2010 Pre-Season Power Rankings

This list was generated from my own personal opinions and in no way reflects any results that have happened. It's simply an order of teams based on my assessment of their talent and what I expect from them this spring.

1. Wash U
2. Middlebury
3. Amherst
4. Emory
5. Johns Hopkins
6. Kenyon
7. Williams
8. CMS
9. Carnegie Mellon
10. UC Santa Cruz
11. Redlands
12. Trinity (TX)
13. NC Wesleyan
14. DePauw
15. Bowdoin
16. Chicago
17. Mary Washington
18. Trinity (CT)
19. Salisbury
20. Gustavus Adolphus
21. Pomona-Pitzer
22. Carleton
23. Skidmore
24. Washington & Lee
25. Whitman
26. Denison
27. UT-Tyler
28. Bates
29. Kalamazoo
30. Hampden-Sydney

I will be doing pre-season previews for all of these teams as well as two that just missed the cut which are Cal Lutheran and Luther.

10 Things to Watch in 2010

10. Does Kenyon continue to plateau? Kenyon announced themselves as a national title contender two years ago but since then they have really plateaued and found it tough to break out of that 6-10 range in the rankings. Will their win against Amherst in the Fall help them with confidence in the Spring? They are the favorite to come out of their half of the Indoors bracket but this could be their last chance at glory for several years. They lose their Brody, Greenberg, Vandenberg core and I believe Piskacek is graduating as well. This may be Kenyon's last chance at a national title for many years to come.

9. NC Wesleyan in the top 15? Mary Wash out of the top 20? It sounds strange, but it's definitely possible. A potential shakeup in the Atlantic South. Mary Wash has their weakest team in several years and although they are pretty deep, they don't have any stars. That being said, the more I look at this team the more I think they could be dangerous come May. NC Wesleyan quietly had an excellent season last year and beat UMW in NCAAs. Their influx of foreign players and great work by Coach Modise have them listed as a team that nobody wants to play. They play a tougher schedule this season so we will see how they fair.

8. Trinity (TX) ends their year long meltdown The Tigers entered the 2008 SCAC tournament ranked #1 in the country. Since then they lost to an 18th ranked DePauw, lost in regionals, then followed it up by missing NCAAs in 2009. Their team is a year older now and they seem to have an outstanding Freshman in Delafuente. Can they make their way back into the top 10 in the country and end DePauw's 3 year streak of conference titles? I really like this team and I think they are very dangerous with 3 excellent players near the top of their lineup supplemented by above average doubles and a tough bottom.

7. Continued UAA Dominance? Wash U and Emory have entered the last 2 NCAA tournaments as the top 2 seeds. They really have controlled D3 the past two years and all eyes have been on them being on a collision course for the finals. While they were both derailed in the semis last year they were probably the two most talented teams. Emory has been to 8 straight final fours but I think this could be their weakest team in several years with the loss of Michael Goodwin. Pottish had a great fall but can he carry them? Will these two UAA powers meet again in the national finals? They are scheduled to play in the semis of Indoors.

6. A lot of very even teams this year 2 years ago we had upsets galore during the season. Last year things were a bit more predictable. This year I expect something in the middle, but to me there is no outstanding team who is unbeatable. I see a cutoff around #4 in the country but after that you could say the next 10-12 teams are evenly matched and could beat each other on any given day. I expect to see a lot of switching in the rankings from the preseason to the end of the year and I would be surprised if any one team comes out of this year undefeated.

5. JHU and CMU announce themselves on the national scene I thought these two were academic powerhouses? Both have announced themselves on the national scene moving into the top 10 in the preseason rankings. CMU beat Amherst in the fall and JHU has arguably the best 3-4-5 punch of anyone in the country. Both of these teams can knock off anyone on the right day and I don't think its a stretch to say they are both very legitimate Final 4 contenders. If both teams' players can conquer their schoolwork and put in long hours on the court we could potentially see one of these two making a deep run at nationals.

4. Gustavus doesn't win the MIAC I cannot remember the last time Gustavus was ranked outside the top 15 in the country, let alone the top 10. But 25th? 7 spots behind MIAC rival Carleton? This is crazy. But is it? Carleton has slowly built up a very strong team and Gustavus is in the definition of a rebuilding year with a very young team and a new coach replacing a legend. In my heart of hearts I still think Gustavus will find a way to win the conference at home and get the NCAA bid, but Carleton is certainly closing the gap and this could be their year. Coach Valentini needs to do some serious restructuring.

3. A down year for West powerhouses The Slugs and CMS both lost some valuable senior leadership. Cruz has a very young team and they have their hands full immediately at Indoors with CMU in a match that I frankly expect them to lose. That being said, Hansen is probably the best coach in the country and finds a way to win. CMS lost their 4-year superstar Larry Wang and although Erani is emerging as a top player, I don't know if he can carry them. While these should both be fixtures in the top 12, I see both teams finishing probably 5th at best. These two probably have harder training regimens than anyone in the country and they will need extra work to hang with the big boys this year.

2. 3 of the top 5 in the country from NESCAC? It's not a stretch. Amherst dug themselves into a hole this fall but when they return to full strength with Chafetz and Koenig, you could call them #1 in the country. Middlebury is pleasantly surprised with the return of Conrad Olson and the emergence of Andrew Peters, giving them clearly the strongest top 4 in the country in addition to the ITA doubles national champions. Williams is the weakest of the bunch but with a new coach and several strong freshman including potential superstar Felix Sun, they are a tough out. I expect Amherst and Midd in the top 4 in the country, but I think Williams would need some magic to break into the top 5.

1. Wash U returns to the winner's circle My preseason prediction for nationals. John Watts is a senior and he'e been the best player in D3 post-Seeberger. It's only fitting to see him go out a champion. Although they lost a strong senior class, the Bears have an excellent supporting cast after Watts. Stein/Woods are a dominant #1 doubles team and potentially devastating 2-3 punch in singles as well. Freshman Putterman looks like he will definitely be playing in the top 4 and should be very instrumental in Wash U's success. If they are weak anywhere it's the bottom of the lineup in singles and doubles. They will be tested immediately against an improved Chicago team followed by national title contender JHU in what should be the best Indoors 1st round in years.

Blog Future

Most likely will be coming back for Spring 2010. Got a little busy and lazy at the end of the season last year and the coverage fell off a little bit. I'll try to avoid that this year. Always looking for ways to enhance the blog. Comments are now disabled because I felt that they were becoming useless and there was too much spam and nonsense. I can be reached by e-mail now.

D3tennis.com Year-End Top 20

1. UC Santa Cruz
2. Emory
3. Amherst
4. Wash U
5. Middlebury
6. CMS
7. Kenyon
8. Williams
9. Gustavus Adolphus
10. Redlands
11. Johns Hopkins
12. DePauw
13. Bowdoin
14. Carnegie Mellon
15. Trinity (TX)
16. North Carolina Wesleyan
17. Chicago
18. UT-Tyler
19. Mary Washington
20. Trinity (CT)

Cruz wins national championship

Crushes Amherst 5-0 in the finals. I believe Cruz was leading in 3 of the remaining 4 matches. Could have ended up 8-1 or 9-0. Dominant performance by them, they were really on a mission the last month. Liberty-Point comes back from 5-3 down in the 2nd set to clinch.

Emory defeats Wash U 5-3 for 3rd place.

Semifinals

Could have two upsets on our hands. Cruz just beat Emory 5-4 after a doubles sweep. Ironic that Cruz's junior clinched the matched for all their seniors. Emory has to be disappointed, I think everyone still knows they are the best team in the country on most days. Cruz has better depth and was able to steal that #1 doubles spot which really was the winning point in this one. They were supposed to win 5, but lose 4, so those two offset each other.

Amherst is in control with a 4-2 lead. 3 matches early in the 3rd set. Amherst protected 2 of their 3 first sets. Wash U only protected 1.

Brief Team Tournament Predictions

Starting with the quarterfinals...

In the bottom half I think there will most likely be be two fairly lopsided quarterfinals. I would be very surprised if Cruz doesn't sweep the doubles against Williams. We know the potential is there for the Ephs but they've shown their true selves probably twice this season. Cruz should take at worst a 2-1 lead going into singles. I like Cruz at 1,2,3 and 5 to finish the match. I think Williams potential is probably 3 wins in this, I'd give them almost a 0% shot at winning. I'm predicting a 5-0 for Cruz though with a doubles sweep and two routine singles wins. Williams may be up in a match or two but won't have time to finish. This hasn't been the greatest season for the Ephs. Moving on, I see 5 spots where Kenyon could beat Emory. That 2 and 3 doubles as well as 1, 5 and 6 singles. If Egan plays, Emory should win 4. I think Kenyon needs to win all of those spots to have a chance in this match. If Emory is able to take 2 of the doubles, it's pretty much over because they have automatics at 2 and 3 singles. Brody really needs to step up tomorrow for Kenyon to have a chance and win both of his matches.

In the top half, I think Gustavus could keep things competitive. They need to win 1 of the doubles and I think they can extend the match for a while. They should be able to compete with Wash U at 1 through 3 as well as 6 singles. Hoeland has been shaky lately. Stein and Levy should run through their opponents quickly. I think Gustavus will manage to get a doubles win, I'm calling 5-1 for Wash U and Watts and Kauss may not even finish their first set. Amherst-Midd is obviously the best match of the day. I'm not going to start making predictions for this because everyone knows they are worthless. Could go either way but I'll pick Midd 5-3 with at least 3 3-setters.

Semifinal talk tomorrow night...

TennisRecruiting.net Article

Will be run on the site tomorrow.

Predictions

Going to save them until the day before the tournament. I think there will be TennisRecruiting article on Monday about the D3 tournament. I'm picking Cruz in the tournament, Wang in singles and the Goodwins in doubles. I'll get into more specifics Monday.

Quarterfinals Set

Wash U vs Gustavus
Midd vs Amherst
Cruz vs Williams
Emory vs Kenyon

I'll have thoughts on the regionals tomorrow or Tuesday.

NCAA Bracket Discussion

Overall I prefer the bracket to last year. I think with the exception of the Wash U region, everything is pretty fair. DePauw has quietly had a great season and they are rewarded by drawing the #1 overall seed on the road. I think it would have been much more fair to have them play Kenyon. I think DePauw will manage to steal a match or two from Wash U, but the Bears should advance comfortably. There are several intriguing Sweet 16 matches. The one that first caught my attention is obviously Hopkins against Amherst. Both of these are very different teams than when they played in the fall and I think this is going to be a war with upset written all over it. I think 3 doubles as well as 2 and 3 singles are huge matches in that one.

