Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Regional Preview: Bowdoin

Salve Regina should win a close one against Baruch and then Emory will destroy whoever wins. Bowdoin should have a very easy 5-0 win against Skidmore. Bowdoin and Emory may be the two hottest teams in the country and they will play in the regional final.

Probable Starters:
1. Goodwin/Caplan vs. Gates/Caughron
2. Boren/Ehlers vs. Sullivan/Neely
3. Lopp/Kaufman vs. Anderson/White

1. Michael Goodwin vs. Garrett Gates
2. Mark Boren vs. Stephen Sullivan
3. David Caplan vs. Alex Caughron
4. Oliver Lopp vs. Jamie Neely
5. Hardy Ehlers vs. Tyler Anderson
6. Colin Egan vs. Alex White

As good as Bowdoin is, I just don't see how they can pull this match out. Emory just finished going 9-0 at their conference tournament in doubles and I don't see any change here. Emory is just a little stronger at every doubles spot. The momentum of the home crowd is the only chance Bowdoin has here. I like Emory to take a fairly easy 3-0 lead in doubles. Singles should continue with a similar trend. Expect very close matches at 1, 2 and 6, but Emory should dominate in the middle of the lineup. Bowdoin will fight hard, but their team just isn't good enough to beat the Eagles this year. I would take Emory in a 5-0 victory. If Bowdoin plays well they may be able to take a match or two, but there's no way they can get 5 of them.

Regional Preview: CMS

The most difficult region in the country by far. Just bad luck for Whitman and Redlands as they are both excellent teams who have to face the #1 and #2 teams in the country. This is exactly why the NCAA needs to spend some money to fly either CMS or Santa Cruz out of California. We have 1 vs. 2 in the Sweet 16. Santa Cruz should beat Redlands 5-1 or 5-2 and I would think CMS would defeat Whitman by a similar score. A great season for the Bulldogs and the Squirrels.

Probable Starters:
1. Kamel/Vartabedian vs. Schils/Wang
2. Pybas/Ortiz vs. Hough/MacColl
3. Liberty-Point/Gendelman vs. Starr/Wu

1. Jared Kamel vs. Larry Wang
2. Max Ortiz vs. Eric MacColl
3. Brian Pybas vs. Mikey Lim
4. Colin Mark-Griffin vs. Mike Starr
5. Jeff Fong vs. Ronald Wu
6. Silvio Chiba vs. Ben Hough

Your guess is as good as mine in this match. The only clear cut match I see here is 2 doubles should go in favor of Santa Cruz. After that, every match is pretty much 50/50. A lot depends on the health of Lim and Wu. If they aren't healthy and ready to go, the Slugs should win this comfortably. If they are ready to go, it will be another war. CMS definitely has a great advantage hosting, but the Slugs love the battle and will have their fans out. I would expect a 5-4 almost for sure coming down the the last match in a 3rd set tiebreaker. It could be anywhere in the lineup at 1 through 6. Expect another classic match, but I have to give the edge to the Slugs this time 5-4. Be ready for a thriller and look for the winner of this to go very far in the tournament.

Regional Preview: Kenyon

Ohio Northern should take Transylvania and then will go down to Kenyon 5-0. I would think Kalamazoo will beat Wilkes 5-0 and then CMU will beat them 5-2 or 5-3. This sets up a regional final and the 3rd match this season between Kenyon and Carnegie Mellon.

Probable Starters:
1. Greenberg/Polster vs. Raghavan/Mactaggart
2. Becker/Brody vs. Muliawan/Clearfield
3. Alef/Vandenberg vs. Nemerov/Spero

1. Mike Greenberg vs. Andrew Clearfield
2. Greg Sussman vs. James Muliawan
3. Jeremy Polster vs. Alex Nemerov
4. Charlie Brody vs. Jon Spero
5. Will Vandenberg vs. Ravi Raghavan
6. Rob Alef vs. Bobby Mactaggart

This is really going to be a tight match. That's all there is to it. I'm thinking that we will have singles split. I like Kenyon to win at 1, 4 and 5. I like Carnegie to win at 2, 3 and 6. The Raghavn/Mactaggart team beat Greenberg/Polster last time, but I doubt it will happen again given their results after that match. I don't think Carnegie has shown that they have a team who can beat Greenberg/Polster consistently. That being said, Carnegie should win at 3 doubles, leaving 2 doubles as the key match. The reason I'm picking Kenyon is because Becker and Brody have been nearly perfect at 2 doubles. I don't see this streak ending in this match. I think Kenyon will take the 2-1 edge in doubles and go on to win the match 5-3 or 5-4. This will be a very close one.

NCAA Bracket Contest

This will happen by popular demand. It shouldn't a be a lot of work so I will run it.

You have two options by MIDNIGHT FRIDAY
1. E-mail me your picks (division3tennis@gmail.com)
2. Post your picks on this board if you don't care about people seeing them

Here's what I need:
We'll start at the Sweet 16 down to the winner. So give me all of your Sweet 16 teams and picks for the rest of the tournament.

1 point for every correct Sweet 16 team
2 points for every correct Elite 8 team
4 points for every correct Final Four team
6 points for every correct finalist
10 points for correct champion
I'm ignoring the 3rd-4th match, too tough to bring it into play.

