Nepsac Tennis Class A Finals

Nepsac Tennis Class A Finals

 Hotchkiss School beat Deerfield Academy 4-3
Hotchkiss won in a battle of two Founders League Teams.

The writeup is taken directly from the Hotchkiss Athletic Website
(http://www.hotchkiss.org/calendars/detail.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=10628&ModuleID=23&StartDate=5/16/2010&TeamID=361)


"Traveling on the second day of the New England Tournament to Loomis Chaffee to play against a very strong Deerfield Academy Team. The team seems ready to do battle. Its a picture perfect day for tennis. Some of the best weather we have had all spring. 

#1 Doubles of Lightbourn and Kontulis lost to Siderides and Wheatley 4-8

#2 Doubles of Hough and Campo defeated Ward and Wieczorec 8-1

#3 Doubles of Shapiro and Dixon lost a heart breaker leading at one point 7-3 allowing the momentum to swing back to their opponents where it stayed losing 9-8. (5-7 tiebreaker)

That got everyone's attention, so bringing the team together and getting them to focus on their singles matches knowing we were behind in the match was critical. I was not sure how they would respond. 

#2 Matthew Shapiro was the first to rebound leveling the match at one apiece with a 6-2 6-4 win over George Wheatley. 

#4 Will Campo would drop his match to Kyle Wieczorec 3-6 2-6 giving the lead back to Deerfield.

#5 Jeffrey Kontulis would be the next to win in a three set match over Robert Long 6-1 4-6 6-3 to even the match and shortly after that...

#6 Gonzalo Mocorrea would give Hotchkiss its first lead with a win over Ilya Kovalenko 7-6 6-0.

#3 Charlie Hough and Alex Ward would grind out three tough sets with Alex getting the better of Charlie in a close third set 6-1 0-6 5-7 leaving it up to the #1's to decide who would be the New England Champions. 

#1 Robert Lightbourn and Andrew Siderides would split sets 6-4 4-6 with Andrew coming back to force a third set. That second set would take its toll on Andrew as Robert would cruise to victory 6-0 in the third. 

I would like to congratulate Jay Morsemen and the Deerfield team on their fine season. I would also like to wish their seniors Andrew, Kyle and Ilya continued success as they head off to college.
We have one more match this season with Loomis Chaffee this Wednesday that will decide Founder League Champions."


Sounds like it was a VERY competitive match which is surprising considering Hotckiss beat Deerfield 7-0 a few weeks ago.  Stay tuned for the Class B Finals Writeup and for new Power Rankings.

For the full Class A Draw and Results check out http://preptennis.org/netc10.htm.

Check out the Nepsac Class B Finals Writeup.

New England Class A Results

New England Class A Results

FIRST ROUND

Loomis Chaffee beat Cheshire Academy

(2) Deerfield Academy beat Choate

Milton Academy beat Taft

(1) Hotchkiss beat Phillips Academy

SEMI-FINALS

(2) Deerfield Academy beat Loomis Chaffee

(1) Hotchkiss beat Milton Academy

NEPSAC Class A Tennis Tournament Breakdown

NEPSAC Class A Tennis Tournament Breakdown

Click here to see the NEPSAC Class B Tournament Breakdown.

Check out the Nepsac Draws at http://www.preptennis.org/netc10.htm

Before I get started I wanted to point out that I went 8 for 8 predicting the Class A field, too bad I wasn't as successful with Class B.  The number next to each team is its Class A Rank (in my opinion).

First Round Matchups
TOP HALF
(1st Seed, 1) Hotchkiss School vs. (5) Phillips Academy
Phillips should be no match for this Hotchkiss team.  Hotchkiss beat Deerfield 7-0, Deerfield beat Phillips 5-2, enough said.  Hotchkiss rolls to an easy 4-0 victory.

(2) Milton Academy vs. (6) Taft School
I thought that Milton would pick up the second seed and they kind of got screwed over because they got placed on the same side of the draw as Hotchkiss.  I'm not sure whether the unseeded teams are placed randomly or manually but either way Milton has a right to be upset.  I should've gotten a vote on the committee.  Anyway, Milton should edge out Taft in this match but it could be close.  Prediction: Milton 5, Taft 2.

BOTTOM HALF
(4) Loomis Chaffee School vs. (8) Cheshire Academy
Loomis beat Choate 5-2, Choate beat Cheshire 5-2, Loomis will beat Cheshire 5-2.  Cheshire has a very strong 1, 2 punch in Beck Bond '11 and Michael Rosengren '11 but Loomis has too much depth for this squad. Loomis 5, Cheshire 2.