Two slumping NESCAC teams should battle it out for a spot in the Final 8 at Williams. Both of these teams haven't had the greatest seasons, but they both have a good opportunity to salvage their year. Gustavus should take care of Tyler pretty easily. The Patriots haven't had the season they were looking for and the Gusties will be playing on their homecourt for Coach Wilkinson for the last time. Tyler will need a massive effort to even stay close. Middlebury has by far the easiest road to the Final 8. They beat Skidmore earlier without their full lineup and I'd be shocked if Skidmore wins a match here.

Kenyon and CMU has the potential to be a battle but the Lords should be a little too much in doubles, especially with their home court advantage. These teams had a tight match earlier in the season with Kenyon winning and I would expect a similar result. Emory should crush Mary Washington for the second time this season, especially in Atlanta. I'm interested to see if Mary Wash can even get past NCW in the rd of 32. That's probably the best rd of 32 match in the tournament with the exception of CMS and Redlands. That brings us to the California regional. I think you have to like Cruz to come out on top for the second week in a row and spoil the Stags chances to play nationals on their home court. More NCAA coverage will be coming as the week progresses.

NCAA Selection Day

Bracket has been released. See comments page for link.

NESCAC Final

Middlebury wins 5-3

Two Notes

1. ITA rankings should be coming out today
2. Bowdoin beat Trinity (CT) 5-3 in the first round of the NESCAC tourney

Division I NCAA Controversy

Not sure how many of you are aware of this but there is a big controversy after the release of the NCAA D1 Tennis brackets last night. Ole Miss, who is currently ranked #2 in the country has to travel for their regional to rival LSU who almost beat them in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Ole Miss went undefeated in the SEC as well as winning the SEC tournament. On top of all of this, they lead the nation in average attendance with 582 fans per match. For the last 40 years, traditionally in D1 the top 16 Men's teams have hosted their regional, and then those 16 winners would converge on one site to play out the Final 16. This is the first time in recent memory that the regional hosts rule has been changed. Meanwhile, plenty of other teams are being flown to sites.

Baylor is also a victim ranked at #6 in the country. They have to travel to Tulsa to play their regional against a Golden Hurricane team who has the #1 singles player in the country and was ranked #15 pre-season before slipping into the 20s. The NCAA strikes again and it seems the same rule that keeps 3 top 10 teams in the same regional in D3 is now spreading to D1.

I was thinking about things and in theory, UC Santa Cruz could completely tank their season, lose every match against a ranked team, finish last at Indoors and be in the same position they are right now. CMS is in a similar situation. They could lose every match and then just win SCIACs. We knew the NCAA fate of these two teams at the beginning of the season. What are they playing for? The goal is to win NCAAs, so why are these teams even playing their season when they know where they will end up? At least Ole Miss and Georgia don't have to play each other in a regional. D1 has it better than we do, and these travel restrictions are a travesty in my eyes.

I understand that the NCAA has restrictions, but D1 tennis is taken very seriously. To run the table in the SEC and Big 12 respectively and not be rewarded is outrageous.

As a final note, the host of the D1 Final 16 is Texas A&M University. If Mississippi gets by their regional at LSU, guess who they play in the Round of 16. That's right, Texas A&M.

I've been following D1 action a lot lately so I'd be happy to discuss with anyone.

Bracketology Issue #3

Just had an epiphany about what should happen...

Kzoo goes to Wash U
Emory gets flown to Mary Wash
CMS and Cruz meet
Midd hosts Bowdoin
Amherst travels to TCNJ meet CMU
Hopkins travels to Skidmore to play Williams
DePauw goes to Kenyon
Tyler goes to Gustavus

That's the most likely scenario right now I think.


1. Wash U*, DePauw, Luther, Grinnell
2. Emory, NC Wesleyan*, Hampden-Sydney
3. CMS*, UC Santa Cruz, Redlands, Whitman
4. Middlebury*, Mary Washington, Skidmore*
5. Amherst, Carnegie Mellon, TCNJ*
6. Williams*, Bowdoin, Vassar
7. Kenyon*, Johns Hopkins, Mt Union
8. Gustavus*, UT-Tyler, Whitewater

1. Wash U*, Kalamazoo, Luther, Grinnell,
2. Emory, UT-Tyler, NC Wesleyan*, Hampden-Sydney
3. CMS*, UC Santa Cruz, Redlands, Whitman
4. Middlebury, Mary Washington, Skidmore*
5. Amherst*, Bowdoin, MIT
6. Williams, Johns Hopkins, TCNJ*,
7. Kenyon*, CMU, Mount Union
8. Gustavus, DePauw, Whitewater, Carthage*

These are two possible scenarios listed above. Both include all teams that I consider "significant" and as you can see they aren't full 41-team brackets. I'm open to suggestions and if anyone can tell me who won a small conference who's AQ isn't on here, please let me know.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings April 28, 2009

1. Wash U
2. Emory
3. CMS
4. UC Santa Cruz
5. Middlebury
6. Amherst
7. Williams
8. Kenyon
9. Redlands
10. Gustavus
11. Bowdoin
12. Johns Hopkins
13. DePauw
14. Carnegie Mellon
15. Trinity (TX)
16. UT-Tyler
17. Chicago
18. Mary Washington
19. Trinity (CT)
20. Skidmore
21. Kalamazoo
22. NC Wesleyan
23. Denison
24. Cal Lutheran
25. Bates

Sunday Results

DePauw d. Trinity (TX) 6-3
Middlebury d. Amherst 5-4
Hampden-Sydney d. W&L 5-3

#6 Middlebury at #5 Amherst Match Preview

1. Farah/Thomson vs. Lerner/Koenig
2. Lee/Olson vs. Gross/Chafetz
3. Bonfiglio/Peters vs. Jung/Waterman

1. Conrad Olson vs. Zack Lerner
2. Andrew Thomson vs. Austin Chafetz
3. Andrew Lee vs. Andrew Jung
4. Andrew Peters vs. Moritz Koenig
5. Peter Odell vs. Priit Gross
6. Derrick Angle vs. Wes Waterman

A very evenly matched contest between two national championship contenders and NESCAC powerhouses. Middlebury's fitness will be tested because they first have to get through Williams on Saturday before taking on a great Amherst team. I think that gives Amherst a huge edge on top of their home court advantage. I like Amherst at #1 doubles, Middlebury at #2 doubles and #3 is a toss up for now. I think Midd should win comfortable at positions 3 and 4, and Amherst should strike back at both 5 and 6. I think Midd has a slight edge at #2 singles as well. #1 is also a toss up. I really think it comes down to how healthy Midd is for this match. If they are 100%, I think they are the better team and they can win 5-4. However, if they are a step slow, Amherst could roll them in this match.

D3Tennis.com Team Rankings April 21, 2009

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

Weekend Recap

First, I'll start off with the SCIAC tournament. Things really went as expected here. The one surprising result was a 5-4 win for Redlands against Cal Lu in the semis. Redlands seems as though they peaked at the wrong time this season. Their NCAA outlook looks grim. A pretty good season for both Cal Lu and Pomona-Pitzer. Both were strong teams who gave some national contenders a tough time. Look for both of those programs to improve over the next few years, especially P-P. CMS really took care of business in the finals and they look great going into their match with Santa Cruz. You have to like the Stags right now even though the match is on the Slugs homecourt. Definitely looking forward to that one in only a few weeks.

Three pretty important NESCAC matches took place this weekend, with Amherst and Williams asserting their dominance over the #4 and #5 NESCAC teams. It seems as though there is a clear divide between the top 3 and Bowdoin/Trinity (CT) this year. Bowdoin had a disappointing weekend, really getting crushed by Amherst. I'm really questioning Bowdoin right now. Sullivan hasn't been leading this team and they have been struggling. Williams and Amherst both look great and Trinity (CT) needs a win against Williams on Wednesday to make a splash in Pool C.

Another quick note is that Gustavus had a dominant win on the road against Kalamazoo. The Gusties have put themselves in a position to host an NCAA regional once again and unless some unforeseen circumstances occur, they should find themselves in the Elite 8 again.

The results of the weekend were from the UAA Championships. Both semifinals were pretty routine victories as expected, but there were two pretty big surprises in the championship and 3rd-4th matches. To start, I expected a real war between CMU and Chicago. CMU won 2 doubles and 3 easy singles matches to take this one very routinely over a Chicago team who needs to go back to the drawing board for next season. They are loaded with talent, but they haven't put all the pieces together yet. CMU ended well and they have to think their doubles really improved this season. This is a good win to bolster their NCAA resume. The upset of the year in my opinion occurred in the Championship match. Emory seemed pretty much unbeatable the whole year and even their 5-4 victories weren't really "close." Wash U came out and swept the doubles which really was a knockout blow because we knew Watts was an automatic at 1. A great fight by Emory to almost come back but the hole from doubles was just too big. Wash U is the new #1 team in the country heading into NCAAs.

Weekend Results

Emory d. Chicago 8-1
Wash U d. CMU 8-1
Amherst d. Trinity (CT) 7-2
Redlands d. Cal Lu 5-4
CMS d. P-P 8-1
CMS d. Redlands 8-1
Williams d. Bowdoin 6-3
Gustavus d. Kzoo 8-1
CMU d. Chicago 7-2
Amherst d. Bowdoin 8-1
Wash U d. Emory 5-4

#11 Bowdoin at #7 Williams Match Preview

1. Neely/Pena vs Chaplin/Thacher
2. Sullivan/Caughron vs. Lebedoff/Petrie
3. Anderson/White vs. Weinberger/Shallcross

1. Steve Sullivan vs. Nick Lebedoff
2. Oscar Pena vs. Jeremy Weinberger
3. Tyler Anderson vs. Rick Devlin
4. Josh Cranin vs. Will Petrie
5. Alex Caughron vs. Kevin Shallcross
6. Alex White vs. Karol Furmaga

I think a lot depends on how Williams comes out. We've seen many faces of Williams so far this season, particularly in doubles. I'll start by looking at the singles. I see Bowdoin with a clear advantage at both 1 and 2 singles. I expect Williams to strike back at both 3. and 4 singles. The bottom of the lineup should produce some close matches, but I think Williams depth will prevail to give them 4 of 6 singles match. Bowdoin has looked good in doubles, I would expect them to take 2 of the spots. Williams on the other hand has been extremely inconsistent in doubles and I think it's very hard to predict how they'll come out for this match. They have the potential to sweep or get swept. I think they will come out of this match with a 5-4 win, but if Williams comes out to play it could be as bad at 7-2.

Skidmore vs. Wash & Lee

In a match that wasn't listed on the calendar, #25 Skidmore d. #22 Washington & Lee 5-4. All of the doubles were close and there were 4 3-setters in singles.

