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.