(2nd Seed, 3) Deerfield Academy vs. (7) Choate Rosemary Hall
Deerfield beat Choate 5-2 two weeks ago; they do it again on Saturday.  Prediction: Deerfield 5, Choate 2.

Semi-Finals
(1st Seed) Hotchkiss School vs. (2) Milton Academy
These are the two best Class A teams and it will probably be a battle.  I think that Milton will be able to take the doubles point but I'm not sure that they can pull out 3 singles matches.  The depth of Hotchkiss will probably overwhelm the Stags on Saturday.  Sorry Milton, I like Hotchkiss to win it 4-2 (one match unfinished)

(2nd Seed) Deerfield Academy vs. (4) Loomis Chaffee School
Last time these "two bitter rivals" played Deerfield eked out a 4-3 victory but it was very tight.  Deerfield took the doubles point when third doubles won 9-7 and they got two singles points in third-setters (one in a tiebreaker).  I like Loomis to upset Deerfield 4-3 although it could really go either way.

Finals
(1st Seed) Hotchkiss School vs. (4) Loomis Chaffee School
It's no secret that Hotchkiss beat Deerfield 7-0 and Loomis lost to Deerfield 4-3.  Hotchkiss cruises in this final to a 4-0 victory, preventing Loomis from repeating.

Check back on Saturday and Sunday for Live Coverage and Match Write ups.

Go Celtics! 

New England Prep Tennis Class A Bracketology

New England Prep Tennis Class A Bracketology

I already covered Class B in an earlier post and here's my take on Class A.
For last year's Class A Tournament click here.

As I compiled this list it quickly became obvious how little depth there is in Class A.  While over the past decade Class A has often had the best team in New England (better than the Class B champ) the tournament has tended to be fairly weak in comparison with Class B.  It seems that almost every year there is a clear-cut Class A favorite while in Class B it's more of a toss up with a few comparable teams.  Class A is a much smaller division with less competition to get into the tournament.  Here's my list of teams.

1.  Hotckiss School

Hotchkiss is clearly the best team in Class A this year but they could be tested by Loomis and Deerfield.  They won the Kingswood tournament and have beaten every team they've played so far except Brunswick who beat them 7-0 in a scrimmage.

2. Deerfield Academy

Deerfield boasts wins over Loomis Chaffee and Phillips Andover.  They're undefeated but they finished the Kingswood Tournament in third place behind Hotchkiss and Hopkins.

3. Milton Academy

Milton's only test so far has been against Belmont HIll and they lost 11-4.  We will see how this team stacks up against the other Class A powers.  With Noah Bragg I think this team wins Class A's with ease.

4. Loomis Chaffee School

Other than a 4-3 loss to Deerfield, the reigning Class A champion is undefeated. 

5. Phillips Andover

This team lost in the New England Class A finals last year in a match that came down to the final set.  They aren't quite as strong after graduating Trey Meyer.

6.  Taft School

Taft has lost close matches to Andover, Loomis and Hotckiss.

7.  Choate Rosemary Hall

Choate probably won't make it out of the first round this year.

8.  Kingswood-Oxford School

The 8th team is a toss up because there are a lot of mediocre teams that could be put here.

Bubble Teams:

Phillips Exeter

Groton

Is the ISL or Founders League Better at Tennis?

Is the ISL or Founders League Better at Tennis?

Basically I've been having a facebook argument with the number one from Hotchkiss about whether the ISL or Founders League is better at tennis.  I really need my fans to comment on this one or join in on the facebook argument. Check it out. I edited the posts a bit for content.

ISL is a joke, founder's teams have won new englands past 2 years. get past weak andover then come over here to western New england to take on the real men

Yesterday at 11:10pm

Cam Woodsum

wow you're really saying that after the ISL has won 7 of the past 9 Class A championships and 6 of the past 11 Class B Championships. Maybe you've won a few in the past few years but we've been dominating you for the past decade
isltennis.com

Yesterday at 11:29pm ·

2008 champs- Hotchkiss
2009 champs- Loomis (whose 1 loss of the season was Hotchkiss)

new englands last year- hotchkiss deerfield loomis choate taft andover groton milton ( 4 founders teams, 2 ISL) 

18 hours ago

Cam Woodsum

bro we only have 2 class a teams and they were both in it! Plus although the schools in Class B are smaller it is a significantly more competitive tournament with teams that are almost always stronger than the Class A champ with the exception of the Milton dynasty because they would've beaten anyone.

Matt let me add also:
2007 champs- milton
2006- milton... See More
2005 milton
2004 milton
2003 milton
2002 groton
2001 milton

Keep it Real.

16 hours ago ·

Did I win the argument? You tell me in the comments section below. Here's the full argument.