Box Score

Bracketology Issue #2

1. Emory*, NCW, W&L*, Elizabethtown, Wilkes
2. Wash U*, UT-Tyler, Kalamazoo, Grinnell, Westminster
3. CMS*, UC Santa Cruz, Redlands, Whitman, Chapman
4. Amherst*, Mary Washington, Skidmore, Hunter, Neumann
5. Middlebury*, Bowdoin, MIT, Ithaca, Mt. St. Marys
6. Williams*, Johns Hopkins, Vassar, Southern Maine, Nichols
7. Kenyon*, DePauw, TCNJ, Mt. Union, Transylvania
8. Gustavus*, Trinity (TX), Luther, Whitewater, Carthage, MSOE

ITA Rankings

Will be out sometime tomorrow.

D3tennis.com Team Rankings April 13, 2009

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

Schedule for the Week 4/13-4/19

Monday: Team Rankings and Weekend Recap
Tuesday: Bracketology, ITA Rankings
Wednesday: 2 matches, Regional Individual Rankings
Thursday: 1 match, Bowdoin at Williams Preview
Friday: Conference Tournaments Begin, Gustavus at Kalamazoo Preview
Saturday: 2 matches and Conference Tournaments
Sunday: 2 matches, UAA Finals

Brief Weekend Preview

The highlight of the weekend is the GLCA Championship being played at Wabash and DePauw this weekend. 5 top 25 teams are in action with Kenyon as the clear favorite to win the tournament and Carnegie Mellon and DePauw as the main contenders. Also on Friday, UT-Tyler will try to bounce back from a bad loss against Trinity (TX) and take down the #2 ranked Wash U Bears. I wouldn't expect much of a match here and I think Wash U could win this 9-0. I'd be very surprised if Tyler is able to get more than 2 matches.

On Saturday, the GLCA will wrap up and Tyler comes back to take on a talented Chicago team. Chicago has had a disappointing season, but they can make a believer out of many if they can take care of Tyler and then give Wash U a hard time. I would expect Tyler and Wash U to beat Chicago fairly routinely though. I think their doubles are just too strong for the Maroons. A big NESCAC showdown between Middlebury and Bowdoin will take place for bragging rights and potential seeding in the NESCAC tournament. Bowdoin should break into the top 10 in the nation with a win. On Sunday, Hopkins is back for another match against a tough Salisbury team and they look to continue their dominance so far this season. The match of the weekend though is definitely Williams at Amherst. This is a battle between two top 7 teams who still have a lot to prove. I think this contest will tell us a lot about both of these teams and how they could fair against other top NESCAC teams.

D3Tennis.com Team Rankings April 7, 2009

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

Weekend Recap

We actually didn't learn a whole lot this weekend and most of the results went almost as predicted. Even though it was a challenge, Emory took care of Williams in pretty routine fashion. No real upsets on Saturday, but the Trinity-Tyler score obviously was very surprising. I'm tempted to say that the Tyler win over Redlands was actually a fluke, judging by their performance in every other match this season. But then, Redlands who had been very hot in the past month or so got crushed by CMS, not winning a set in singles. This is not good for their NCAA outlook as they've now lost to their competition 9-0 twice.

Both NESCAC powerhouses in action took care of business this weekend, although Middlebury was in trouble for a little bit against Trinity (CT), but they managed to pull out a win. Wash U looked dominant twice and although there were some close singles matches in both contests, the Bears showed why they were #2 in the country and pulled out two routine wins. Kenyon had a tougher than expected win against Gustavus and that was a good win for the Lords going forward. Mary Wash also got back on track with an easy win against a tough Salisbury team to maintain their dominance in the CAC. A lot of tennis still to be played and we are getting into the heart of the NESCAC season so exciting teams are upcoming.

Weekend Results

#1 Emory d. #5 Williams 6-3
#9 Redlands d. Cal Lutheran 7-2
#3 CMS d. #9 Redlands 9-0
#6 Middlebury d. #25 Skidmore 7-2
#17 Mary Washington d. Salisbury 7-2
#15 Trinity (TX) d. #14 UT-Tyler 8-1
#7 Amherst d. #23 Bates 8-1
#8 Kenyon d. #10 Gustavus 5-4
#2 Wash U d. #16 DePauw 8-1
#6 Middlebury d. #18 Trinity (CT) 6-3
#2 Wash U d. #8 Kenyon 7-2

#8 Kenyon vs. #10 Gustavus Adolphus Match Preview

1. Greenberg/Vandenberg vs. Burdakin/Kauss
2. Brody/Stiles vs. Paukert/Tomasek
3. Piskacek/Polster vs. Hansen/Koppel

1. Mike Greenberg vs. John Kauss
2. Tomas Piskacek vs. Charlie Paukert
3. Jeremy Polster vs. Mike Burdakin
4. Will Vandenberg vs. Ben Tomasek
5. Daniel Becker vs. Patrick Clark
6. Josh Stiles vs. Ryan Hallsten

You have to think that Kenyon should have four easy wins before the match even starts. They should win at 2 singles as well as the 4 through 6 spots. The past results from Gustavus point to them not being able to stay with Kenyon in the bottom of the lineup. I think that Gustavus should be able to win at 3 as well as #1 doubles. I would also give them a slight edge at #2 doubles. The match should come down to #3 doubles and #1 singles and I have to give Kenyon both of those matches. Gustavus probably would need a doubles sweep to win this match. If Kenyon manages to steal #3 doubles which they should, they should be able to win 4 easy singles matches. I'm taking Kenyon in a 6-3 win.

Regional Individual Rankings April 3, 2009

Atlantic South
1. Chris Goodwin, Emory
2. Michael Goodwin, Emory
3. David Maldow, JHU
4. William Moss, HSC
5. James Muliawan, CMU
6. Eric Shulman, CNU
7. Andrew Wang, JHU
8. Randy Loden, UMW
9. Mark Boren, Emory
10. Antti Saari, NCW

1. Goodwin/Goodwin, Emory
2. Maldow/Wang, JHU
3. Nelson/Shulman, CNU
4. Burtzlaff/Thomas, Salisbury
5. Mactaggart/Spero, CMU
6. Loden/Murata, UMW

Central
1. John Kauss, GAC
2. John Watts, Wash U
3. Mike Greenberg, Kenyon
4. Tomas Piskacek, Kenyon
5. Will Zhang, Chicago
6. Charlie Cutler, Wash U
7. Juan Carlos Perez, Grinnell
8. John Pelton, Hope
9. Scott Swanson, DePauw
10. Jack Schiro, Carthage

1. Burdakin/Kauss GAC
2. Cutler/Hoeland, Wash U
3. Lafountaine/Fox, Grinnell
4. Greenberg/Vandenberg, Kenyon
5. Buehler/Davis, Denison
6. Brinker/Saltarelli, Chicago


Northeast
1. Conrad Olson, Midd
2. Steve Sullivan, Bowdoin
3. Zack Lerner, Amherst
4. Spencer Feldman, Trinity (CT)
5. Ben Stein, Bates
6. Nick Lebedoff, Williams
7. Andrew Thomson, Midd
8. Oscar Pena, Bowdoin
9. Jeremy Weinberger, Williams
10. Andrew Lee, Midd

1. Koenig/Lerner, Amherst
2. Farah/Thomson, Midd
3. Stein/Rupasinghe, Bates
4. Chaplin/Thacher, Williams
5. Feldman/Yahng, Trinity (CT)
6. Pena/White, Bowdoin

West
1. Phillips, Tyler
2. Liberty-Point, Cruz
3. Wang, CMS
4. Frey, Trinity (TX)
5. Yook, Chapman
6. Giuffrida, CLU
7. Kamel, Cruz
8. Erani, CMS
9. Bumann, McMurry
10. Spearman, Redlands

1. Kamel/Vartabedian, Cruz
2. Schils/Wang, CMS
3. Liberty-Point/Gendelman, Cruz
4. Ashlock/Phillips, Tyler
5. Reading/Spearman, Redlands
6. Cocanougher/Kowal, Trinity (TX)
6T. Weterholm/Hunt, CLU

Weekend Preview

The most important weekend of the spring to date is upon us and we have 12 outstanding matches to look forward to. I'll try to touch on all of them. To begin, Williams at Emory highlights Friday. The Ephs are fresh off a win against CMS and they are looking to hand Emory their first D3 loss. Emory hasn't been challenged in a while so this will be a match to watch. Williams really needs to jump on top in doubles. Meanwhile in California Cal Lu will try to upset Redlands. I think this is unlikely, but it should be a competitive match.

We then move to Saturday which has 7 matches. Early in the day, there are two contests of note in the West. Tyler travels to Trinity (TX) for an in-state brawl while Redlands makes the 30 minute drive to CMS to play the Stags. The Tyler-Trinity will be a very hard fought match and see the preview for more info. I'd look for CMS to rebound from their recent loss and take care of Redlands easily. I think CMS is stronger at almost every spot so they shouldn't have too hard of a time. 2 interesting Northeast matches will be taking place as well. Bates plays Amherst and Skidmore plays Middlebury. Both of these have the potential to be lopsided affairs, but the underdogs will look to prove that they are worthy of their top 25 rankings and challenge the NESCAC powerhouses. I'd expect Middlebury and Amherst to emerge unscathed.

The Capital Athletic Conference's top 2 teams will play each other and Salisbury has the home court against a Mary Wash team that looks very weak right now. Salisbury has a good chance to pull the upset so I'll definitely be keeping an eye on that one. To round out the day, Wash U travels to DePauw and Kenyon plays Gustavus in Milwaukee. I would expect a routine win for Wash U not surrendering more than two matches, but the Kenyon-Gustavus match could be highly contested if Kenyon isn't sharp in doubles. I have to go with the Lords to dominate all the way through the singles lineup.

We then move to Sunday where Wash U plays Gustavus, followed by Kenyon. Scheduling two top 10 teams in one day is risky, but I think the Bears should be able to win both. The Gustavus match shouldn't take too much out of them in singles, but the match against Kenyon will be a battle. I would expect Wash U to win but not without a fight. It should definitely be closer than Indoors. The last match of the weekend has Trinity (CT) traveling to Middlebury. The Bantams need a big win to move into NCAA contention and Middlebury is trying to move back into the top 5 in the country. Should be a pretty even match all the way through.

If anyone can provide live updates during the matches, it would be greatly appreciated. Definitely looking forward to all of the matches so check back daily.

#14 UT-Tyler at #15 Trinity (TX) Match Preview

1. Ashlock/Phillips vs. Cocanougher/Kowal
2. Repsher/Sajovich vs. Carroll/Murray
3. Bulls/Reznik vs. Frey/Hoing

1. Dustin Phillips vs. Max Frey
2. Robert Sajovich vs. Bobby Cocanougher
3. David Ashlock vs. John Runge
4. Caleb Bulls vs. Cory Kowal
5. Shaun Maddox vs. Andrew Hoing
6. Dallas Darnell vs. Crisanto Ramirez

A really big match for both of these teams to prove that they are the best team in Texas. I think Trinity (TX) has an edge because they are playing on their home courts, but we know Tyler will fight until the end. Two outstanding #1 doubles teams will face off and I have to give the edge to Trinity (TX). I think Trinity will also win at 3 but I would expect Tyler to win at 2. Despite being the fall singles champion, I'm going to pick Phillips over Frey at #1 due to big match experience. Sajovich should give Tyler a 3-2 lead with a win at 2. Runge and Kowal have both been playing well and I think that they should win for Trinity, although junior Ashlock could give Tyler a big lead with a win at 3. I would expect the match to come down to the bottom of the lineup and I have to pick Trinity with a 5-4 win, but I'm sure everyone knows this match could go either way.