For a tiebreaker: Include the scores of all matches FROM THE ELITE EIGHT THROUGH THE END. Don't need to include scores for the Sweet 16 matches. I'll count these appropriately.

This isn't just for frequent posters. If players and coaches from participating teams want to enter, just e-mail me your picks and I'll keep everything anonymous unless you win. I hope we get a lot of entries.

Winner gets bragging rights I guess unless someone has a better idea?

I'll post my picks now so everyone knows what they should look like.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Regional Preview: Gustavus Adolphus

UT-Tyler will take care of Whitewater 5-1 or 5-2. The Warhawks should pull out a match or two, they are decent. Carthage should win a nailbiter against Luther and then get crushed by Gustavus. This gives us a UT-Tyler vs. Gustavus regional final.

Probable Starters
1. Bryan/Paukert vs. Ashlock/Phillips
2. Kauss/Burdakin vs. Campbell/Sajovich
3. Hansen/Tomasek vs. Kreines/Repsher

1. Andy Bryan vs. Dustin Phillips
2. John Kauss vs. Robert Sajovich
3. Mike Burdakin vs. Steven Campbell
4. Charlie Paukert vs. David Ashlock
5. Aaron Zenner vs. Will McDonald
6. Ben Tomasek vs. Nick Kreines

This match depends upon whether it is played Indoors our Outdoors. If I were Tyler, I would push for an outdoor match no matter what the weather looks like outside. This is their only chance. Indoors, Gustavus wins 5-0 without much of a problem. They are just untouchable on their Indoor courts. Since the regionals are supposed to be played outdoors, this is what we should focus on. Tyler should be able to take 1 of the doubles matches. I think their best chance is probably at 2 doubles. If they can get another one of the matches, this puts them in great shape. They cannot get swept or they're done. You have to like Bryan at 1 for GA, but 2, 3 and 4 singles are definitely winnable for Tyler. If Sajovich beat Wang, he can also beat Kauss. Campbell has some good results and Paukert has been vulnerable at #4. 5 and 6 are tossups and they can really go either way just like the other matches. Besides 1st singles, I think that Tyler really can win at every other position. As much as I would love to see an upset and I know Tyler will fight really hard, I think that I have to go with the Gusties in a 5-3 win with several 3-setters. On a neutral court, the score could be much different.

Regional Preview: Middlebury

MIT should take care of Salem St. and then get crushed by Middlebury. Vassar may be able to steal a match from Trinity(CT), but the Bantams will win easily. This sets up a Middlebury-Trinity(CT) regional final.

Probable Starters:
1. Marinkovic/Thomson vs. Yahng/Samarth
2. Lee/Mason vs. Dolan/Ramsay
3. Bonfiglio/Peters vs. Feldman/Patrick

1. Andrew Lee vs. Spencer Feldman
2. Filip Marinkovic vs. Brett Ramsay
3. Andrew Thomson vs. David Yahng
4. Andrew Peters vs. Tom Dolan
5. Peter Odell vs. Gautam Samarth
6. Richard Bonfiglio vs. DJ Patrick

Despite the fact that Trinity(CT) swept doubles in their regular season match, Andrew Thomson makes a huge difference. I'm concerned about Thomson/Marinkovic and their 8-2 loss to Bowdoin in the NESCAC final. If the 1s from Midd come to play they should win. I like Middlebury to win 2 of 3 doubles with their home court advantage. Singles also favors Middlebury. I like Feldman to take 1 for the Bantams making it 2-2. Middlebury should then go on to win 2 through 4 as well as 6. Trinity(CT) could take #5. I would pick Middlebury to win this 5-3 most likely although there is a potential upset here if Middlebury doesn't come out ready in doubles. If the Bantams manage to take a 3-0 or even 2-1 lead in doubles, this momentum could carry over to singles. Middlebury has to be ready to play if they want to make it to Bates.

Regional Preview: Washington Univ.

Grinnel should take care of business in the first round and then be taken care of by WashU 5-0. DePauw should beat Wheaton 5-0 as well. Williams has a shot at Keith but I doubt it. We then have a WashU-DePauw regional final.

Probable Starters:
1. Cutler/Hoeland vs. Keith/Swanson
2. Watt/Bowman vs. Heck/Sandager
3. Stein/Woods vs. Schouweiler/Nash

1. John Watts vs. Kortney Keith
2. Charlie Cutler vs. Scott Swanson
3. Danny Levy vs. Brian Heck
4. Max Woods vs. Scott Sandager
5. Chris Hoeland vs. Scott Sauer
6. Isaac Stein vs. Evan Hunter

DePauw has a good chance to take a 2-1 lead in doubles. I wouldn't be surprised if DePauw grabbed 2 and 3 doubles to take the early lead. After that I think it is downhill for them. WashU is just stronger at 5 out of 6 singles spots. DePauw's best chance for a win is at #3 with Heck over Levy. Hoeland should take Sauer with his attacking style and Cutler is steadier than Swanson. Woods easily beat Sandager at Indoors and it will take an incredible effort by Keith to beat Watts. I would expect a 5-2 win for WashU sending them to Bates.

