lerner (A)
2. #12 Mark Boren (E) vs. Mike Mintz (A)
3. Hardy Ehlers (E) vs. Sean Doerfler (A)
4. #50 Oliver Lopp (E) vs. Jeff Wan (A)
5. David Caplan (E) vs. Moritz Koenig (A)
6. Chris Jordan (E) vs. Daniel Kim (A)

Match Preview: #9 Williams vs #11 Redlands (March 21)

Williams will face their first real Division 3 test when they play a confident Redlands team. The Redlands homecourt is a big advantage for the Bulldogs and could swing the match in their favor if Williams does not come ready to play. Redlands doubles has been inconsistent so far, and Williams' main focus is their doubles, so I would expect the Ephs to take 2 of the 3 doubles points. I believe that Williams has the advantage at #1 and #3 singles. This would allow them to only have to win one match between 2,5 and 6 singles to earn the 5 points. While Redlands always battles very hard, I believe that Williams will have too much with the combination of Greenberg at the top and their outstanding depth in both singles and doubles. I would expect a great battle from Redlands, but a 6-3 win for Williams.


Probable Starters:
1. Greenberg/Thacher (W) vs. Wagar/Cook (R)
2. #23 Lebedoff/Simonette (W) vs. Reading/Hasenyager (R)
3. Furmaga/Devlin (W) vs. Hammond/Wong (R)

1. #6 Dan Greenberg (W) vs. #29 Matt Liebman (R)
2. Nick Lebedoff (W) vs. #42 Eric Wagar (R)
3. Gary Simonette (W) vs. Aron Ouye (R)
4. Karol Furmaga (W) vs. Mike Reading (R)
5. Ricky Devlin (W) vs. Ransom Cook (R)
6. Jeremy Weinberger (W) vs. Chris Trippel (R)

New ITA Rankings Released

ITA rankings were released yesterday with results through March 10th. I won't copy and paste all of them on here but here is the link to the site. http://www.itatennis.com/Rankings/div3_rankings.htm

There are several discrepancies between my recent rankings and the ITAs, but I believe this is because my rankings had several more matches included in them. (Through March 16th) Feel free to add your comments on the recently published regional rankings and soon to be published national rankings.

Important Upcoming Matches

The next two weeks will be incredibly busy in Division 3 tennis. There are several non-conference matchups that could really effect rankings. Below I have listed all matches in which a top 15 team is competing against another ranked team through April 1st. I will do my best to provide match previews for as many of these as I can. Almost every top 15 team has important matches that are upcoming and these next 2 weeks are crucial to rankings and seedings for NCAA. Keep checking daily for match previews.

#9 Williams vs. #11 Redlands (March 21)
#5 Emory vs. #15 Amherst (March 21)
#13 DePauw vs. #15 Amherst (March 22)
#12 Carnegie Mellon vs. #22 Washington & Lee (March 22)
#5 Emory vs. #13 DePauw (March 23)
#6 Middlebury vs. #7 CMS (March 25)
#13 DePauw vs. #16 Chicago (March 25)
#1 Gustavus vs. #7 CMS (March 26)
#5 Emory vs. #21 Kalamazoo (March 26)
#2 UC Santa Cruz vs. #6 Middlebury (March 26)
#1 Gustavus vs. #11 Redlands (March 27)
#8 Trinity (TX) vs. #9 Williams (March 27)
#10 Mary Washington vs. #14 Johns Hopkins (March 28)
#3 Washington vs. #9 Williams (March 28)
#6 Middlebury vs. #11 Redlands (March 28)
#7 CMS vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 28)
#3 Washington vs. #8 Trinity (TX) (March 29)
#7 CMS vs. #9 Williams (March 29)
#3 Washington vs. #7 CMS (March 30)