Rankings 1-12 and Mid-Season Reports April 1, 2009

1. Emory - They had a good win against CMS in California. The thing I took from that 5-4 result is that this team is beatable on a bad day. That being said, the opponent has to be playing unbelievable for the Eagles to fall this year. All signs point to a national championship for this season and I think it will take a lot to derail them from this goal. They will be tested against Williams in a few days and of course in the semis and final at UAAs. Emory has to keep themselves from feeling the pressure of being expected to win every match and if they can do so, I think they will win nationals. If they can take 2 doubles points, they are unbeatable against anyone.

2. Wash U - The Bears haven't had a lot of D3 action lately, but they have an action packed weekend coming up. they have 3 very tough matches against DePauw, Gustavus and Kenyon. I would be most worried about Kenyon though and I'm anxious to see how Watts responds against Greenberg in their 3rd encounter this season. The Bears looked great at Indoors and we will see if they can continue their excellent play for the rest of the season. They have outstanding singles and their doubles has improved more than any team in the country. They have to set their sights on beating Emory and I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond in the probable UAA final.

3. CMS - Their loss to Williams showed that they are beatable on their home courts and probably was good for the Stags, showing them that there is work left to be done. Their doubles has been good and if the defending national champions cold find their old form, life would be a lot easier. The middle of their singles lineup has proven to be vulnerable and this could hurt them against tough competition. Everything now is leading up to their regular season match with Santa Cruz to most likely determine the site of NCAAs. If CMS gets to the Elite 8, they will be a tough out because it is being played on their home turf.

4. UC Santa Cruz - The Slugs have avenged their Indoors losses very well in recent weeks and they are one of the hottest teams in the country. Their 9-0 win against Redlands now looks very impressive and wins against Kenyon, Gustavus and Middlebury show that this is one of the best teams in the country. Their singles is so tough top to bottom and they boast a great 1-2 punch in doubles. Their season could come down to their regular season match with CMS to determine who hosts NCAAs. Lucky for Cruz they are hosting this match. I'm sure this will be another classic between two great teams and don't be surprised to see the Slugs in the Final 4 again.

5. Williams - Despite a heartbreaking loss to Redlands, the win against CMS was more impressive to me. CMS had been almost unbeatable at home and Williams showed that they can bounce back from anything. They went from being swept in doubles to sweeping doubles, so while being inconsistent, this team also has a lot of heart. Their singles are very good but beatable. They have a good mixture of experience and youth and it's too hard to say right now what to expect from them in the long run. As of right now, I would say that they are the favorite for the NESCAC title but they are very evenly matched with the other two contenders. A Final 4 contender for sure.

6. Middlebury - Three great matches out in California by Middlebury and it's unfortunate that they came out on the wrong end of two of them. The CMS match was a great battle and it was appropriate that it came down to the last match. Their doubles were good but not great and they will need to get 2 of the doubles to put themselves in a position to win against tough competition like Williams and Amherst. The NESCAC title is really up for grabs and Midd has as good of a shot as anyone. This team seems to always make a final 4 run and they have a great chance at winning their Elite 8 match. I don't think they are talented enough to beat Emory, but another top 4 finish looks promising.

7. Amherst - They did what they were supposed to in California and supplemented their fall wins with a good win against Redlands. They showed that they won't lose to teams ranked below them, but at the same time they probably won't pull a big upset, as they got beaten by CMS very solidly. This team has great depth, but their doubles could be a weakness against the other NESCAC teams. They have a great coach who will definitely have his guys ready for every match. Their tough regular season NESCAC matches will tell us a lot more about this young team. I could see them making the Elite 8, but I think they may have a tough time getting past that stage in NCAAs.

8. Kenyon - The Lords showed good resolve with two wins last weekend after a string of losses. They have a top 5 caliber team, they just need to put all the pieces together. Their doubles have been very streaky and if they can get 1 win somewhere in the lineup they are in good shape for singles. They need work to compete with the likes of Emory, but they will get a shot at Wash U this weekend in a rematch of the Indoors semis. Greenberg and Piskacek will need to step up and an upset is not out of the question. If they keep winning, they could move ahead of the NESCAC teams in the rankings and I would also expect them to host a very winnable regional in NCAAs.

9. Redlands - Despite good wins against Williams and Gustavus, they still have a bad loss to UT-Tyler and this is holding them back a bit. It is also an advantage that they get to play every match at home. The bottom of the lineup as well as their doubles has really been excellent this year and Spearman is a solid #1 player for the next few years. This is a good team that is very hard to play because they fight hard, but they will have a hard time making it out of their NCAA regional. A second round match against Santa Cruz or CMS should spell a loss for this team but that doesn't mean they aren't having an excellent season. They should finish in the top 10 but won't be a real factor in the tournament.

10. Gustavus Adolphus - Their Indoors results were offset by 3 losses in California. Gustavus was beaten soundly by Redlands and Williams and their 5-4 against Santa Cruz was never really close after singles started. They just don't have enough players to compete with the top teams this year and I think they got a false sense of security at Indoors. That being said, they should dominate their conference once again and most likely will find themselves hosting NCAAs with a great opportunity to make the Elite 8. Barring a meltdown late in the season, they should hold their #10 spot for quite a while. The truth is they are overmatched by most of the top 10 though.

11. Bowdoin - Their California swing produced mixed results that are hard to interpret right now. Their doubles as well as the middle of their singles lineup were extremely inconsistent. One thing we do know is Sullivan has found last year's form and Pena could be a future star in Division 3. I doubt they have it in them to beat one of the top 3 in the NESCAC but a 4th place finish should be plenty to qualify them for the tournament. They actually match up well with Amherst and Williams and they could pull an upset in the tournament but I just don't see them cracking the top 10 this year. They have a lot of talent and if they can get their doubles in order, this could be a very good team.

12. Johns Hopkins - They looked tough in the one match they played, but playing such an easy schedule is a questionable strategy. It's too hard to say whether they will be prepared for NCAAs because they haven't faced the same sort of competition as other teams. They will be going into NCAAs without exposure to a top 10 team and their upcoming Mary Wash match won't be that tough if the Eagles continue their losing ways. That being said, this is a good team with a great 1-2 punch and two of the best doubles teams in the country. If their bottom guys can win consistently, they could find themselves headed to a Final Four. Their NCAA fate is too hard to say right now because we haven't seen enough of them.

Comments

Shape up with the comments. It's getting out of hand and the main criticism of the site last year was that too many people posted irrelevant comments. If you don't have something worthwhile to add, don't write anything. My goal is to focus on the top 25 teams. If the Little East conference actually does something on a national level, maybe we can talk about them. Until that time comes, I don't care about Southern Maine. That's not what the site is for. If you want to make a joke out of it, you will be ruining things for the 150 or so visitors per day who actually enjoy following because there won't be a blog anymore. I have the power to stop whenever I want and if stupid comments continue to outnumber good comments for another week, the blog is gone. I would disable comments, but I read a lot of things on there that I myself don't know and that is valuable information.

Rankings 13-25 and Mid-Season Reports March 31, 2009

13. Carnegie Mellon - They have done what they are supposed to do so far this season. Their doubles seems to have improved, but they are losing at the 5 and 6 spots where they used to be dominant. They are very talented and have the potential to pull off a big upset, they just have to all be on the same page on the same day. They have some tough contests coming up at GLCA, which will go a long way in determining their NCAA fate. They should finish 3rd at UAA's and they have the potential to give Wash U a tough match in the semis.

14. UT-Tyler - A very up and down season for the Patriots so far. Their win against Redlands now looks great and has kept them in the top 15, but they have struggled with weaker competition such as Pomona-Pitzer and Birmingham Southern. If Tyler wants to become a fixture on the national scene they need to get more wins from the bottom half of their lineup. Phillips has been supporting this team almost by himself this year and he needs help. They have a huge match against Trinity (TX) this weekend and a win should keep them in the top 15.

15. Trinity (TX) - Their one win this year proved to not to be that strong and their easy schedule is catching up to them. They have a huge match against UT-Tyler this weekend and this is their last chance before their conference championship to show what they are made of. Their singles is questionable and I don't know if their young guys can hold up against the intensity of tougher opponents. Their two bad losses at Indoors still make them a question mark, but they can prove that they are for real with dominant victory this weekend.

16. DePauw - A great Hilton Head swing for these guys got some wins under their belt and they are ready for tougher competition now. I still think their singles could be a liability against a higher ranked team, but they have national caliber doubles at all positions. If they get healthy, they could win an SCAC championship or pull an upset against a top 15 team. A very dangerous team that has a good mix of youth and experience. We will see how tough they are at the GLCA tournament in a few weeks and this will go a long way in determining their future this season.

17. Mary Washington - I don't think anyone knows what's wrong with this team this year. They went from being a pre-season national championship contender to out of the top 15 in the matter of just over a month. James and Loden are no longer winning at the top and their once spectacular #1 doubles team is now losing. They really need to be concerned about losing to Salisbury because the way this season has gone, I can easily see it happening. They still have a chance to turn things around with a win against Hopkins.

18. Trinity (CT) - They are in a tough spot because they didn't pad their schedule with wins this year. By putting themselves in this position, they now need to upset one of the top 3 teams in the NESCAC to have a chance at the tournament. This is obviously an excellent team given their results against Bowdoin, but that was a really tough loss for them because the Bantams don't have a lot of opportunities to show their stuff. I don't expect them to beat one of the big three and I think it would take a great effort from these guys to end up making the tournament.

19. Denison - Still a real mystery because of their easy schedule, they have a few battles with Kenyon coming up. I wouldn't
expect them to really challenge Kenyon, but you never know. They had a good win early in the season against a very good Chicago team giving them their spot in the top 20, but after that they have been quiet on the national scene. They traditionally have very good doubles, but the question is if their top guys can hang with Greenberg and Piskacek and past results point to that being unlikely.

20. Chicago - On paper one of the best teams in the country. Despite good wins over Whitman and Carleton, I still have to say that they have underachieved this year with losses to Denison and DePauw. They have a tough stretch coming up where they play UT-Tyler and Wash U, so maybe their true colors will come out during these matches. I don't see them qualifying for NCAAs through the At-large pool, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be there. This is also a very young team and they have the talent to be in a the top 10 in a few years.