Monday, April 28, 2008

NCAA Previews

Tuesday: WashU region, Middlebury region, Gustavus region

Wednesday: Kenyon region, CMS region, Emory region

Thursday: Trinity(TX) region, Williams region


Another note: Where do we stand as far as live stats? I was going to e-mail all the host coaches asking them if they have the capability to provide live stats for each regional, or at least the championship match in each regional? If you know anything or can help out please e-mail me at division3tennis@gmail.com or post on the boards. I think I will e-mail coaches late tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get live stats for all of the regionals, that would be fantastic.

Bracket Analysis

I don't usually like to be critical, but there are some glaring errors in this bracket. I have a good amount of questions that I would like to have answered if anyone knows.

1. Whitman to the West and Tyler to Gustavus? Whitman is higher ranked than Tyler and they beat them; so shouldn't they be rewarded with an easier region? Both teams would fly to either place. Why did Whitman get screwed with a harder region when they are higher ranked and easily could have gone to Gustavus with Tyler going out West where they should be.

2. The TCNJ region has 4 ranked teams. This shouldn't be the case when 4 other regions only have 2 ranked teams. Where is the balance? This is terrible for Newport, who deserves a much nicer region. I don't like this at all.

3. Mary Washington is the highest ranked non number one seed (not the West). Why don't they play Kenyon who is the lowest ranked one seed? They are able to go there. Once again where is the balance? Give Trinity(TX) to Carnegie because they are ranked lower. The Eagles get absolutely screwed here. W&L, who was 13th in last poll, in the 1st round? If it wasn't for Tran absent, Trinity(TX) would still be the 1 team in the country. This was very poorly done and this region is so difficult. Kenyon and Carnegie should love this. Carnegie gets the lowest #1 seed and Kenyon avoids the highest non number 1 seed. Great for both of these teams, terrible for Mary Washington.

4. How are Wheaton, Vassar and Skidmore 3 seeds when you have Christopher Newport as a 4 seed? Newport has been ranked all season and Wheaton just lost to Carthage who barely made the tournament. Once again where is the balance in regions? No offense to DePauw, but WashU has a cakewalk to Maine.

5. Why does Williams have to travel when they can host in the Northeast? This doesn't seem fair. Bowdoin can easily be grouped in a region with Midd or Williams and Emory should be the team going to TCNJ. 2 number 1 seeds are traveling long distances for no reason when they can easily be switched and you can have one number 1 seed traveling a long distance and Williams staying at home.


I have not complained all season and I don't like to be arrogant, but I prefer the bracket in Bracketology Issue #5. It is perfectly balanced whereas this bracket has strong imbalance. I think this is poorly done. Please add opinions. Nevertheless, I'll set up a schedule to have a tournament predictions and preview.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Bracketology Issue #5 April 27, 2008

Region 1: UC Santa Cruz*, CMS, Redlands, UT-Tyler, Chapman
Region 2: Emory, Johns Hopkins, TCNJ*, Stevens, Wilkes
Region 3: Washington*, DePauw, Kalamazoo, Wheaton(IL), Westminster (MO)
Region 4: Gustavus*, Whitman, UW-Whitewater, Luther, Grinnell, Carthage
Region 5: Trinity(TX), Carnegie Mellon*, Washington & Lee, Ohio Northern, Transylvania
Region 6: Williams*, Trinity(CT), Skidmore, Baruch, Salem State
Region 7: Middlebury*, Bowdoin, Vassar, Salve Regina, Mount Saint Mary's
Region 8: Kenyon, Mary Washington*, Christopher Newport, Messiah, Neumann

Interesting NCAA Situation

The NCAA Handbook says there are 26 conferences with AQs. However, 2 of those conferences listed, Commonwealth and Freedom, don't have enough teams to be eligible for an AQ if you check their websites. If these conferences don't receive bids we have...24 AQs 7 ALs and 9 Indys totaling only 40 teams. I'm not sure how the committee will handle this. These conferences are set to receive AQs according to the handbook, but there was a mistake and there aren't enough teams in these conferences. I'll be interested to see what the committee does about this. If it were up to me, I would give the At-Large pool extra spots so deserving teams make the tournament.

At-Large Situation

I am going to publish this list as my opinion of the At-large teams that should be in the tournament...

1. Trinity(TX)
2. Washington U
3. Williams
4. Middlebury
5. Redlands
6. Trinity(CT)
7. Carnegie Mellon

8. Amherst
9. Salisbury
10. Chicago

I think Carnegie earns the last spot by this reasoning...

Both Amherst and Carnegie lost to Emory. They both beat DePauw. They both lost to regional rivals. Carnegie lost to Hopkins,W&L, MW. Amherst lost to Williams, Midd twice and Trinity(CT). They both have a top 10 win. The Kenyon win for CMU and the Williams win for Amherst are equal. The win that pushes Carnegie over the edge is the win against Bowdoin. Carnegie beat Bowdoin, the NESCAC champ, 5-4 and Bowdoin beat Amherst 5-0. Carnegie gets the spot.