D3tennis.com Doubles Rankings March 17, 2008

1. Marinkovic/Thompson, Middlebury
2. Kamel/Vartabedian, UCSC
3. Cutler/Hoeland, Washington
4. Goodwin/Lopp, Emory
5. Bryan/Paukert, Gustavus
6. Keith/Swanson, DePauw
7. Burdakin/Kauss, Gustavus
8. Wang/Schils, CMS
9. Gaines/Desantis, Trinity (TX)
10. Cocanougher/Kowal, Trinity (TX)
11. Gates/Sullivan. Bowdoin
12. Greenberg/Polster, Kenyon
13. Buxbaum/Kinrade, Haverford
14. Blythe/Vasoontara, Johns Hopkins
15. Raghavan/Clearfield, Carnegie Mellon
16. Weterholm/Hunt, Cal Lutheran
17. Glidewell/Mook, Christopher Newport
18. Furr/Tran, Trinity (TX)
19. Hansen/Tomasek, Gustavus
20. Solomon/Solomon, Whitman
21. Klimchak/Mosteller, TCNJ
22. Loden/Murata, Mary Washington
23. Lebedoff/Simonette, Williams
24. Yunes/Lopez, Carthage
25. Lerner/Doerfler, Amherst

D3tennis.com Singles Rankings March 16, 2008

1. Watts, WashU
2. Greenberg, Kenyon
3. Bryan, Gustavus
4. Kamel, UCSC
5. Greenberg, Williams
6. Maldow, Johns Hopkins
7. Pelton, Hope
8. Lerner, Amherst
9. Kauss, Gustavus
10. Lim, CMS
11. James, Mary Washington
12. Boren, Emory
13. Gates, Bowdoin
14. Keith, DePauw
15. Wang, CMS
16. Klimchak, TCNJ
17. Loden, Mary Washington
18. Lee, Middlebury
19. Goodwin, Emory
20. Gaines, Trinity (TX)
21. Zhang, Chicago
22. Starr, CMS
23. Fletcher, Methodist
24. Solomon, Whitman
25. Yook, Chapman
26. Cutler, WashU
27. Boyd, Sewanee
28. Ortiz, UCSC
29. Liebman, Redlands
30. Muliawan, CMU
31. Heck, DePauw
32. Sajovich, UT-Tyler
33. Mark-Griffin, UCSC
34. MacColl, CMS
35. Phillips, UT-Tyler
36. Furr, Trinity (TX)
37. Nemerov, CMU
38. Yunes, Carthage
39. Sullivan, Bowdoin
40. Jia, Middlebury
41. Ross, Washington & Lee
42. Wagar, Redlands
43. Vandenberg, Kenyon
44. Dunn, Mississippi
45. Stein, Bates
46. Wang, Johns Hopkins
47. Vayghan, St. Thomas
48. Feldman, Trinity (CT)
49. Weterholm, Cal Lutheran
50. Lopp, Emory

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 16, 2008

1. Gustavus - The Gusties keep on rolling. They travel to California soon and we will see how good they are when they aren't playing in St. Peter
2. UC Santa Cruz - A convincing 9-0 win over Swarthmore. They play Middlebury in 10 days which will be a battle.
3. Washington U - Possibly the best team in the country. They have some big tests coming up when they travel to Texas
4. Kenyon - A huge jump for the Lords to the #4 spot. They did the impossible, beating CMS in Claremont. This is a very good team that is no longer under the radar
5. Emory - The Eagles have three tough matches in the next 10 days. They haven't done much to prove themselves yet but hold the #5 spot based upon reputation
6. Middlebury - So far they have 4 wins over lackluster opponents. We'll find out how good they are during their California trip when they have hard matches for 6 days in a row
7. CMS - A bad loss to Kenyon on their home courts. The Stags need to regroup and make some big changes if they want to turn their talent into a national championship
8. Trinity (TX) - Despite making the finals of StagHen, they struggled with TCNJ and a reeling Bowdoin team. They are good but don't belong in the top 5 yet
9. Williams - They have some very tough matches coming up. A lot of people think this is an overrated team but we will find out within the next 2 weeks
10. Mary Washington - A pretty good California trip with a win over a good Redlands team. They then came home and destroyed W&L
11. Redlands - Great wins over Carnegie Mellon and Whitman. They played very close with Mary Washington as well. This team is good, but not as good as UCSC and CMS
12. Carnegie Mellon - An incredibly talented team who looks to be on its way to the top 10. A good win over Bowdoin, and they almost beat Redlands without their 1 singles player
13. DePauw - An overrated team who just doesn't have the players to be in the top 10. They play Emory soon and we will see if they are overmatched
14. Johns Hopkins - This team could be in the top 10 by the end of the season but they have an easy schedule. They won't be tested for a while
15. Amherst- Haven't been tested yet, but they play Emory in a week and we will find out how good they are. A very deep team who could be a NESCAC darkhorse
16. Chicago - They gave Wash U a very hard time. Zhang looks to be a very good #1, and the Maroons can compete with the best of the best
17. TCNJ - An under-the-radar team who surprised everyone by beating Bowdoin and giving Trinity a very hard time. They could be moving into the top 15 if they keep it up
18. Bowdoin - Bad losses out in California. The Polar Bears to regroup and get some good NESCAC wins to get their confidence back
19. Christopher Newport - They look to be a fixture in the top 20. A good team that is underrated. They play Mary Washington in a month and this will test them
20. Whitman - A good team, but they lack the talent and depth to get into the top 15. We saw this on display against Kenyon and Redlands where they were clearly overmatched
21. Kalamazoo - Still chugging along and a dangerous team at home. They could pull an upset on the right day but they are inconsistent
22. Washington & Lee - Still struggling as a whole, just losing to Mary Washington. They will have a shot at Carnegie this weekend, but they really need to step it up to compete
23. UT-Tyler - New to the top 25, this team showed that they can play at StagHen. They are a very tough team who most top 15 teams won't want to see
24. Coe - A solid team in the Central region. They don't play a tough schedule which could hurt them when they face a top 15 team
25. Sewanee - An inconsistent team with a good amount of talent. They aren't all that strong, but could give good team a hard time on the right day


