Top 8 and Weekend Preview

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.

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.