21. North Carolina Wesleyan - This all international team is the surprise of the year so far. They are this year's CNU and they also happen to be from the Atlantic South. I don't think they are a dominant team because they just squeaked out a win against Salisbury, but I would say that most teams don't want to see them come tournament time because they are unknown. I don't know if they have the depth to pull and upset against a good team this year, but they are very young and they also have a bright future to look forward to.

22. Washington & Lee - As we've seen so far, this is a true rebuilding year for the Generals. They are get blown out by regional foes that they usually have competitive matches with. The doubles just hasn't been there this year and they don't have a guy at the top of the lineup who can win against good teams. Their 4, 5 and 6 are solid but they don't win on a consistent basis. I doubt they will be able to pull an upset during NCAAs, but the very good news for W&L is that that future looks bright and more experience could make them a top 20 team again.

23. Bates - A pretty good team and it's a real shame they don't play in an easier conference. Their NCAA hopes went down the tubes when Shadowen left. They don't have the personnel to pull an upset against one of the top 5 teams in the NESCAC and this would be their only ticket into the top 20. They are able to beat lesser teams because they are top heavy but when they faced a real test against Middlebury they got blown out. Bates should be the last team to qualify for the NESCAC tournament and should fall easily in the first round.

24. Whitman - Whitman will dominate their conference once again and qualify for NCAAs but I think they are weaker than in past years. Their doubles is solid as always but they can't compete with top 20 teams in the middle of the singles lineup. They are losing badly in singles to teams ranked a few spots above them. This is a good team that will give the top 20 a hard time but they don't have enough players to pull a big upset. Whitman should win out and their conference and be hot heading into NCAAs but they need to get lucky to get get shipped out of the West.

25. Skidmore - They started out the season well being undefeated and they crack the top 25 because of wins over Christopher Newport, TCNJ and Vassar. They were playing well but they got demolished by Amherst this weekend showing that they really can't compete with top teams. They have one more tough match against Middlebury and they could lose their top 25 ranking if another team gets some good wins. They will make NCAA's through the Independent pool but I wouldn't expect much from them once they get there.

Schedule for The Week 3/30 - 4/5

A pretty uneventful week as far as matches are concerned. I believe there are a few regional contests but nothing too noteworthy. This past few had a lot of action and we found out a lot about several teams. Over the next few days I will publish a "mid-season" report for top 25 teams since almost everyone has played some matches. This all leads up to Friday, Saturday and Sunday which are home to 12 huge matches which will have big implications on rankings and NCAA seedings.

Schedule for the week
Tuesday: Mid-Season Report and Rankings 13-25, New Poll
Wednesday: Mid-Season Report and Rankings 1-12, Williams at Emory Preview
Thursday: UT-Tyler at Trinity (TX) Preview
Friday: 2 matches, Regional Individual Rankings, Kenyon at Gustavus Preview
Saturday: 7 matches, Trinity (CT) at Middlebury Preview
Sunday: 3 matches, Weekend Recap, Bracketology Issue #2

Bracketology Issue #1 March 30, 2009

1. Emory (A), W&L* (A), North Carolina Wesleyan (A), DeSales (A), Elizabethtown (A)
2. Wash U (C), UT-Tyler (A), Kzoo* (A), Grinnell (A), Westminster (A)
3. CMS* (A), Santa Cruz (B), Redlands (C), Whitman (A), Chapman (B)
4. Middlebury (A), Mary Washington (A), Skidmore* (B), Ithaca (A), Hunter (A)
5. Amherst (C), Carnegie Mellon (C), TCNJ* (B), MIT (B), Mt St. Marys (A),
6. Kenyon* (A), Johns Hopkins (A), Mt Union (A), Transylvania (A), Neumann (A)
7. Williams* (C), Bowdoin (C), Vassar (B), Southern Maine (A), Nichols (A)
8. Gustavus* (A), Trinity (TX) (A), Luther (A), Whitewater (B), Carthage (B), MSOE (A)

Here's what I've come up with so far. An asterisk denotes host team and the letter denotes which Pool they come from. Obviously needs a lot of work and I'm very open to suggestions. If you find anything wrong let me know, didn't check it over that carefully.

Another note: The difference between my bracket and the NCAA committee is that my main concern is getting even Sweet 16 matchups and regions whereas they have other criteria for placing teams.

D3Bracketology sent me the map from last year. I'm going to fix it for the new teams and post it next issue.

Friday/Saturday Results

Santa Cruz d. Pomona-Pitzer 7-2

Kenyon d. CMU 6-3

CMS d. Middlebury 5-4

Redlands d. Williams 5-4

Kenyon d. Mary Washington 8-1

Williams d. CMS 5-4

#9 Kenyon at #13 Carnegie Mellon Live Stats

Carnegie Mellon will be providing live stats for their match tonight at home versus Kenyon and their match on Sunday against Mary Wash. I've provided the link below...

Live Stats

#4 Williams at #3 CMS Match Preview

1. Chaplin/Thacher vs. Schils/Wang
2. Lebedoff/Petrie vs. Erani/Wu
3. Shallcross/Weinberger vs. Keiffer/Lim

1. Nick Lebedoff vs. Lawrence Wang
2. Jeremy Weinberger vs. Robbie Erani
3. Rick Devlin vs. Mikey Lim
4. Will Petrie vs. Russell Brockett
5. Kevin Shallcross vs. Victor Chien
6. Karol Furmaga vs. Ronald Wu

Williams is one of the few teams in the country who can compete with CMS at the bottom of the lineup. These two had a great match at NCAA's last year and I would expect a similar result this time. CMS should jump on top in doubles on their home courts with wins at 1 and 2. I would expect Williams to answer with a win at #3. The top 2 singles spots are definitely an advantage for CMS and should give them a nearly insurmountable 4-1 lead. The bottom 4 matches will all be competitive and I would expect a split at 4 through 6. I think Williams has a good chance, particularly with #4 singles to keep the score respectable. CMS should be too much and I would expect a 6-3 victory for them.

Regional Individual Rankings March 27, 2009

Atlantic South
1. Chris Goodwin, Emory
2. Michael Goodwin, Emory
3. David Maldow, JHU
4. William Moss, HSC
5. Eric Shulman, CNU
6. James Muliawan, CMU
7. Andrew Wang, JHU
8. Randy Loden, UMW
9. Mark Boren, Emory
10. Alex Buxbaum, Haverford

1. Goodwin/Goodwin, Emory
2. Maldow/Wang, JHU
3. Shulman/Nelson, CNU
4. Loden/Murata, UMW
5. Barnaby/Blythe, JHU
6. Boren/Caplan, Emory

Central
1. John Kauss, GAC
2. John Watts, Wash U
3. Mike Greenberg, Kenyon
4. Tomas Piskacek, Kenyon
5. Will Zhang, Chicago
6. Juan Carlos Perez, Grinnell
7. Charlie Cutler, Wash U
8. John Pelton, Hope
9. Scott Swanson, DePauw
10. Jack Schiro, Carthage

1. Burdakin/Kaussm GAC
2. Cutler/Hoeland, Wash U
3. Lafountaine/Fox, Grinnell
4. Buehler/Davis, Denison
5. Brinker/Saltarelli, Chicago
6. Stein/Woods, Wash U

Northeast
1. Conrad Olson, Midd
2. Steve Sullivan, Bowdoin
3. Zack Lerner, Amherst
4. Spencer Feldman, Trinity (CT)
5. Ben Stein, Bates
6. Oscar Pena, Bowdoin
7. Nick Lebedoff, Williams
8. Jeremy Weinberger, Williams
9. Andrew Thomson, Midd
10. Jeremy Eckardt, TCNJ

1. Koenig/Lerner, Amherst
2. Farah/Thomson, Midd
3. Stein/Rupasinghe, Bates
4. Feldman/Yahng, Trinity (CT)
5. Pena/White, Bowdoin
6. Chaplin/Thacher, Williams

West
1. Liberty-Point, Cruz
2. Phillips, Tyler
3. Wang, CMS
4. Frey, Trinity (TX)
5. Yook, Chapman
6. Giuffrida, CLU
7. Erani, CMS
8. Kamel, Cruz
9. Moshevich, Whitman
10. Meyer, P-P

1. Schils/Wang, CMS
2. Kamel/Vartabedian, Cruz
3. Liberty-Point/Gendelman, Cruz
4. Cocanougher/Kowal, Trinity (TX)
5. Reading/Spearman, Redlands
6. Phillips/Ashlock, Tyler

If you can find any discrepancies please let me know...May have missed a few things.

#4 Williams at #10 Redlands Match Preview

1. Chaplin/Thacher vs. Reading/Spearman
2. Lebedoff/Petrie vs. Hammond/Wong
3. Shallcross/Weinberger vs. Fashouer/Trippel

1. Nick Lebedoff vs. Cameron Spearman
2. Jeremy Weinberger vs. Mike Reading
3. Rick Devlin vs. Matt Liebman
4. Will Petrie vs. Chris Trippel
5. Kevin Shallcross vs. Aron Ouye
6. Karol Furmaga vs. Jeff Hammond

I'm going to call an upset in this match. I don't think Williams is as good as Midd or Amherst this year and it's up to them to prove me wrong by beating Redlands comfortably. Both of these teams pride themselves on singles and doubles depth. I like Redlands to come out on top in doubles with wins at 1 and 2 and I would expect Williams to answer at 3 dubs keeping themselves in the match. Spearman should take care of Lebedoff and despite 2 losses for Weinberger, I would expect him to be able to win at 2. Devlin could provide Williams last point in this match. Hammond has been nearly untouchable at 6 this year and Trippel and Ouye are tough competitors. I think Redlands should be able to take 2 of the matches between 4 and 6 to give themselves an upset victory. Definitely a real test for Williams and we will see what they are made of this season.

Thursday Results

Salisbury defeated Christopher Newport 6-3
UC Santa Cruz defeated Gustavus 5-4
Williams defeated Cal Lu 7-2
DePauw defeated Whitman 7-2
Chicago defeated Carleton 7-2

Redlands easily defeats Gustavus

Redlands sweeps doubles and wins 7-2.

Box Score

#6 Middlebury at #3 CMS Match Preview

1. Farah/Thomson vs. Schils/Wang
2. Lee/Olson vs. Erani/Wu
3. Bonfiglio/Peters vs. Keiffer/MacColl

1. Conrad Olson vs. Lawrence Wang
2. Andrew Thomson vs. Robbie Erani
3. Andrew Lee vs. Mikey Lim
4. Andrew Peters vs. Russell Brockett
5. Peter Odell vs. Victor Chien
6. Derrick Angle vs. Ronald Wu

A match between two Division 3 Powerhouses, but given the conditions and location of the match, the edge immediately has to be thrown to CMS before the match begins. Midd has been traditionally during Spring Break in doubles and given CMS' outstanding doubles play recently, you have to like the Stags to win at least 2 if not all 3 doubles points. The singles will be a real battle top to bottom. Just looking at the matchups, I like Middlebury at 1 and CMS at 2. Middlebury should also take care of business at #3, but I like CMS at the bottom three spots. I think they are very talented at the 4 through 6 positions and very tough to beat. I'll take CMS 6-3 in this one. I just don't see an upsetting happening this time for Middlebury.