Bracketology on the way later.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings April 27, 2008

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

Friday, April 25, 2008

Updates

WashU vs. Emory UAA Finals
Carnegie vs. Chicago UAA 3rd-4th

Bowdoin d. Trinity (CT)
Middlebury d. Amherst
Middlebury-Bowdoin NESCAC finals

Johns Hopkins vs Haverford Centennial Final

DePauw vs. Trinity(TX) SCAC Finals


The last few At-Large bids are on the line tomorrow. Still important matches to be played.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Doubles Rankings by Region

West
1. Kamel/Vartabedian, UCSC
2. Gaines/Desantis, Trinity(TX)
3. Schils/Wang, CMS
4. Phillips/Ashlock, UT-Tyler
5. Solomon/Solomon, Whitman
6. Furr/Tran, Trinity(TX)
Honorable Mention: Pybas/Ortiz, UCSC

Central
1. Cutler/Hoeland, WashU
2. Bryan/Paukert, Gustavus
3. Lofgren/Newman, Denison
4. Greenberg/Polster, Kenyon
5. Saltarelli/Brinker, Chicago
6. Keith/Swanson, DePauw
Honorable Mention: Yunes/Lopez, Carthage

Atlantic South
1. Goodwin/Lopp, Emory
2. Blythe/Vasoontara, JHU
3. Glidewell/Mook, Christopher Newport
4. Loden/Murata, Mary Washington
5. Kincaid/Burtzlaff, Salisbury
6. Kinrade/Stiegel, Haverford
Honorable Mention: Moss/Pugh, Hampden-Sydney

Northeast:
1. Thomson/Marinkovic, Middlebury
2. Klimchak/Mosteller, TCNJ
3. Greenberg/Thacher, Williams
4. Stein/Rupasinghe, Bates
5. Yahng/Samarth, Trinity (CT)
6. Lebedoff/Simonette, Williams
Honorable Mention: Gates/Caughron, Bowdoin

Singles Rankings by Region

I think another national list is fairly insignificant at this point in the season so I'll try something new and give my top 12 players in each region in order. Doubles rankings by region as well as bracketology for both are coming soon.

West
1. Wang, CMS
2. Kamel, UCSC
3. Gaines, Trinity(TX)
4. Wagar, Redlands
5. Solomon, Whitman
6. Furr, Trinity (TX)
7. Yook, Chapman
8. Phillips, UT-Tyler
9. Lim, CMS
10. MacColl, CMS
11. Mark-Griffin, UCSC
12. Ortiz, UCSC
Honorable Mention: Sajovich, UT-Tyler

Central
1. Watts, WashU
2. Greenberg, Kenyon
3. Bryan, Gustavus
4. Kauss, Gustavus
5. Pelton, Hope
6. Cutler, WashU
7. Vayghan, St. Thomas
8. Daly, Baldwin-Wallace
9. Keith, DePauw
10. Yunes, Carthage
11. Russell, Carleton
12. Zhang, Chicago
Honorable Mention: Tilton, Calvin

Atlantic South
1. Goodwin, Emory
2. Maldow, Johns Hopkins
3. Loden, Mary Washington
4. Boren, Emory
5. James, Mary Washington
6. Mook, Christopher Newport
7. Fletcher, Methodist
8. Kincaid, Salisbury
9. Sutton, Greensboro
10. Moss, Hampden-Sydney
11. Ross, Washington & Lee
12. Nemerov, Carnegie Mellon
Honorable Mention: Muliawan, Carnegie Mellon

Northeast:
1. Greenberg, Williams
2. Feldman, Trinity(CT)
3. Gates, Bowdoin
4. Lerner, Amherst
5. Lee, Middlebury
6. Marinkovic, Middlebury
7. Klimchak, TCNJ
8. Sullivan, Bowdoin
9. Stein, Bates
10. Lebedoff, Williams
11. Norton, Salve Regina
12. Gurevich, NYU
Honorable Mention: Thomson, Middlebury

On the way...

Singles and Doubles: Rankings and Bracketology

Match Previews: Bates-Bowdoin, DePauw-Trinity, Emory-Carnegie Mellon

I can't pick winners in NESCAC (too tough) so I have to do previews for the semis after the quarterfinals are completed.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

For those interested...

http://www.ncaa.org/library/handbooks/tennis/2008/2008_d3_m_tennis_handbook.pdf

Has all the AQ conferences and rules for everything. If we are sure that Drew is in the Landmark conference though then this seems to be incorrect...

Monday, April 21, 2008

Bracketology Issue #4 April 21, 2008

Region 1: 1 Trinity(TX), 14 Carnegie Mellon*, 20 TCNJ, Baldwin-Wallace, Marywood
Region 2: 2 Washington*, 10 Kenyon, Kalamazoo, Wheaton(IL), Maryville(MO)
Region 3: 4 Santa Cruz*, 3 CMS, 12 Redlands, UT-Tyler, Chapman
Region 4: 5 Williams*, 16 Bowdoin, Vassar, MIT, Mount Saint Mary
Region 5: 6 Gustavus*, 19 Whitman, UW-Whitewater, Luther, Grinnell, UW Eau-Claire
Region 6: 9 Emory, 13 Washington & Lee*, 22 Christopher Newport, Drew, Transylvania
Region 7: 7 Middlebury*, 17 Amherst, Skidmore, Salve Regina, Salem State
Region 8: 8 Trinity(CT)*, 11 Mary Washington, 15 Johns Hopkins, Stevens, Baruch

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Gustavus defeats Kalamazoo 5-4

The Gusties are very unimpressive on neutral courts. A win is a win, but Kalamazoo got destroyed by Emory and they lost to Denison. They just aren't that good this year. Gustavus will probably host regionals, but they are extremely prone to an upset. I would love to see the Gusties have to travel. Division 3 is just getting stronger with more teams bringing in National level recruits. Gustavus needs to start doing this if they want to remain as a fixture in the 8. In my opinion, Gustavus is barely in the top 12 this year, but it's hard to drop them after this match because they did win.

