Here are both a quick top eight update and preview of matches for this weekend.
1. Amherst - Beat Williams in the fall, not starting till late next week.
2. Williams - Won 2010 NCAAs, not starting till late next week.
3. Emory - After winning Indoors, these guys seem to be the obvious top team without the NESCAC consideration. Match vs. Denison mid-next week may prove interesting, but nothing till then.
4. U. of Chicago - It seems to me that these top 4 are pretty clear. Chicago lost to Emory but beat up on Denison and #13 Chapman. Chicago doesn't play this weekend.
5.Denison - They've beaten who they're supposed to: Carnegie Mellon and W&L. However, they got crushed at Indoors by Chicago. They don't play this weekend, but their test will come next week on their spring break trip to Hilton Head vs. Emory and to a lesser extent, vs. Rhodes. We'll see if Denison can stand up to a top 4 team. I'd like to see them play PP right now, or Gustavus.
6. Pomona-Pitzer - PP takes on #26 UCSC and #25 Trinity (TX). While coming off of a first four 9-0 wins over #18 Mary Wash, Whittier, Occidental and #30 Vassar, these other top teams in the West may cause PP some more problems. It's my opinion that Mary Washington is a bit overrated at this time due to their losses to Chapman and PP. I'm guessing that PP drops a match here and there this weekend and loses their perfect record, but they should come out on top. Cruz got a couple matches against a very strong CMS and easily took down Redlands. Incidentally, the #26 UCSC match vs. #13 Chapman looks to be a good one. This is Cruz's chance to make the break into the top 20 this year. Trinity has a lot of returning players, but their #1 Jamison hasn't been playing due to injury. PP should make short work of them.
7. Gustavus - After the Indoors match, obviously Carnegie moves up above GAC. GAC faces UW Whitewater in coming few days, but I don't see an upset. There's nowhere for GAC to gain redemption till Mary Wash, Midd, Emory and Williams in Atlanta starting March 27.
8. Carnegie Mellon - (should be at #7) I'd like to see these guys play PP in order to sort out these top 8 rankings, but CMU isn't making a Cali trip this year. Nothing exciting this weekend, but like GAC, they'll head to Atlanta to meet some other good teams (I'm looking forward to those Johns Hopkins results).
So, eyes are on the west this weekend. PP may live up to its #6 ranking and continue its destruction of pretty decent teams. Whitworth and Linfield meet for the first time to in the back-and-forth battle for the Northwest AQ. Redlands, Pomona Pitzer and CMS all face Trinity. I'll be looking at the PP and CMS scores in particular to see where a brand new CMS team will find itself in the rankings come April and May. Trinity has to prove itself out in the West now to gain Pool C status, and UCSC vs. Chapman will have big Pool B ramifications.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
What's new...out WEST
ITA Rankings for the West so far (post NCAAs 2010):
1. Pomona-Pitzer
2. Chapman
3. Redlands
4. UT Tyler
5. Trinity
Well, there are the rankings...but my opinion - these are going to change. Some teams out west have a few matches under their belt, and I'm going to put my best foot forward and try to come up with some big teams to watch.
Pomona-Pitzer is still the #6 team in the country, and it deserves to stay there. They may have graduated their former #1 Finicane (08 NCAA Singles Champ), but they have 3 new freshmen in their lineup at #3, 5 and 6. They took down the #18 Mary Wash 9-0 last week in a convincing win, and they are, like NESCAC's Williams, one of the premier teams in the country in terms of team culture and coaching staff. They'll have a regional and national test of their lineup this week with Vassar, UC Santa Cruz, Trinity and Skidmore - all at home.
Speaking of UCSC: these girls are tough and fiery. They've gotten tougher since last year in depth, and #1 Mokhtari could beat anyone on a good day.
CMS brought in a ridiculous number of players this year. They're good; no they're really good. Cornell transfer Kristin Lim won the National ITA DIII Singles Title last fall, and only PP's Jamie Solomon and UCSC's Mokhtari have taken a set from her. In the same conference (across the street, after all) as PP, the matchup between these two teams will be closely watched. CMS is untested as of yet - only UCSC has taken a couple matches from them in dual matches, but they've yet to play a top ranked team.
Chapman returns with pretty much the same lineup that gave them the #2 spot in the West region. Lewis is a senior and is always a tough opponent. The team beat Mary Wash 5-4 and shows to be a bit behind PP's 9-0 win.
Redlands graduated a bunch of players, and they lost 7-2 already to UCSC. This may be a rebuilding year for them.
Trinity is athletic and talented as always. They come from a tough conference and have a hard time qualifying for NCAAs, but they're a team that should not be underestimated. Their first real test will be against PP on Saturday.
UT Tyler will have benchmarking matches against Chapman and Redlands on their California trip this weekend.
Top teams from the Northwest look to be Whitworth and Linfield. The two teams play each other on Saturday.
West looks to be tough this year. Pomona-Pitzer and CMS are going to host the NCAA Men's and Women's Championships, so there is a lot of hype out here this year.
1. Pomona-Pitzer
2. Chapman
3. Redlands
4. UT Tyler
5. Trinity
Well, there are the rankings...but my opinion - these are going to change. Some teams out west have a few matches under their belt, and I'm going to put my best foot forward and try to come up with some big teams to watch.
Pomona-Pitzer is still the #6 team in the country, and it deserves to stay there. They may have graduated their former #1 Finicane (08 NCAA Singles Champ), but they have 3 new freshmen in their lineup at #3, 5 and 6. They took down the #18 Mary Wash 9-0 last week in a convincing win, and they are, like NESCAC's Williams, one of the premier teams in the country in terms of team culture and coaching staff. They'll have a regional and national test of their lineup this week with Vassar, UC Santa Cruz, Trinity and Skidmore - all at home.
