This past weekend I went down to watch the men's NCAA Regional hosted by Washington University in St Louis. The teams there were, in order of seeding, (1) Wash U, (2) Whitman (flown in from Walla Walla, Washington), (3) UW-Whitewater, (4) Luther (Coe would most likely have been placed in this spot had our men won the conference tournament), (5) Earlham, and (6) Westminster.
I missed the 1st round, in which Whitewater and Luther advanced fairly comfortably past Earlham and Westminster respectively. I got into St Louis Friday night just in time to have dinner with my old teammates and coach from my alma mater, Whitman College. It was great to spend some time catching up with my friends and one of my mentors.
The following morning I watched some of the Luther v. Wash U match, which was held indoors at the Steel Shop Tennis Club--an interesting facility of 5 courts arranged end to end in a building converted from a railroad car factory. The match was competitive, but Luther was never really able to gain a foothold in any match, other than winning the 1st set at #5 singles. The experienced and well-coached Bears were too much for the Norse--Wash U took the match 5-0.
The second semifinal was also played indoors, at Creve Coeur Racquet Club, and pitted Whitman against Whitewater. Although Whitman came in ranked #21 nationally and was the higher seed, I knew from Coe's match against Whitewater in April that the Wisconsin team was very dangerous. The doubles was played with energy and enthusiasm, with Whitewater winning #1 comfortably 8-3, Whitman winning #2 similarly by an 8-4 count, and Whitewater serving strong at #3 to hold out after breaking in the 3rd game of the set, 8-6. From there, the singles was fairly evenly matched, and it looked as if the two teams may have been headed toward splitting the 6 matches. Whitewater took #1 and #4 fairly quickly before Whitman prevailed in a one-sided match at #6. Whitman was 2 points away from a victory at #3 when Whitewater clinched the match 5-2 with a win at #5 singles. #2 singles had just split sets, so in that match neither team was ahead, but I got the feeling that Whitman would likely have eventually won both #2 and #3 singles if the match had been played to completion, which would have made the final score 5-4. It was a hard fought match on both sides, but Whitman was utterly devastated by the loss, as they felt they did not perform as well as they could have and squandered a great opportunity to make it to the Regional Final. Whitewater simply served well in the doubles, and was better able to hold their nerve and hit out on the ball in the singles (particularly at #5, the swing match). The upset certainly was not too much of a shock to me after seeing Whitewater play during the regular season and knowing they were battle-hardened from playing a rigorous schedule.
Although the Whitman guys were understandably disappointed and a bit sulky after their loss, I went with them for dinner at a great pizza joint on the Delmar Loop, which is near Wash U's campus. It didn't take long for spirits to rise as pie upon tasty deep-dish pie was devoured! Again, I was fortunate to be able to spend some more time with my old team, and back at their hotel I talked until the wee hours of the morning with the seniors whose college careers were now at an end. Don't worry guys, it doesn't have to be the end of your tennis life!
On Sunday, I went with Jake Cappel, my former teammate (and doubles partner 3 years ago in the 2008 NCAA regionals!), assistant coach this past season at Whitman, and midwest native (Chicago), to watch the Regional Final, Wash U v. Whitewater. The doubles was exciting and hotly contested at all 3 positions, with an early lead for Wash U at #1, for Whitewater at #3, and a back and forth struggle at #2. Jake predicted a lone win for Whitewater at #2 doubles while I thought it would turn out to be a sweep for Wash U. The experienced team of Woods/Stein from Wash U closed out their match at #1, while their teammates were mentally tougher at #3, winning the last 3 games amidst a breakdown by the Whitewater pair. #2 doubles came down to a tiebreak where both teams exhibited nerves, with Whitewater squeeking out an 8-6 win. Although Jake's prediction held true (barely!), we both were certain that Whitewater would have needed at least 2 points from the doubles to have a chance at winning the meet. And so we were both proved right on that front when Wash U raced to quick victories at #1, #6, and soon after, #5 singles to clinch the meet, 5-2. #s 2-4 were all close, so it is possible Whitewater may have been able to score another point or a few if those matches had been played out. Whitewater went toe-to-toe with the top team in the Central region in doubles, but Wash U was just too solid in singles to slip up against a team just outside the top 30 nationally. The doubles lasted about and hour and a half, while the singles barely lasted more than an hour...
Complete box scores from the regional can be found here:
http://bearsports.wustl.edu/Sports/Content/Pages/2011NCAAMensTennis.aspx
Once again, the importance of doubles is reinforced from what I saw. A lower ranked team with many less star recruits had the chance to be in the thick of a match with a top 5 ranked team due to playing solid doubles--good serves, returns, and first volleys, as well as aggressive movement at the net. On the singles front, groundstroke steadiness combined with an ability to attack when given the opportunity and mental toughness was noticeably better in the higher ranked team.
By advancing past the regional stage, Wash U moves on to the quarterfinals (Nationals) which is held at one site, this year hosted by the Claremont Colleges in California. In a couple of weeks, Coach Kris will fly out there to watch the team championships, as well as the early rounds of the singles and doubles tournaments. Thanks to Coach Rodgers for giving me leave to travel down to watch an interesting regional--it was a great experience from a coaching perspective, not to mention a great bonus to see my old team!
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