A discussion on the upcoming week and it's effect on NCAAs

We have some very crucial conference tournaments coming up. Mary Washington, CNU, Washington & Lee, UT-Tyler, Whitman and CMS all clinched berths to the tournament this weekend. A lot of the At-Large teams can breath easier after Salisbury lost.

The At-Large situation is very intriguing. 2 NESCACs, Redlands and Emory should be locks. Right now Carnegie Mellon sits at #5, they are almost a lock. Bowdoin and Amherst are sitting at #6 and #7. DePauw really has its back against the wall. Bowdoin will play Amherst in the first round of NESCAC. If Bowdoin wins, they get the #6 spot and Amherst take the #7 spot because of their direct win over DePauw, so DePauw is out. If Amherst wins, they get the #6 spot and Bowdoin and DePauw fight for the #7 spot. Bowdoin probably has the edge here as well. DePauw really needs to win their conference tournament to make NCAAs and this is quite a task because they have the #1 team in the nation to beat. All of this could become more complicated if Chicago beats WashU. A Chicago win over Carnegie Mellon probably wouldn't do enough to get them in the tournament because of Chicago's 7-2 loss to DePauw. The Maroons really need to beat WashU to make the tournament.

Santa Cruz will most likely host CMS in California. Redlands will be the 3 seed and this is by far the toughest region. With DePauw out in the Midwest, WashU could have an easy road to Bates. Trinity(CT) has stole the final #1 seed from Kenyon for the time being. It will be very hard for the Bantams to lose this, even if they lose to Midd or Williams in NESCACS. I would expect that Trinity(CT) will be sent down to the Mid-Atlantic somewhere if both Bowdoin and Amherst make it. Trinity(TX) and Emory will probably be sent to the Mid-Atlantic as well. Bracketology coming soon.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings April 20, 2008

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

NCAA Clinchings

CMS wins the SCIAC and Whitman wins the NWC.

A big match today between #12 Mary Washington vs. #22 Salisbury. Salisbury could ruin the NCAA ticket of Bowdoin, Amherst or DePauw with a win today. If Mary Washington wins, they increase their chances of hosting regionals. This is really a do or die for The Sea Gulls. If they lose, their season is over.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Doubles Bracketology Issue #1

Kamel/Vartabedian vs. Klimchak/Mosteller
Glidewell/Mook vs. Lofgren/Newman
Stein/Rupasinghe vs. Schils/Wang
Kincaid/Burtzlaff vs. Bryan/Paukert

Greenberg/Thacher vs. Gaines/Desantis
Blythe/Vasoontara vs. Cutler/Hoeland
Saltarelli/Brinker vs. Pybas/Ortiz
Goodwin/Lopp vs. Marinkovic/Thomson

Singles Bracketology Issue #2

John Watts vs. Cliff Yook
Eric Wagar vs. Zack Lerner
David Maldow vs. John Pelton
Garrett Gates vs. Matt Solomon

Michael Goodwin vs. Arya Vayghan
Filip Marinkovic vs. James Furr
Jared Kamel vs. Andrew Lee
Randy Loden vs. John Kauss

Chris Fletcher vs. Mike Klimchak
David Sutton vs. Lawrence Wang
Spencer Feldman vs. Mikey Lim
Brendan Kincaid vs. Andy Bryan

John James vs. Oliver Gaines
Miguel Yunes vs. Dan Greenberg
Charlie Cutler vs. Mark Boren
Ben Stein vs. Mike Greenberg

Thursday, April 17, 2008

ITA Team Rankings April 17, 2008

1 Trinity University (Texas)
2 Washington University in St. Louis
3 UC Santa Cruz
4 Williams College
5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges
6 Gustavus Adolphus College
7 Emory University
8 Middlebury College
9 Trinity College (Connecticut)
10 Univ. of Redlands
11 Kenyon College
12 University of Mary Washington
13 Washington & Lee University
14 College of New Jersey
15 Johns Hopkins University
16 Carnegie Mellon University
17 Bowdoin College
18 Amherst College
19 DePauw University
20 Whitman College
21 Univ. of Chicago
22 Salisbury University
23 Bates College
24 Christopher Newport University
25 The University of Texas at Tyler
26 Kalamazoo College
27 Carleton College
28 California Lutheran University
29 Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater
30 Hardin-Simmons University