Top 50 singles and Top 25 doubles rankings are coming soon...

Upcoming Articles

D3tennis.com Team Rankings
D3tennis.com Singles and Doubles Rankings
ITA T/S/D Rankings released on Tuesday
Upcoming Match Previews Announced

#14 Redlands defeats #18 Whitman

Redlands had a surprisingly easy time with this match, dropping only 1 singles and 1 doubles. Redlands was too strong in the bottom of the lineup. This match could have important implications on the rankings and seeding for NCAAs.

Match Preview: #14 Redlands vs. #15 Carnegie Mellon (March 15)

Carnegie Mellon is a very hot team right now, looking to continue their winning streak against a strong and intense Redlands team. Redlands has the homecourt advantage and this should allow them to take 2 of the 3 doubles. The singles is a different story. Similar to the Mary Washington/Redlands match, doubles should be competitive, but the team from the East Coast should take over in singles. Carnegie has been nearly untouchable in the middle of the lineup and should take positions 3,4,5 without much of a problem. Redlands will need to pull out both 1 and 2 to be able to hang. This is a Carnegie team on the rise and most likely on its way to the top 10 in the country. Redlands will fight very hard as they always do, but they don't have enough strength in singles to take 3 or 4 singles matches. I expect a 5-4 or maybe even a 6-3 win for Carnegie Mellon.

Probable Starters:
1. #18 Wagar/Cook (UR) vs. Muliawan/Mactaggart (CMU)
2. Hasenyager/Reading (UR) vs. Clearfield/Raghavan (CMU)
3. Wong/Hammond (UR) vs. Nemerov/Spero (CMU)

1. #48 Matt Liebman (UR) vs. Andrew Clearfield (CMU)
2. #36 Eric Wagar (UR) vs. #31 Alex Nemerov (CMU)
3. Aron Ouye (UR) vs. #46 James Muliawan (CMU)
4. Mike Reading (UR) vs. Jon Spero (CMU)
5. Ransom Cook (UR) vs. Ravi Raghavan (CMU)
6. David McCall (UR) vs. Yiran Liu (CMU)

StagHen Preview (March 14,15)

#3 CMS vs. UT-Tyler
#10 Kenyon vs. #18 Whitman
#11 Bowdoin vs. Pomona-Pitzer
#8 Trinity (TX) vs. #24 TCNJ