Current At-Large Situation (Important Please Read)

I was beginning to prepare for Bracketology this upcoming Sunday and I stumbled upon the NCAA Handbook for 2009. I noticed something very interesting concerning the selection process.

Most of you are familiar with the Pool A, B and C System. Pool A is comprised of teams who win their conference. In 2008, there were 26 Auto Qualifiers (Pool A). This year, a bunch of formerly Independent schools formed the Northern Athletics Conference. They now receive an AQ along with the other 26 spots. So therefore, 27 teams qualify through Pool A.

Last Year, 8 teams qualified through Pool B. These are teams who are Independents or teams who play in conferences that don't have Auto Bids to the tournament. This is typically a pretty weak pool with the exception of a few teams, most notably Santa Cruz.

Here is the bad part...Instead of making the field 42 or taking a spot away from Pool B, the NCAA committee decided to take away a spot from Pool C. Instead of 7 teams qualifying through Pool C, there are now only 6 spots for At-Large teams. Pool C is for teams from AQ conferences who don't win their conference. Last year, because of this selection process, Amherst who was ranked #15 in the country, did not qualify for the 41-team tournament. I understand that giving everyone a fair chance is important and ratios must be maintained, but how about getting the best teams in the tournament. The way things are lined up right now, the #17 team is not making the tournament.

I'm going to say publicly that I believe Pool B and Pool C should be combined. Good Pool B teams can qualify as well as deserving Pool C teams. Give this entire Pool 14 spots. Whether or not this issue will be addressed for the current year is unknown. Very good teams like Trinity (CT), DePauw, Chicago and Cal Lutheran could miss the tournament, whereas teams like Wisconsin-Whitewater, Chapman and Vassar could make the tournament simply because they are Pool B teams. I'd like to get as much support as possible on this issue because I think it's very important and our NCAA tournament should be comprised of the best teams in the country.

Right now the AL pool is as follows...

#1 Wash U (UAA #2)
#2 Midd (NESCAC #2)
#3 Amherst (NESCAC #3)
#4 Redlands (SCIAC #2)
#5 Bowdoin (NESCAC #4)
#6 Carnegie Mellon (UAA #3)

#7 Trinity (CT) (NESCAC #5)
#8 DePauw (SCAC #2)
#9 Denison (NCAC #2)
#10 Chicago (UAA #4)

I think the top 5 pretty much have their spots locked up barring some very unforeseen circumstances. I also would consider Chicago pretty much out of it after losing to DePauw today unless they pull off a miracle victory against Wash U or Emory. Trinity (CT) is in a tough spot because they have so many hard matches. They will need to upset someone above them to get in. If they beat Williams, Amherst or Midd, they could take over the #6 spot. DePauw and CMU will most likely play each other in GLCA semis and the loser is probably out of the AL pool unless CMU beats Kenyon this weekend. If DePauw beats Trinity (TX) in SCAC Finals, Trinity (TX) probably won't make it due to their lack of wins from a weak schedule. Still a lot of tennis to be played before anything is determined. Too hard to call right now.

#18 DePauw vs. #20 Chicago

Poll results are dead even right now at 29-29. Very important match tomorrow for a number of reasons...

1. Denison beat Chicago. If Chicago beats DePauw, Denison takes over the #18 spot in the country and moves into the #8 At-large spot for the NCAA Tourney, only 1 team out of the tournament.

2. If this is the case, Denison would then most likely earn the #3 seed for the GLCA tournament, therefore avoiding Kenyon in the semis and giving them a chance to beat a highly-ranked Carnegie Mellon team. DePauw would then have to play Kenyon in the semis instead as the #4 seed at GLCA.

3. If DePauw wins this, they add a quality win to their resume and could move ahead of Trinity (CT) for the 7th and final At-Large bid at this moment in time. If they lose, they will be behind both Chicago and Denison in the At-Large pool for the tournament and will most likely need to win their conference tournament to make NCAAs.

D3Tennis.com Team Rankings March 24, 2009

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

#8 Gustavus Adolphus at #5 UC Santa Cruz Match Preview

1. Paukert/Tomasek vs. Kamel/Vartabedian
2. Burdakin/Koppel vs. Gendelman/Liberty-Point
3. Clark/Hansen vs. Mark-Griffin/Ortiz

1. Charlie Paukert vs. Max Liberty-Point
2. Mike Burdakin vs. Jared Kamel
3. Ben Tomasek vs. Max Ortiz
4. Patrick Clark vs. Ilya Gendelman
5. Nick Hansen vs. Colin Mark-Griffin
6. Ryan Hallsten vs. Marc Vartabedian

Kauss didn't play today against Williams so I'm assuming he won't be magically recovered from whatever ailment he has soon enough to play in this match. That being said, without him, Gustavus doesn't stand a chance in this match. The match has moved outdoors which swings the advantage massively in Cruz's favor and GAC is without their star player who could give them 2 points in this match and move everyone down a spot on a not very deep GAC team. I would expect Gustavus to keep themselves in it with 1 doubles win, but after that it should be all Cruz. I am going to predict a singles sweep for Santa Cruz on their way to an 8-1 win. The only spots GAC could potentially win are 1, 2 and 3. After that they are just overmatched. Even if they manage to steal a singles match or two, it won't be enough to beat UCSC.

Tuesday Results

DePauw drops 2 of the doubles but comes back to beat Carleton 5-4 with 4 routine singles wins.

Emory defeats Kalamazoo 8-1 and the Goodwins lose to Brown/Jadun of Kalamazoo.

Williams defeats Gustavus 7-2. Kauss did not play for GAC. Any info on that?

Midd defeats Redlands 5-4

Incredible Match Result

Yetserday Luther defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater 5-4 after being swept in doubles and losing 4 first sets. This has to be the result of the year so far. Two 7-5 in the Third and a 6-4 in the Third to come back and win the match.

Box Score

#4 Middlebury at #10 Redlands Match Preview

1. Farah/Thompson vs. Reading/Spearman
2. Bonfiglio/Mason vs. Hammond/Wong
3. Lee/Olson vs. Fashouer/Trippel

1. Conrad Olson vs. Cameron Spearman
2. Andrew Thomson vs. Mike Reading
3. Andrew Lee vs. Matt Liebman
4. Andrew Peters vs. Aron Ouye
5. Peter Odell vs. Chris Trippel
6. Derrick Angle vs. Jeff Hammond

I expect another very tough match for Middlebury tomorrow. Last year Redlands swept doubles and Midd swept singles. I'd be very surprised to see that again. I like Midd at 1 and 3 doubles and Redlands should take 2 doubles pretty comfortably. Midd has too much game near the top of the lineup in singles, but I have to give the edge to Redlands near the bottom. The Bulldogs always fight hard and I'd be very surprised to see them go down easily. I think Midd will most likely come out on top in the end, but an upset is not impossible. I like a 5-4 for Middlebury, but their 1 through 3 singles have to step up to make this happen because they are overmatched near the bottom of the lineup. Expect a battle tomorrow.

Whitman Tennis Blog

Coach Northam of Whitman provides live updates of matches through Twitter on whitmantennis.blogspot.com

Also a lot of in-depth stuff about their team for those interested.

Chicago beats Whitman 7-2

Santa Cruz beats Middlebury 5-4

Gustavus defeats Pomona-Pitzer 8-1

Schedule for the Week 3/23 - 3/29 and Weekly Preview

Monday: 3 big matches, Middlebury at Redlands Preview
Tuesday: 4 big matches, Gustavus at Santa Cruz Preview
Wednesday: Team Rankings (I'm pushing them back a day so I can factor in Tuesday results), 3 matches, Middlebury at CMS Preview
Thursday: 5 matches, Williams at Redlands Preview
Friday: Regional Individual Rankings, 4 matches, Williams at CMS Preview
Saturday: 2 matches
Sunday: Bracketology Issue #1, 2 matches

The most important week of the Spring to date. We get our first real look at Middlebury, Williams and Gustavus. This week features 8 matches between current top 10 teams as well a host of other contests that will have huge implications on rankings and NCAA standings. Middlebury and Williams both have brutal weeks and we will see how they adjust to the California weather conditions. Any updates that can be provided during the matches on the blog would be greatly appreciated by everyone I'm sure. I'll try to be on a lot this week constantly giving updates on all the results as soon as they are available. Definitely an exciting week with very important matches running through next Sunday. I'm also really looking forward to publishing the first issue of Bracketology in a week. Check back daily for coverage of all the matches.

Weekend Recap

Not a lot of action this week, but the highlight was a clash between two top 5 teams in the finals of the 3rd annual Stag-Hen Invitational. CMS easily took care of both Amherst and Trinity (CT) solidifying their place once again as one of the best teams in the country. Amherst had a good California swing and obviously Trinity (CT) has to be disappointed with their loss to Bowdoin.

In other action, #1 Emory took care of Kenyon and DePauw. The Kenyon match was fairly close and the Lords have the Eagles all they could handle before Emory came out on top with a 5-4 win. Today, despite an 8-1 loss, DePauw played Emory very tough and there were several close matches. In other action, Carnegie Mellon bolstered their At-Large resume with a dominant win over Washington & Lee before falling to a very good Johns Hopkins team 6-3. Hopkins will most likely move into the top 12 with this win today.

I'll be posting a schedule for this week as well an a weekly preview shortly.

Stag-Hen Invitational

CMS vs. Trinity (CT) and Pomona-Pitzer vs. Amherst in the semis tomorrow.

All comments about Stag-Hen go here. Amherst played none of their starters today. Coach Garner has done a great job scouting his competition as well as resting his top guys for when he really needs them.

CMS defeats Trinity(CT) and Amherst easily to win their 2nd title in 3 years.

Regional Individual Rankings

I'm going to hold off on these until next Friday for two reasons...

1. The ITA just published them Tuesday and I think they would end up being very similar.

2. A lot of teams haven't played enough matches (particularly Northeast) to effectively gauge players.

Look for Individuals next Friday.