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

D3tennis.com Team Rankings April 16, 2008

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

Two Upsets

Bates defeats TCNJ and Trinity(CT) beats Williams

D3tennis.com Singles Rankings April 16, 2008

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

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

D3tennis.com Doubles Rankings April, 15 2008

1. Kamel/Vartabedian, UCSC
2. Pybas/Ortiz , UCSC
3. Gaines/Desantis, Trinity (TX)
4. Schils/Wang, CMS
5. Bryan/Paukert, Gustavus
6. Cutler/Hoeland, WashU
7. Solomon/Solomon, Whitman
8. Blythe/Vasoontara, JHU
9. Goodwin/Lopp, Emory
10. Kincaid/Burtzlaff, Salisbury
11. Weterholm/Hunt, CLU
12. Becker/Brody, Kenyon
13. Keith/Swanson, DePauw
14. Wagar/Cook, Redlands
15. Furr/Tran, Trinity (TX)
16. Glidewell/Mook, CNU
17. Stein/Rupasinghe, Bates
18. Greenberg/Polster, Kenyon
19. Burdakin/Kauss, Gustavus
20. Klimchak/Mosteller, TCNJ
21. Yahng/Samarth, Trinity (CT)
22. Yunes/Lopez, Carthage
23. Lebdoff/Simonette, Williams
24. Greenberg/Thacher, Williams
25. Marinkovic/Peters, Middlebury

Monday, April 14, 2008

Bracketology Issue #3 April 14, 2008

Region 1: 1 Williams*, 19 Bowdoin (ME), Vassar, Salve Regina, Mount Saint Mary
Region 2: 2 Trinity (TX), 11 Mary Washington*, 12 Johns Hopkins, Stevens, Drew
Region 3: 3 Washington*, 17 DePauw, Wheaton, Carthage, Maryville (MO)
Region 4: 4 CMS*, 5 Santa Cruz, 10 Redlands, 23 UT-Tyler, Chapman
Region 5: 6 Gustavus*, 18 Whitman, UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, Grinnell, Luther
Region 6: 7 Emory, 14 Washington & Lee*, 24 Christopher Newport, Marywood, Baruch
Region 7: 8 Middlebury*, 15 Trinity (CT), 16 TCNJ, Skidmore, Salem State
Region 8: 9 Kenyon*, 13 Carnegie Mellon, Kalamazoo, Transylvania, Baldwin-Wallace

Schedule Update

Bracketology - Tonight/Early Tomorrow
Singles/Doubles Rankings - Tomorrow Night
New ITA Rankings - Wednesday
Singles/Doubles Bracketology - Wednesday

I'm going to come up with a plan about previewing the conference tournaments

Sunday, April 13, 2008

D3tennis.com Team Rankings April 13, 2008 (Revised)

Ok, I'm going to give this another shot and hopefully these will turn out to be more accurate.

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

D3tennis.com Team Rankings April 13, 2008

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

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Match Updates

#12 Mary Washington vs. #24 Christopher Newport, Mary Washington 6-3
#12 Mary Washington vs. #14 Carnegie Mellon, Mary Washington 6-3
#3 Williams vs. #11 Amherst, Williams 6-3
#16 Salisbury vs. #21 TCNJ, TCNJ 7-2
#9 Middlebury vs. #15 Trinity(CT), Middlebury 5-4
#5 Trinity (TX) vs. #23 UT-Tyler, Trinity (TX) 6-3
#14 Carnegie Mellon vs.#18 Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins 6-3
#3 Williams vs. #9 Middlebury, Williams 5-4
#12 Amherst vs. #14 Trinity(CT), Trinity(CT) 6-3
GLCA Tournament, 1st-Carnegie Mellon 2nd-Kenyon 3rd-DePauw
#1 Santa Cruz vs. #11 Redlands, UC Santa Cruz 7-2
#8 CMS vs. #11 Redlands, CMS 5-4
#9 Middlebury vs. #23 Bowdoin, Middlebury 7-2
#16 Johns Hopkins vs. #21 Salisbury, Johns Hopkins 6-3
#10 Mary Washington vs. #20 TCNJ, TCNJ 5-4
#12 Amherst vs. #23 Bowdoin, Bowdoin 5-0
#1 Santa Cruz vs. #8 CMS, CMS 5-4
#15 Washington & Lee vs. #21 Salisbury (April 14)
#2 Williams vs. #14 Trinity(CT) (April 16)

What a weekend. Nothing else to say.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Match Preview: #1 UC Santa Cruz vs. #11 Redlands (April 11)

Despite the fact that they are #1 in the country, I think most people underrate the Banana Slugs this year. They lost Seeberger, but they have the rest of their team back and are the favorite for nationals right now. This will be a good test for the Slugs to see how good they really are. Redlands will have a very hard time at the top in both singles and doubles. I would expect Santa Cruz to run away with 1 doubles as well as 1 and 3 singles right away. The rest of the matches will be fairly competitive, particularly in the 4, 5 and 6 singles positions. Any team in the country would have to have their best day to beat UCSC this year and I think we will find that out this weekend. I would expect the Slugs to have an 8-1 or 7-2 victory in this match against a legitimate top 12 team. Redlands will keep it competitive, but Santa Cruz is just too good.