The Stags are obviously the favorite coming into the tournament as the host, the defending champion, and the highest ranked team participating. There are several intriguing matchups that we could see. The first round matchups have pretty clear cut winners in my opinion as we should see CMS taking on Kenyon and Trinity taking on Bowdoin in the semifinals. Kenyon could potentially pose some trouble for the Stags. Greenberg and Lim will be a great matchup, and the Lords are able to stay with CMS at the first 2 doubles positions as well as the bottom of the lineup. I would expect CMS to pull this out 6-3 or 5-4, but Kenyon will definitely make them sweat. The other semi has potential to be a thriller if Bowdoin can find their form. The Polar Bears have lost three straight matches and we must assume that they don't have much confidence. A win over Pomona should help them. Trinity should dominate in doubles but I would expect competitive matches throughout the singles lineup. 1 and 2 will be very entertaining. I would pick Trinity to win this. I would expect Kenyon to take 3rd place and move into single digits in the national rankings and I think the Stags will beat Trinity fairly easily in the finals as they are just stronger everywhere. I would expect CMS to have more trouble with Kenyon than Trinity. I wish we could see a Kenyon-Trinity matchup but it seems the seeds didn't fall that way. This will be a good tournament but don't expect a ton of suspense. Feel free to share your opinions. I'll do my best to have constant updates on the invitational.

#24 TCNJ defeats #11 Bowdoin

TCNJ handed Bowdoin its second straight loss in a big upset today. The Lions used strong singles play to beat Bowdoin. Bowdoin played without their #4 singles player Alex Caughron and this came back to haunt them as he definitely would have turned the match in favor of the Polar Bears. We will see how much TCNJ moves up in the new rankings after this win.

#17 Carnegie Mellon defeats #11 Bowdoin

This is a minor upset that will definitely shake up the rankings in the 10-18 range.

Match Preview: #20 Denison vs. #23 Washington & Lee

An early-season match up of two teams who normally are at the top of D3. Both teams are struggling so far this season, particularly Washington & Lee, who has had several lackluster performances. Both of these teams have the players to be top 15 teams, so maybe they just need some belief in themselves to finally get going. Doubles is a strong suit of both teams. W&L's 3 doubles team has looked superb, including a win over CMS. I would expect WL to win 3, but I like Denison to take 1 and 2. Denison should win 4 and 6, and I like WL at 3 and 5. The match will be decided at the top 2 spots. I like WL and at 2 singles, and I think this should go 5-4 either way, depending on #1 singles. This match could help the winning team to break into the top 20 and eventually top 15 in the country. Should be a very tight match.

Probable Starters:
1. Lofgren/Newman (D) vs. Ross/Estes (WL)
2. Davis/Buehler (D) vs. McCardell/Hopson (WL)
3. Hodgkiss-Lilly/Verbofsky (D) vs. Sanford/Brooke (WL)

1. Jordan Buehler (D) vs. #44 Tim Ross (WL)
2. James Davis (D) vs. Nat Estes (WL)
3. Randy Lofgren (D) vs. Seth Feibelman (WL)
4. Kevin Newman (D) vs. Jamie McCardell (WL)
5. Tom Hodgkiss-Lilly (D) vs. Morgan Hopson (WL)
6. Evan Verbofsky (D) vs. Nelson Bunn (WL)


Stag-Hen preview coming tomorrow along with a couple others.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 11, 2008

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

Recent Scores (March 3 - March 9)

#1 Gustavus d. Grinnell 8-1, #1 Gustavus d. St. Johns 7-2, #1 Gustavus d. St. Thomas 8-1, #1 Gustavus d. Macalester 9-0, Drake d. #1 Gustavus 7-0, #3 CMS d. #9 Mary Washington 7-2, #3 CMS d. Wabash 8-1, #6 Middlebury d. Union 9-0, #6 Middlebury d. NYU 6-0, #6 Middlebury d. Bates 9-0, #6 Middlebury d. Brandeis 9-0, #8 Trinity d. Millsaps 9-0 #8 Trinity d. Incarnate Word 6-3, #9 Mary Washington d. Wabash 9-0, #9 Mary Washington d. Pomona 9-0, #9 Mary Washington d. #14 Redlands 6-3, #12 DePauw d. Ferris State 7-2, #15 Carnegie Mellon d. Chapman 7-2, #17 Chicago d. Carthage 7-2, #18 Christopher Newport d. Chowan 9-0, #20 Whitman d. Pacific Lutheran 9-0, #20 Whitman d. Puget Sound 9-0, #20 Whitman d. Lewis & Clark 9-0, #23 Denison d. Northern Kentucky 7-2, #24 TCNJ d. NYU 9-0