Speaking of UCSC: these girls are tough and fiery. They've gotten tougher since last year in depth, and #1 Mokhtari could beat anyone on a good day.
CMS brought in a ridiculous number of players this year. They're good; no they're really good. Cornell transfer Kristin Lim won the National ITA DIII Singles Title last fall, and only PP's Jamie Solomon and UCSC's Mokhtari have taken a set from her. In the same conference (across the street, after all) as PP, the matchup between these two teams will be closely watched. CMS is untested as of yet - only UCSC has taken a couple matches from them in dual matches, but they've yet to play a top ranked team.
Chapman returns with pretty much the same lineup that gave them the #2 spot in the West region. Lewis is a senior and is always a tough opponent. The team beat Mary Wash 5-4 and shows to be a bit behind PP's 9-0 win.
Redlands graduated a bunch of players, and they lost 7-2 already to UCSC. This may be a rebuilding year for them.
Trinity is athletic and talented as always. They come from a tough conference and have a hard time qualifying for NCAAs, but they're a team that should not be underestimated. Their first real test will be against PP on Saturday.
UT Tyler will have benchmarking matches against Chapman and Redlands on their California trip this weekend.
Top teams from the Northwest look to be Whitworth and Linfield. The two teams play each other on Saturday.
West looks to be tough this year. Pomona-Pitzer and CMS are going to host the NCAA Men's and Women's Championships, so there is a lot of hype out here this year.
What's new...up in the NORTHEAST
What's famous in the Northeast? Oh yeah, the NESCAC.
...and here are our top 5 preseason rankings from the ITA:
1. Amherst
2. Williams
3. Tufts
4. Middlbury
5. Bowdoin
And oh, Amherst, Williams, Tufts, Midd, Bowdoin...yup, they're all the same conference.
Let's start with Amherst - this a seriously talented team. They may have graduated their 2010 #1 (Berkes), but they replaced her with a freshman from California, Jordan Brewer. Brewer won the 2010 DIII ITA Northeast singles title - and she's defeated Alotta of Williams three times now. Amherst also returns Danzig and the King sisters at the top of their lineup. More importantly, Amherst defeated 2010 National Team Champs in their fall season. Historically impressive performers in fall, they've displayed the talent to take the DIII title but fallen short recently during the NCAA tournament. They'll be starting up their spring season March 15.
Williams. This team embodies the meaning of team - they're fighters, competitors, positive. They stay together and are well coached. If anyone can defend a title year after year, this team can. They graduated their #1 Grace Baljon as well, but returner Alotta has stepped up well so far. The lineup includes three new players, Kathleen Elkins and Kara Shoemaker at #5 & 6 singles and Lindsay Thygesen at #3 dubs. March 19 marks the beginning of their spring season.
Tufts has Julia Browne, 2010 NCAA National Singles Champion. She'll be a force.
I'll wait to comment on Tufts, Middlebury and Bowdoin - along with other teams in the Northeast - as their seasons get going.
...and here are our top 5 preseason rankings from the ITA:
1. Amherst
2. Williams
3. Tufts
4. Middlbury
5. Bowdoin
And oh, Amherst, Williams, Tufts, Midd, Bowdoin...yup, they're all the same conference.
Let's start with Amherst - this a seriously talented team. They may have graduated their 2010 #1 (Berkes), but they replaced her with a freshman from California, Jordan Brewer. Brewer won the 2010 DIII ITA Northeast singles title - and she's defeated Alotta of Williams three times now. Amherst also returns Danzig and the King sisters at the top of their lineup. More importantly, Amherst defeated 2010 National Team Champs in their fall season. Historically impressive performers in fall, they've displayed the talent to take the DIII title but fallen short recently during the NCAA tournament. They'll be starting up their spring season March 15.
Williams. This team embodies the meaning of team - they're fighters, competitors, positive. They stay together and are well coached. If anyone can defend a title year after year, this team can. They graduated their #1 Grace Baljon as well, but returner Alotta has stepped up well so far. The lineup includes three new players, Kathleen Elkins and Kara Shoemaker at #5 & 6 singles and Lindsay Thygesen at #3 dubs. March 19 marks the beginning of their spring season.
Tufts has Julia Browne, 2010 NCAA National Singles Champion. She'll be a force.
I'll wait to comment on Tufts, Middlebury and Bowdoin - along with other teams in the Northeast - as their seasons get going.
Welcome...Finally
Well, the guys have left us in the dust on this one. They've got a blog or two following DIII men's tennis which make amazing predictions, overviews and updates. Seriously, they're right a LOT of the time.
So, OK. It's the ladies' turn. We're going to cover women's tennis here at wd3tennis.blogspot.com.
Yes, we're going to talk about rankings. Yes, we're going to talk about results. Yes, we're going to talk about some recruits...and graduating seniors. And yes, there is going to be a healthy dose of sarcasm involved. Deal with it... it's DIII tennis, not flowers and ponies and cupcakes that we're talking about.
Please feel free to follow, and go ahead and email WD3Tennis@gmail.com to add your 2 cents.
So, OK. It's the ladies' turn. We're going to cover women's tennis here at wd3tennis.blogspot.com.
Yes, we're going to talk about rankings. Yes, we're going to talk about results. Yes, we're going to talk about some recruits...and graduating seniors. And yes, there is going to be a healthy dose of sarcasm involved. Deal with it... it's DIII tennis, not flowers and ponies and cupcakes that we're talking about.
Please feel free to follow, and go ahead and email WD3Tennis@gmail.com to add your 2 cents.
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