Probable Starters:
1. #1 Kamel/Vartabedian (SC) vs. #19 Wagar/Cook (UR)
2. #3 Pybas/Ortiz (SC) vs. Reading/Hasenyager (UR)
3. Liberty-Point/Gendelman (SC) vs. Hammond/Wong (UR)

1. #4 Jared Kamel (SC) vs. #34 Matt Liebman (UR)
2. #12 Max Ortiz (SC) vs. #30 Eric Wagar (UR)
3. #11 Brian Pybas (SC) vs. Aron Ouye (UR)
4. #40 Colin Mark-Griffin (SC) vs. Mike Reading (UR)
5. Max Liberty-Point (SC) vs. Chris Trippel (UR)
6. Silvio Chiba (SC) vs. Ransom Cook (UR)

NCAA Singles Preview

I did a regional breakdown and came up with an approximate bracket of what the tournament could look like. Let me know what you think and also if there are any glaring omissions.

John Watts vs. Ben Stein
Matt Solomon vs. John James
Spencer Feldman vs. Max Ortiz
John Kauss vs. David Maldow

Jared Kamel vs. Miguel Yunes
Chris Fletcher vs. Andrew Lee
Garrett Gates vs. James Furr
Randy Loden vs. Kortney Keith

Mark Boren vs. Dan Greenberg
Filip Marinkovic vs. Brian Pybas
Lawrence Wang vs. David Sutton
Dustin Phillips vs. Andy Bryan

John Pelton vs. Zack Lerner
Charlie Cutler vs. Michael Goodwin
Mike Klimchak vs. Oliver Gaines
Mike Greenberg vs. William Moss

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Bracketology (Issue #2) April 8, 2008

We made a few errors on the first article. There are 26 automatic bids and only 8 Independents. Since the At-Large situation is still very up in the air, we gave the two remaining bids to Carnegie and Trinity(CT). Obviously, it is clear that the situation is unclear and you can make arguments for almost any of the teams making it. We should know more a week from now and we will be able to more accurately assess the At-Large situation. We also have to do more research on the #7 and #8 Independent schools, because they are weaker teams and hard to follow and evaluate. Look for a couple of the lower seeded teams to change in the coming weeks which could effect a few regions. As much as everyone dislikes it, Gustavus still really doesn't have to play anyone. We highly doubt that the committee would make them travel anywhere, so they basically have a free ride to Bates. Feel free to discuss the brackets and ask any questions you may have. And once again, we should know a lot more by Issue #3.

Region 1: Santa Cruz*, CMS, Redlands, Whitman, UT-Tyler
Region 2: Williams*, Trinity(CT), TCNJ, Vassar, MIT, SUNY Purchase
Region 3: Trinity(TX), W&L*, Carnegie Mellon, Stevens, Drew
Region 4: Washington*, DePauw, Carthage, Transylvania, Westminster
Region 5: Kenyon*, Johns Hopkins, Kalamazoo, Baldwin-Wallace, Messiah
Region 6: Emory, Mary Washington*, Christopher Newport, Alvernia, Baruch
Region 7: Gustavus*, UW-Whitewater, Grinnell, Wheaton, Luther
Region 8: Middlebury*, Amherst, Skidmore, Salve Regina, Southern Maine

Sunday, April 6, 2008

D3tennis.com Team Rankings April 6,2008

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

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Match Updates

#12 Mary Washington vs. #24 Christopher Newport, Mary Washington 6-3
#12 Mary Washington vs. #14 Carnegie Mellon, Mary Washington 6-3
#3 Williams vs. #11 Amherst, Williams 6-3
#16 Salisbury vs. #21 TCNJ, TCNJ 7-2
#9 Middlebury vs. #15 Trinity(CT), Middlebury 5-4
#5 Trinity (TX) vs. #23 UT-Tyler, Trinity (TX) 6-3
#14 Carnegie Mellon vs.#18 Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins 6-3
#3 Williams vs. #9 Middlebury (April 9)
#12 Amherst vs. #14 Trinity(CT) (April 10)
GLCA Tournament (April 11-April 12)
#1 Santa Cruz vs. #11 Redlands (April 11)
#4 Washington vs. Coe (April 12)
#8 CMS vs. #11 Redlands (April 12)
#9 Middlebury vs. #23 Bowdoin (April 12)
#16 Johns Hopkins vs. #21 Salisbury (April 13)
#10 Mary Washington vs. #20 TCNJ (April 13)
#12 Amherst vs. #23 Bowdoin (April 13)
#1 Santa Cruz vs. #8 CMS(April 13)

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Match Preview: #3 Williams vs. #11 Amherst (April 5)

Maybe the biggest rivalry in Division 3 sports will be on display in this matchup of top 12 teams. Amherst started slow with a bad loss to Emory but recovered with a good win against DePauw. They haven't really been tested in D3 since then. Williams looks very good with first-year coach David Donn really emphasizing hard work. Williams destroyed a very good Wash U team in singles, which was a surprise to everyone. If Williams can dominate this match against a tough Amherst team, we can call them a legitimate national title contender. In singles, I think that Williams has the edge at all of the top 3 postions, but I like 4, 5 and 6 to potentially go to Amherst. In doubles, it's really a tossup, but I'll give it to Williams because they have been more match tested this year than the Jeffs. I would expect to see a 6-3 or potentially 5-4 win for Williams.