Match Preview: #10 Bowdoin vs. #15 Carnegie Mellon

Both of these teams are known for switching their lineups constantly so it is nearly impossible to figure out who is going to play who, but getting past all that I will look at analysis for the match. Carnegie's doubles is traditionally weak, and while Bowdoin's is not outstanding, it should be good enough to take 2 if not all 3 of the doubles points. I would predict that Bowdoin will lead 2-1 after doubles. Carnegie's best chance is probably at the 3 spot. Both of these teams are defined by depth. The singles matches are toss-ups throughout the lineup. I definitely see a 3-3 singles split. Bowdoin is probably a little stronger at the top, and CMU is a little stronger at the bottom, so I would expect the 3 and 4 positions to decide the match. Bowdoin hasn't played a match this season, so it's hard to say how they will respond to this test. The winner of this match could secure themselves a top 12 spot in the rankings.

Probable Starters:
1. #19 Gates/Sullivan (BC) vs. Muliawan/Mactaggart (C)
2. D'Elia/Neely (BC) vs. Clearfield/Raghavan (C)
3. Anderson/Fried (BC) vs. Nemerov/Spero (C)

1. # 25 Garrett Gates (BC) vs. #31 Alex Nemerov (C)
2. Eric D'Elia (BC) vs. #46 James Muliawan (C)
3. Stephen Sullivan (BC) vs. Andrew Clearfield (C)
4. Jamie Neely (BC) vs. Jon Spero (C)
5. Alex Caughron (BC) vs. Bobby MacTaggart (C)
6. Tyler Anderson (BC) vs. Ravi Raghavan (C)



Upcoming: Recent Scores coming shortly. StagHen preview coming in a few days and I am undecided as to when I will publish new rankings. I am tempted to wait for the invitational to finish and publish new team, singles and doubles rankings next week at this time.

Match Preview: #9 Mary Washington vs. #14 Redlands (March 8)

Mary Washington looks to bounce back after its loss to CMS against another top 15 team. Redlands is very strong in doubles and will provide an excellent test for the Eagles. I expect doubles to go in favor of Redlands, as this is usually their strong suit. The 2 doubles team of Mary Wash has been struggling as of late, so look for Redlands to capitalize. I would give Redlands 2 of 3 doubles points. Singles is a different story. Mary Washington is just a little too deep. They should not only dominate at the top with their 1-2 punch of James/Loden, but they should also win at least 2 of the matches at 3 through 6. Redlands will have a very hard time winning 3 singles matches in my opinion. I would give 3 and 4 to Redlands, but the rest of the matches look to be in favor of UMW. It should be an exciting contest on Saturday and a very important one for UMW to get back on track. Redlands will be hosting 3 top 25 teams in the upcoming week, so this could give them momentum.

Probable Starters:
1. #15 Loden/Murata (UMW) vs. #18 Wagar/Cook (UR)
2. #20 Goff/Parrish (UMW) vs. Reading/Hasenyager (UR)
3. James/Detweiler (UMW) vs. Hammond/Wong (UR)

1. #9 John James (UMW) vs. #48 Matt Liebman (UR)
2. #13 Randy Loden (UMW) vs. #36 Eric Wagar (UR)
3. Evan Goff (UMW) vs. Aron Ouye (UR)
4. Eddie Carver (UMW) vs. Mike Reading (UR)
5. Jason Dunn (UMW) vs. Ransom Cook (UR)
6. Bryce Parrish (UMW) vs. Chris Trippel (UR)

CMS-Mary Washington Wrap-Up and some Q&A with Coach Settles

The #3 ranked Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scrips defeated the #9 ranked Eagles of Mary Washington 7-2 in a highly anticipated matchup yesterday in Claremont, California. The Stags started strong with 8-3 and 8-4 wins at 1st and 2nd doubles, respectively. These positions, particularly 2 doubles, were expected to be highly contested. Despite being down and early 2-0, the Eagles kept themselves in the match by taking the 3 doubles spot with John James/Zach Detweiler winning 8-5 over the team of Mikey Lim and Michael Starr.