#13 Carnegie Mellon at #21 Washington & Lee Match Preview

1. Nemerov/Raghavan vs. Gaffney/Watson
2. Liu/Spero vs. McCardell/Meyers
3. Mactaggart/Ljuboja vs. Becht/Brooke

1. Alex Nemerov vs. Brent Meyers
2. James Muliawan vs. Jeremy Becht
3. Bobby Mactaggart vs. Jamie McCardell
4. Jon Spero vs. Ben Fass
5. Yiran Liu vs. Jonathan Gaffney
6. Jeremy King vs. Michael Freeman

Washington & Lee is a very deceiving team this year, but I think they need to come up big in doubles if they want to pull this upset. CMU was decent in California during doubles and W&L was terrible against Mary Wash. Given those results, I think I have to give the edge to CMU in doubles. W&L traditionally plays very good dubs, but I think this year could be an exception. I would expect CMU to get at least three singles wins near the top of the lineup to be able to close the match. The bottom should have some very tough contests, and it's very unpredictable what will happen. I have to take CMU with a 5-4 or 6-3 win, but W&L could change the complexion of the match if they jump on top in doubles.

#9 Kenyon at #1 Emory Match Preview

1. Greenberg/Vandenberg vs. Goodwin/Goodwin
2. Becker/Brody vs. Boren/Caplan
3. Piskacek/Polster vs. Kaufman/Lopp

1. Mike Greenberg vs. Michael Goodwin
2. Tomas Piskacek vs. Chris Goodwin
3. Charlie Brody vs. Mark Boren
4. Jeremy Polster vs. Colin Egan
5. Will Vandenberg vs. Oliver Lopp
6. Daniel Becker vs. Chris Redmond

This match is as simple as how well Kenyon plays. If they find their form that they had in the first round of Indoors, than we can expect a close match. If they play like they did during their two California matches, than this could turn into a very quick 8-1 or 9-0. I'd be surprised if Kenyon comes out with the doubles teams I have above because they've been swept twice in a row. They need to focus on the bottom of the lineup in doubles because no combo they have can take the Goodwins. Kenyon needs to manage one doubles point. I would expect a win from Greenberg and I would also expect Chris Goodwin to win at #2. Kenyon's bottom of the lineup needs to step up for them. Egan and Lopp have been great this season. I think Kenyon has a chance at #6, but after that I like Emory to take the other 3. I'm taking Emory with a pretty routine 6-3 or 7-2 victory.

Two Observations

1. An unbelievable match between Bowdoin and Trinity (CT) yesterday. Check out the boxscore with the CTO D3 link on the right side of this page. There is no love lost between these two teams but it definitely was a great match and Trinity (CT) is definitely for real this year.

2. I'm very surprised by the current poll results. I guess I expected Santa Cruz to win but not by this margin. I think Kenyon and Gustavus are both very good teams and they both have beaten the Slugs this season.

Salisbury at #20 Cal Lutheran Match Preview

1. Burtzlaff/Thomas vs. Wetterholm/Hunt
2. Barnas/Nottage vs. Karsant/Lassila
3. Lupinetti/Robinson vs. Culpepper/Giuffrida

1. Scott Burtzlaff vs. Andrew Giuffrida
2. Evan Thomas vs. Paul Wetterholm
3. David Lupinetti vs. Forrest Hunt
4. Daniel Barnas vs. Ryan Lassila
5. Andrew Nottage vs. John Karsant
6. Sasha Felikson vs. Jordan Culpepper

The winner of this match is taking a good first step towards stealing an At-Large bid for the NCAA Tournament. The loser can probably count themselves out. This is a good chance for Salisbury to knock off a ranked team and potentially move into the top 25. They have had some very tough losses so far this year but this would a great win for them. Cal Lutheran is coming off a hard fought match against Amherst. They are looking to rebound by beating a good team and securing their place in the top 25. I think the Cal Lu's doubles are very good and they should win 2 of the 3 doubles matches. I like Salisbury at the bottom of the lineup, but Cal Lu near the top. I think the match could come down to 3 and 4 singles and I like Cal Lu in a 5-4 win. A reminder that live stats can be found on SUseagulls.com.

ITA Rankings March 17, 2009

Can be found here...

http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings/0809D3Men.htm


Team rankings are almost identical.

D3Tennis.com Team Rankings March 17, 2009

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

Brief Weekly Preview

We have an interesting week ahead of us highlighted by the beginning of Amherst's spring season and topped off with an Emory-Kenyon match at the end of the week. Amherst begins with Cal Lutheran who is a very dangerous team. They have the potential to give Amherst a run for their money if the Jeffs aren't sharp. The following day, Amherst takes on a very intense Redlands team who is looking to solidify a place in the top 10 with an upset. This is definitely a match to keep an eye on.

Overshadowed a little bit by Amherst, Trinity (CT) will also begin their season. They were a darkhorse last year and they are hoping to make more noise this upcoming season. Their match against Bowdoin is another one to keep an eye on. These two teams and CMS will collide in the Stag-Hen Invitational at the end of the week. The field is weaker than past years but a potential final between Amherst and CMS could mean some great action.

Over the weekend, three important matches will also be taking place. CMU has two tough ones coming off their California swing. I would expect them to beat W&L but their match with Hopkins will definitely be a tight one. This will be the first real D3 test for Hopkins and JHU could be considered the #1 sleeper this year looking to crack the top 10. They will need to respond well on Sunday. The #1 ranked Emory Eagles will host Kenyon on Saturday. The Lords had two poor results in California and they are now getting an opportunity to dethrone the best team in the country. Emory should be too much in this match and if Kenyon doesn't bring their best stuff this could be a blowout.

Schedule for the Week 3/16-3/22

Monday: 1 match
Tuesday: Team Rankings, ITA Rankings, 3 matches
Wednesday: 3 matches, Salisbury at Cal Lutheran Preview
Thursday: Salisbury at Cal Lutheran, Kenyon at Emory Preview
Friday: Regional Individual Rankings and Stag-Hen Invitational Day 1, CMU at W&L Preview
Saturday: 2 matches and Stag-Hen Day 2
Sunday: 2 matches

Weekend Recap

To begin, we got our first look at national championship contender Middlebury. They beat up on some decent competition only barely surrendering a match. I thought that Bates could give them a tough time but this turned out not to be the case. Bates is really hurting from the loss of Shadowen and they will need to work hard to stay in the top 25. Midd is looking good but won't be tested again until their California swing.

Mary Washington recovered from it's disappointing early season results with a dominant 7-2 win against an inexperienced W&L team. W&L is not top 20 material this year and the Eagles really beat them solidly. Mary Washington is looking to get themselves back into the conversation for top 10 in the nation.

The most interesting results of the weekend were the two matches played by Redlands on Saturday. They began the day with an unbelievable match against UT-Tyler. Tyler managed to win three 3-setters after being down 2-1 in doubles to shock a very hot Redlands team. This win was huge for Tyler and will give them confidence going forward. Redlands was able to recover later in the day to defeat a very good Bowdoin team. Bowdoin had the top 10 in the country on their racket if they won this match. Redlands has an advantage by playing every match at home and their tough schedule clearly pays off in the development of their players. I'm really looking forward to their Wednesday match against Amherst.

Rankings 10-17 Discussion

Didn't put a lot of thought into this but here's what I have right now for the 10-17 range...

Trinity(TX)
Redlands
Bowdoin
CMU
Tyler
Mary Wash
Hopkins
Trinity (CT)

The interesting thing is there is no correct answer to this. You can make an argument for so many different orders. I can do my best to defend my order but obviously there are flaws. I'm pretty unsure and I'm posting this to get some feedback before actual rankings on Tuesday.

Hopkins and Trinity(CT) haven't played anyone yet. You could say it's unfair to penalize them but I don't know who they should be ahead of. We will get a look at Trinity (CT) on Tues and Hopkins next Sunday.

Mary Wash has played but not beaten anyone. They shouldn't be ahead of teams who have actually beaten someone.

Trinity(TX) has only played Indoors and they don't have another tough match until Tyler on April 4th. Should they be protected because of one win against Mary Wash? They play a weak schedule.

After that things get really tricky and like I said there is really no right order.

Weekly Recap

The week started with some poor results from UT-Tyler, blowing 3-0 against Bowdoin and then losing 2 of 3 doubles to CMU in an eventual 6-3 loss that was really never close. They redeemed themselves today against Redlands but I won't be discussing that in this recap. We then got our first look at the second ranked Bears and they looked very dominant with good wins against Pomona-Pitzer and Bowdoin. I thought Bowdoin would fair better than 8-1 but Wash U proved to be too good.

A nailbiter at Redlands on Thursday with Redlands defeating CMU in a 3rd set breaker with the match tied 4-4. This was a very hard fought match between two evenly matched teams. CMU was a little flat the day after losing to Bowdoin by a score of 7-2. The two matches that everyone was looking forward to also took place on Friday. Kenyon traveled to Santa Cruz to take on the Slugs for a second time this season. Cruz was dominant from the start sweeping doubles and dominating the bottom of the lineup for a very routine 7-2 win.

CMS looked great over the weekend with 3 wins and close fight against UPenn. They took on #1 ranked Emory at home but fell by a 5-4 score. Emory really was ahead wire to wire and the score appears closer than the actual match was. The 10-18 range in the rankings just got messy today with Tyler's win against Redlands. The next few weeks have a ton of action so hopefully we will figure out how good each team really is.

Weekend Scores

Middlebury d. NYU 9-0
UT-Tyler d. Redlands 5-4
Mary Washington d. Washington & Lee 7-2
Redlands.d Bowdoin 6-3
Emory d. Pomona-Pitzer 9-0
Middlebury d. Bates 9-0

#1 Emory at #3 CMS Match Preview

1. Goodwin/Goodwin vs. Schils/Wang
2. Boren/Caplan vs. Erani/Wu
3. Kaufman/Lopp vs. Keiffer/MacColl

1. Michael Goodwin vs. Lawrence Wang
2. Chris Goodwin vs. Robbie Erani
3. Mark Boren vs. Mikey Lim
4. Colin Egan vs. Russell Brockett
5. Oliver Lopp vs. Eric MacColl
6. Chris Redmond vs. Ronald Wu

If Emory is going to lose a regular season match this year, this will be it. CMS has been on fire at home during their last three matches and you can be sure they will be gunning for Emory. They had a great doubles performance last time winning 2 of 3 and I would expect them to do it again with their home crowd behind them. The Goodwins should win at 1 to keep Emory in the match. This would put CMS in a position to win, but the problem is Emory is just too strong everywhere. CMS should take 6 and possibly 5 but I don't see them winning singles anywhere else. The match at #2 should be a good match between arguably the two best freshmen in the country. Emory should win 1 through 5 singles to win the match. I would predict another 6-3 win for Emory showing again that they can win under any circumstances.

