Weekend Thoughts March 5-7

A lot of matches this weekend but I'll only touch on important results. A lot of surprises this weekend in my mind. DePauw had 3 matches and they did not end up like the Tigers wanted. DePauw lost 2 huge matches that were very important for their NCAA hopes and they now have a lot of pressure to win their conference tournament because their NCAA resume may not be strong enough to qualify for Pool C after this bad weekend. At the same time, Chicago redeemed themselves after their terrible showing against Kzoo. This was a much needed win for the Maroons and they kept themselves alive for NCAAs. Kalamazoo is a real pleasant surprise this year and they must be playing some excellent tennis. These wins should put them in the top 15 for the first time in several years. An excellent beginning to the season for the Hornets, they just have to keep it up.

Another surprise this weekend was Mary Washington rebounding and beating Redlands fairly easily after a doubles sweep. They went from getting swept by Pomona-Pitzer to sweeping Redlands and my question after this match is how week are the Bulldogs? They should drop out of the top 20 after this and they could be in trouble as far as NCAAs are concerned. Basically, no one has established themself as a clear frontrunner in Pool C. The 11-25 range in the rankings is very ambiguous at this moment and I feel like anyone can beat anyone else on any given day. Another team to watch is Vassar. They are looking very strong so far this year but they won't be tested again until earl April.