The singles matches all had highly contested first sets, first 4 of 6 first sets going to tiebreakers. The problem for the Eagles was that the Stags won all 4 of those breakers. After winning 5 of 6 first sets, CMS looked well on its way to victory. Michael Starr made the score 3-1 with a win at #3 singles and Eric MacColl pushed the score to 4-1 with a 6-4, 6-0 win against Eddie Carver at #4 singles. However, both of these matches were expected CMS wins so there was still a lot of tennis to be played. In a battle of top 15 players, Lawrence Wang defeated Fall Regional ITA Champion Randy Loden 7-6, 6-1 in a match that was expected to be highly contested. This gave CMS the 5-1 victory and they clinched the match. Of the remaining points, CMS took #1 and #6 singles and Mary Washington was able to squeeze out another win at #5. I asked Coach Settles a few questions after the match and he was kind enough to share his answers with me.

Q&A with Coach Paul Settles of CMS

How did you feel about the team performance overall in doubles? And in singles?
-We played very well at #1 and #2. The key to our success at those positions has been getting out to good starts - early breaks and easy holds. We were victimized by our own strategy at #3 doubles and lost an early break and then never really recovered from it. Doubles will really be a focus of ours going into the Stag-Hen, as we'll try to continue to get better at #1 and #2 and shore up the #3 position. In singles I was so proud of our guys winning four tie-breaks in four of six first sets. Wang and Sabater both fought back to tough out their first sets and were rewarded with more convincing second set efforts. Overall a good singles effort against a tough UMW team.

Individually, who really stepped up for you today against a very tough opponent?
-I'm probably most proud of Mikey Lim, who is learning how to beat good players at the #1 position even when he isn't at his best. James made him work very hard but Mikey showed good patience and toughness when he needed it most.

Mary Washington is typically a very gritty and confident team. Do you think the homecourt advantage helped you at all with breaking their spirits?
-I think getting the doubles advantage and going up 2-0 was important. I think the home court advantage was most critical in the four first set breakers we played. Had we lost two of those, the dual match result could have been much different.

How is the health of Michael Starr? When will you expect him to be back at full strength?
-Mike is improving every day - he gets a little stronger and a little more confident with each match he plays. His attitude has been great and he is excited to be back with his team and contributing.

Any comments on the upcoming StagHen invitational?
-It should be another terrific tournament. I am excited to see how well Kenyon, Trinity (TX), and Bowdoin are playing, as all of these teams are loaded with talent. I hope you will be covering the event!

Great Article about Gustavus Tennis

Steve Saltarelli of the University of Chicago tennis team wrote this article for Sports Illustrated about Gustavus Adolphus Men's Tennis. I found it very interesting and extremely well done. Definitely worth reading.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/tennis/02/26/gustavus/index.html



Other notes:

Tomorrow expect to see the Mary Washington-Redlands preview along with a post-match analysis of CMS-Mary Washington. Coach Settles of CMS was kind enough to answer a few questions I asked him, so look for the Q&A with him as well.

New ITA Team Rankings Released

New ITA Team Rankings were released today...

1.Gustavus Adolphus
2.UC Santa Cruz
3.Washington Univ. (MO)
4.Emory
5.Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
6.Middlebury
7.Trinity (TX)
8.Mary Washington
9.Williams
10.DePauw
11.Bowdoin
12.Kenyon
13.Amherst
14.Johns Hopkins
15.Redlands
16.Whitman
17.Carnegie Mellon
18. Univ. of Chicago
19.Kalamazoo
20.Christopher Newport
21.Tufts
22.Pacific Lutheran
23.Trinity (CT)
24.Rhodes
25.The College of New Jersey
26.Wisconsin Whitewater
27.Washington and Lee
28.Hardin Simmons
29.Univ. of the South (TN)
30.Pomona Pitzer


Several notes that I'd like to make, and I also welcome your opinions...

There are no truly significant differences between my team rankings and the ITA's list. It is tough not to give Gustavus the #1 ranking right now because they just won Indoors, but everyone, including them, knows that their homecourt is such a massive advantage. They are more realistically the 4th or 5th best team in the country in my opinion.

Santa Cruz then would move up to #1...but where is Pybas? Is he injured? Does anyone know?