#6 Kenyon at #9 UC Santa Cruz Match Preview

1. Greenberg/Vandenberg vs. Kamel/Vartabedian
2. Becker/Brody vs. Gendelman/Liberty-Point
3. Piskacek/Polster vs. Mark-Griffin/Ortiz

1. Michael Greenberg vs. Max Liberty-Point
2. Tomas Piskacek vs, jared Kamel
3. Jeremy Polster vs. Max Ortiz
4. Charlie Brody vs. Ilya Gendelman
5. Will Vandenberg vs. Colin Mark-Griffin
6. Daniel Becker vs. Marc Vartabedian

A huge early season match between two team who have seen each other before. Kenyon won a shocker in Minnesota to get the best of the Slugs but now Santa Cruz is looking for revenge on their home courts. Kenyon faltered in a match against CMS a few days ago so they are also looking to get back on track and find their way into the top 5. Given the results of the last match and the home court advantage, I have to give the edge to Santa Cruz in doubles and I think they will take a 2-1 lead with wins at 1 and 2. The top 2 singles spots I'm going to give to Kenyon and this would put them ahead 3-2. Santa Cruz should have the edge at both 5 and 6 with the results from the last match and this would mean they only need 1 of 2 in the 3 and 4 spots. However, I think Kenyon is strong here and should be able to win the top 4 spots to beat Santa Cruz and take the match 5-4.

#14 Carnegie Mellon at #12 Redlands Match Preview

1. Nemerov/Raghavan vs. Reading/Spearman
2. Liu/Spero vs. Hammond/Wong
3. Ljuboja/Mactaggart vs. Fashouer/Trippel

1. James Muliawan vs Mike Reading
2. Alex Nemerov vs. Cameron Spearman
3. Bobby Mactaggart vs. Matt Liebman
4. Jon Spero vs. Aron Ouye
5. Yiran Liu vs. Chris Trippel
6. Jeremy King vs. Keven Wong

Typically Carnegie Mellon has been weak in doubles, however given the results of the last few days, you have to like CMU to come out on top in doubles. Redlands just lost 2 of 3 doubles to a struggling Mary Washington team and CMU won 2 of 3 against Tyler who had swept Bowdoin the day before. The singles are pretty evenly matched, so I think doubles will play a big role in the final outcome of the match. I like CMU at 1, 4, and 6 to take the match, but every singles match is pretty unpredictable. Redlands has been up and down this season, and both of these teams have the potential to blow out the other one on the right day. This could be a big match for NCAA implications, but I'm taking CMU with a 5-4 win.

#2 Wash U vs. #11 Bowdoin Match Preview

1. Cutler/Hoeland vs. Sullivan/White
2. Stein/Woods vs. Cranin/Neely
3. Choradia/Watts vs. Anderson/Caughron

1. John Watts vs. Steve Sullivan
2. Charlie Cutler vs. Oscar Pena
3. Max Woods vs. Alex White
4. Isaac Stein vs. Tyler Anderson
5. Danny Levy vs. Alex Caughron
6. Chris Hoeland vs. Josh Cranin

Given Bowdoin's results against Tyler the other day, you would have to pick Wash U to sweep doubles. The singles should be pretty evenly matched, but I have to give the edge to Wash U. They should take 1 and 2 singles to clinch the match. I would expect a split at the bottom four spots resulting in a 7-2 win for Wash U. If Bowdoin wants to stay in this match, they need to compete in doubles and they can't afford to even go down 2-1 against this good of a team. I'm not sure if Bowdoin has two doubles wins in them, but they will definitely need to bring their A game to even compete with the Bears.

Weekly Scores

Bowdoin d. UT-Tyler 5-4
Carnegie Mellon d. UT-Tyler 6-3
Wash U d. Bowdoin 8-1
Wash U d. Pomona-Pitzer 9-0
Redlands d. Carnegie Mellon 5-4
UT-Tyler d. Pomona-Pitzer 6-3
Santa Cruz d. Kenyon 7-2
Emory d. CMS 5-4
Bowdoin d. CMU 7-2

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 10, 2009

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

Schedule for The Week 3/8 - 3/15

Monday: Bowdoin vs. UT-Tyler
Tuesday: Team Rankings, CMU vs. UT-Tyler, Wash U vs. Bowdoin Match Preview
Wednesday: Wash U vs. Bowdoin, CMU at Redlands Match Preview
Thursday: 2 matches (see calendar), Emory at CMS Preview, Kenyon at Santa Cruz Preview
Friday: 4 big matches , W&L at Mary Wash preview, possible coach or player interview
Saturday: 5 matches
Sunday: Bates at Middlebury and recap of the week

Weekend Scores

Bates d. MIT 7-2
CMS d. Mary Wash 8-1
CMS d. Kenyon 6-3
DePauw d. Kalamazoo 5-4
CMS d. UT-Tyler 8-1
Redlands d. Mary Wash 5-4

Some really interesting results here. I know I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm tempted to call CMS the #2 team in the country right now after their dominance this weekend. Everyone knows they are tough on their home courts, but I don't think anyone was expecting the performances over the past two days. Losing 5 points in 3 matches against three top 20 teams is impressive. DePauw had a somewhat convincing result against Kalamazoo, but I still don't think they've put themselves in a position to move to the top 15. Kalamazoo is still struggling and I don't see a turn around for them in sight. The most surprising result of the weekend was Redlands upsetting UMW. Both teams had been struggling coming into this match but Redlands was able to get a good win. We thought Mary Wash's weakness was their doubles, but they managed to win 2 of 3 and still ended up losing the match. They need to go home and regroup to get their confidence back. They could find themselves ranked outside of the top 15 soon. Redlands has some upcoming tests so we will see how they will look going forward. Exciting week ahead and I'll put out a schedule sometime tomorrow.

#6 Kenyon at #3 CMS Match Preview

1. Greenberg/Vandenberg vs. Schils/Wang
2. Becker/Brody vs. MacColl/Wu
3. Piskacek/Polster vs. Erani/Lim

1. Mike Greenberg vs. Lawrence Wang
2. Tomas Piskacek vs. Robbie Erani
3. Jeremy Polster vs. Russell Brockett
4. Charlie Brody vs. Mikey Lim
5. Will Vandenberg vs. Ronald Wu
6. Daniel Becker vs. Victor Chien

The most anticipated match of the weekend is a rematch of the 3rd-4th match at the National Indoors. This match will take place in a very different setting however and I think it is going to be hard not to pick CMS in this one, but Kenyon is definitely set up to pull off the upset. I think Kenyon has the edge in doubles and I would give them a 2-1 lead after doubles. Greenberg and Piskacek should both win for Kenyon giving them a 4-1 cushion. Erani has the potential to defeat Piskacek but I wouldn't expect it. In the bottom four spots I would expect a singles split resulting in a 6-3 win for Kenyon. CMS may be drained from playing Mary Wash the day before. They also have to play UT-Tyler later that afternoon so put a star by that one because it's a potential upset. Playing three ranked teams in 36 hours is no easy task.

#12 Mary Washington at #16 Redlands Match Preview

1. Loden/Murata vs. Reading/Spearman
2. Dunn/James vs. Hammond/Wong
3. Goff/Parrish vs. Ouye/Trippel

1. John James vs. Michael Reading
2. Randy Loden vs. Cameron Spearman
3. Jason Dunn vs. Aron Ouye
4. Riley Baver vs. Matt Liebman
5. Andrew Frisk vs. Chris Trippel
6. Bryce Parrish vs. Jeff Hammond

These teams are pretty close in ability but I think Mary Washington has the slight edge at almost every spot. Both of these teams have been fairly disappointing so far this year so this is an opportunity for one of them to show that they can beat a good team. Redlands' strength is their doubles and I would expect them to most likely take 2 of the 3 doubles matches. Mary Wash should come right back with wins at 1-2 to take a 3-2 lead. The 3-6 part of the lineup is pretty even and I would expect a 2-2 split in the bottom part. This would give Mary Wash a 5-4 win and confidence heading into the rest of the season.

#12 Mary Washington at #3 CMS Match Preview

1. Loden/Murata vs. Schils/Wang
2. Dunn/James vs. MacColl/Wu
3. Goff/Parrish vs. Erani/Lim

1. John James vs. Lawrence Wang
2. Randy Loden vs. Robbie Erani
3. Jason Dunn vs. Russell Brockett
4. Riley Baver vs. Mikey Lim
5. Andrew Frisk vs. Ronald Wu
6. Bryce Parrish vs. Victor Chien

I don't think Mary Washington's performance at Indoors is a fair representation of the strength of their team. Their doubles is weak compared to other top teams and I expect CMS to capitalize on this and take 2 of 3 doubles match almost for sure. A sweep is certainly not too difficult as well. The singles matches are pretty even all the way through. I think CMS will come out on top in the end, but 4 Mary Wash wins in singles to pull the upset is not out of the question. I think 1 and 2 will be split, but I like CMS at both 3 and 4. I would also expect a split between 5 and 6 singles. I think the Mary Wash guys know they have to step up and prove something, but this CMS team is a little too strong and I'm predicting a 6-3 win for them on Friday.

ITA Team Rankings March 3, 2009

Today the ITA released their first poll of the Spring. The results used in this ranking list are through last Tuesday...

1. Emory University
2. Washington University
3. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
4. Middlebury
5. Williams
6. Amherst
7. Kenyon
8. Gustavus Adophus
9. UC Santa Cruz
10. Trinity University (TX)
11. Bowdoin
12. University of Mary Washington
13. University of Redlands
14. Trinity College
15. Johns Hopkins
16. Carnegie Mellon
17. Depauw University
18. Washington and Lee
19. Whitman College
20. The University of Texas at Tyler
21. Bates College
22. Salisbury
23. Christopher Newport University
24. Denison
25. University of Chicago
26. Skidmore
27. Cal Lutheran
28. Kalamazoo
29. College of New Jersey
30. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
31. Le Tourneau University
32. UW-Whitewater

D3tennis.com Team Rankings March 3, 2009

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

Mary Washington defeats Pomona-Pitzer 8-1

I called this the match of two teams trying to prove something. To me, neither of them really did their job today. Mary Washington was dominant in doubles and despite winning 5 of 6 singles, they struggled in almost every match. Pomona-Pitzer is trying to prove that they belong in the same conversation as other teams looking to crack the top 25. Two 8-1 losses in a row certainly don't send this message. Both teams have more chances very soon, but as of now they both leave the nation unimpressed. Scores can be found on the College Tennis Online Division 3 Page.

Someone also requested a wrap-up of this weekend... We had Washington & Lee win two nailbiters against Salisbury and CNU in the Atlantic South, both by a 5-4 score. In the Central, we had DePauw look very dominant in a match against a decent Luther team. In the Northeast, Skidmore looked very good and defeated Vassar 9-0 and followed with a 6-3 victory over a struggling TCNJ squad. Out west, Cal Lutheran put themselves in the conversation for the top 25 by crushing Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday.

This upcoming weekend has some really huge matches so stay tuned for more coverage this week. There won't be much movement in the rankings as far as the top 12 are concerned, but expect to see a Redlands drop and possibly some movement in the 20-25 range. The ITA also releases their first rankings sometime tomorrow and I'll post them as soon as they are available.