Probable Starters:
1. Greenberg/Thacher (W) vs. #23 Lerner/Doerfler (A)
2. #21 Lebedoff/Simonette (W) vs. Wan/Schwartz (A)
3. Furmaga/Devlin (W) vs. Mintz/Avrahmi (A)

1. #10 Dan Greenberg (W) vs. #8 Zack Lerner (A)
2. #48 Nick Lebedoff (W) vs. Sean Doerfler (A)
3. #39 Gary Simonette (W) vs. #44 Mike Mintz (A)
4. Jeremy Weinberger (W) vs. Jeff Wan (A)
5. Karol Furmaga (W) vs. Moritz Koenig (A)
5. Rick Devlin (W) vs. Daniel Kim (A)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Match Updates

#12 Mary Washington vs. #24 Christopher Newport, Mary Washington 6-3
#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)

Match Preview: #12 Mary Washington vs. #14 Carnegie Mellon (April 4)

Two very evenly matched teams with a lot on the line in this Atlantic South clash. Carnegie Mellon just found out that they are sitting at the #8 At-Large spot, so they need to do some work to get back into the tournament. Mary Washington just lost its first conference match in 8 years to a lesser Salisbury team. You can bet that both teams really want this one. I like Mary Washington to start out strong in doubles with the home court advantage. Look for wins at 1 and 2 doubles for the Eagles. Singles will make things interesting. James should take care of business at #1, but Loden has been very streaky of late. If he can win as well, that could give the Eagles a 4-1 lead and put them in the driver's seat. But Carnegie Mellon has the upper hand at 3, 4 and 5 singles with their outstanding depth. The Mary Wash guys in those spots really need to play at a high level to compete. I think #6 singles could decide the outcome of this match, but I would expect Mary Wash to pull out the win.

Probable Starters:
1. #18 Loden/Murata (UMW) vs. Muliawan/Mactaggart (CM)
2. Goff/Parrish (UMW) vs. Raghavan/Clearfield (CM)
3. James/Dunn (UMW) vs. Nemerov/Spero (CM)

1. #18 John James (UMW) vs. Andrew Clearfield (CM)
2. #27 Randy Loden (UMW) vs. #36 Alex Nemerov (CM)
3. Jason Dunn (UMW) vs. #28 James Muliawan (CM)
4. Eddie Carver (UMW) vs. Jon Spero (CM)
5. Evan Goff (UMW) vs. Ravi Raghavan (CM)
6. Bryce Parrish (UMW) vs. Bobby Mactaggart (CM)

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

D3tennis.com Doubles Rankings April 1, 2008

1. Kamel/Vartabedian, Santa Cruz
2. Goodwin/Lopp, Emory
3. Pybas/Ortiz, Santa Cruz
4. Schils/Wang, CMS
5. Marinkovic/Thomson, Middlebury
6. Gaines/Desantis, Trinity (TX)
7. Bryan/Paukert, Gustavus
8. Cutler/Hoeland, Wash U
9. Greenberg/Polster, Kenyon
10. Solomon/Solomon, Whitman
11. Gates/Sullivan, Bowdoin
12. Weterholm/Hunt, Cal Lutheran
13. Keith/Swanson, DePauw
14. Blythe/Vasoontaara, Johns Hopkins
15. Kincaid/Burtzlaff, Salisbury
16. Furr/Tran, Trinity (TX)
17. Burdakin/Kauss, Gustavus
18. Loden/Murata, Mary Washington
19. Wagar/Cook, Redlands
20. Floyd/Larimore, Pacific Lutheran
21. Lebedoff/Simonette, Williams
22. Becker/Brody, Kenyon
23. Lerner/Doerfler, Amherst
24. Glidewell/Mook, Christopher Newport
25. Yunes/Lopez, Carthage

Interview with Roger Follmer, Coach of Wash U

I gave Coach Follmer a set of questions and he was nice enough to provide me with responses which are given below. His team is now ranked #2 in the country by the ITA and is definitely a frontrunner for the national title this year.


I was pleased with how the guys adjusted quickly to playing outdoors on our Texas excursion to Austin & San Antonio over the weekend. We hadn't played a match since March 2nd versus conference rival, University of Chicago and that match was indoors. Each day in Texas, we seemed to get a little more grooved and comfortable extending rallies and playing on our terms.

Barely and thankfully we qualified for the Elite 8 last spring. We alsohosted the venue and it was such a great experience for our program at Washington University. We hadn't hosted a NCAA Championship on campus since WU volleyball did in 1991 and went on a streak of 6 NCAA titles in a row.

National Indoors was another new and great experience for our program (this group of players had never been). Seeing a lot of top competition early-on in the year and playing on super fast courts was a good way for the guys to learn how to be play 'uncomfortable' tennis. That is, if you don't dictate from the first opportunity off the ground (baseline) and/or attack the net, you likely were going to come up short.

The UAA Conference we play in is very tough. Emory over the years has set the standard high and all the programs (men & women) are all improving in the "process" of trying to get better. Our goals this year are pretty simple: 1) Improve our fitness level 2) Improve our practice & match focus and 3) Enjoy the Battle (like the Slugs of UCSC).

Finally, Mr. Watts is special because he plays within himself. I have had a player or two since I have been at WASH U that I thought were more gifted than John. However, both tried to do things that they saw on TV (ATP tour) and/or what they thought would be crowd pleasing tennis on those days we have fans at our matches. John simply plays solid tennis and breaks his opponents down and forces them to hit shots they have no business trying (ala ATP tennis on the Tennis Channel).

New ITA Rankings Released

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