Emory really hasn't proved a lot yet. It is still tough to say exactly how good they are. They will see DePauw and Amherst in a few weeks.

We will find out how good CMS is in the next 10 days.

It seems Williams was penalized, but they haven't started their season yet. They will be tested early.

I think Kenyon and Bowdoin are both stronger than DePauw, who is weak in comparison to other years. Both Kenyon and Bowdoin will be at StagHen and we could see a potential matchup for 3rd and 4th place between these two teams to decide who rounds out the top 10.

Whitman is over-ranked, there is no way they should be ahead of Carnegie and Chicago and even CNU for that matter. Their ranking is still riding on graduated seniors from last year.

Denison is the only team in my rankings not in the ITAs, they play W&L in 10 days and they played a tough 6-3 with a good Chicago team.

Whitewater will most likely be moving out of the rankings after their recent 7-2 loss to Coe.



My next rankings are set for March 13th/14th and it will include Team/Singles/Doubles.

Two New Upcoming Match Previews

#14 Redlands vs. #15 Carnegie Mellon (March 15)
#9 Mary Washington vs. #21 Washington & Lee (March 15)


I'll also try to have some post match feedback from coaches and players after CMS-UMW tomorrow. The Redlands-Mary Washington preview will be posted this Thursday.

Match Preview: #3 CMS vs #9 Mary Washington (March 5)

This match up of top 10 teams is the biggest match of the season so far with the exception of the indoors. Both teams are stacked with superstars at the top, but the match will most likely be decided at 4 through 6. I like CMS to win 2 of the doubles points, but singles can go either way. Mary Washington is perfectly capable of winning 4 or 5 singles matches, but so is CMS. The winner of this match will certainly gain a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. This is the first real D3 test for the Stags so we will see how they respond. I like CMS in this because of their homecourt advantage, but I would not at all be surprised if Mary Wash pulls this out 5-4.

Probable Starters:
1. #8 Wang/Schils (CMS) vs. #15 Loden/Murata (UMW)
2. Hough/MacColl (CMS) vs. #20 Goff/Parrish (UMW)
3. Starr/Lim (CMS) vs. James/Detweiler (UMW)

1. #7 Mikey Lim (CMS) vs. #9 John James (UMW)
2. #5 Lawrence Wang (CMS) vs. #13 Randy Loden (UMW)
3. #10 Michael Starr (CMS) vs. Evan Goff (UMW)
4. Eric MacColl (CMS) vs. Bryce Parrish (UMW)
5. Ben Hough (CMS) vs. Eddie Carver (UMW)
6. Drew Sabater (CMS) vs. Rob Emig (UMW)

Recent Scores and #1 Watts Upset

#12 DePauw d. #19 Kalamazoo 6-3, #24 TCNJ d. Skidmore 7-2

In the Wash U vs. Chicago dual match, #34 William Zhang of Chicago defeated the #1 ranked player in the country, John Watts. We will see in about 10 days how much of an effect this has on the next singles rankings

CMS-Mary Washington preview is coming later today. The match will be played at CMS on Wednesday.

Recent Scores

#1 Gustavus d. UW Eau-Claire 8-1, #1 Gustavus d. Bethel 9-0, #1 Gustavus d. Sioux Falls 9-0, #4 Washington d. Luther 8-1, #4 Washington d. #17 Chicago 6-3, Citadel d. #5 Emory 6-1, Charleston Southern d. #5 Emory 4-3, #8 Trinity d. McMurry 8-1, #8 Trinity d. Hardin-Simmons 9-0, #15 Carnegie Mellon d. Case Western 8-1, #17 Chicago d. Luther 8-1, #18 Christopher Newport d. NYU 7-2, #20 Whitman d. Pacific Lutheran 9-0, #20 Whitman d. Puget Sound 9-0, #21 Washington & Lee d. Virginia Wesleyan 9-0, #21 Washington & Lee d. Emory&Henry 9-0, #22 UW-Whitewater d. Grinnell 5-4, Coe d. #22 UW-Whitewater 7-2

Still waiting for scores to come in from some matches. Whitewater is the only ranked team that suffered an upset, Emory lost to D1 teams. Carleton College also has looked strong recently, look for them to potentially creep into the rankings along with Coe.