Regional Preview: Cruz

The one thing Cruz cannot do is overlook Pomona-Pitzer. I think they are too well-coached to do that though, so I like the Slugs to take care of business fairly comfortable. An amazing season for the Hens, but as usual I think this is going to be about Cruz and CMS. On CMS’ side of the bracket, Tyler can play as shown by their win against Whitman, but they don’t have the personnel to win more than a match against CMS. The showdown on Saturday should be a great one.

The shocking thing about Cruz’s win against CMS during the regular season was not that they won, but they did so after being down 2-1. I don’t see that happening again, especially with Erani back in the lineup for the Stags. I like 1 to Cruz and 2 to CMS, and that 3 doubles match will be a huge swing point. Singles is just about even with the exception of a CMS edge at 6. These 2 have played some fantastic matches throughout the years and I expect another one, but I can’t remember a time when the Stags won against Cruz on the road. On paper, I think it’s clear that CMS is the better team, but coaching and home court can’t really be measured and my gut tells me that Pybas and Koenig feed off the home court energy and put the team on their backs in this one. I really like their chances of getting 4 points for their team and I don’t normally pick against “the better team,” but I’m going to do it here. Cruz has had a lot of great players, but Pybas has to be up there with the best and I’m sure he wants to go out in style. CMS desperately wants a shot at the national title on their home courts, but knowing these 2 programs, I feel like UCSC just has that ability to dig deeper. They know how to win grinding matches and that’s exactly what this is going to be. I’ll go with Cruz 5-4 in an instant classic.