NEPSAC Class B Tennis Tournament Breakdown

NEPSAC Class B Tennis Tournament Breakdown

Click here to see the NEPSAC Class A Tennis Tournament Breakdown.
Check out the Nepsac draws at http://www.preptennis.org/netc10.htm

Before I get into the tournament match ups and predictions I want to dedicate a quick paragraph to the selection process.  Somehow I managed to only predict 5 of the 8 tournament teams when I did my Class B Bracketology and I'm pretty sure it's because St. Paul's and Nobles declined bids to go to New England's.  While I'm happy that BB&N made it into the field I can't understand why Nobles keeps refusing to play New England's.  With all due respect, why would you even bother to play the regular season if you have no interest in playing in the playoffs? Why does Nobles even bother to field a team if they don't want to compete when it matters most?  Is it that they're afraid of losing?

I'm not positive but these past two years may have been Nobles' only good tennis teams ever and for some reason they're afraid to play with the big boys.  Last year I remember that Nobles would have gotten the 2nd seed but they didn't play because they had "things to do" and they "wanted to rest for the Milton match."  That's a bunch of shenanigans.  Why play at all?  I'm sure I'm going to get an email explanation after this post but like they said in Wedding Crashers, Rule #76 "No Excuses Play Like A Champion."

I have no idea why St. Paul's is playing but this is the first time since I started playing high school tennis that they've declined a bid.  Baffling stuff. Berkshire wasn't on my radar at all and they've only dropped 2 matches all season: to Hotchkiss and Taft (both 7-0).  BB&N and Tabor made the tournament for the second straight year because of the withdrawals of St. Paul's and Nobles.

First Round Matchups

TOP HALF

(1st Seed, 1) Brunswick School vs. (9) Tabor Academy

In a rematch of last year's semi-final, Tabor should be no match for this undefeated Brunswick squad.  Brunswick takes this match 4-0.

(3) Belmont Hill School vs. (8) Moses Brown School

This might be Moses Brown's first appearance in ten years or so but Belmont Hill will prove to be far too strong.  Belmont Hill cruises to a 4-0 win.

BOTTOM HALF

(5) Roxbury Latin vs. (Unranked) Berkshire School

Roxbury Latin beat Andover 4-3, Andover beat Taft 4-3, Taft beat Berkshire 7-0.  This should be an easy win for RL 4-0.

(2nd Seed, 2) Hopkins School vs. (Unranked) Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Hopkins only loss this season came against Brunswick and they aren't going to be tested until the finals; Hopkins wins 4-0.

Semi-Finals

(1st Seed) Brunswick School vs. (3) Belmont Hill School

The most interesting matchup should be the 1st singles battle between Carl Reid '13 (Belmont Hill) and Sam King '10 (Brunswick) but other than that I think that the FAA's best team will dominate the ISL Champion.  I'm predicting a 4-0 victory for Brunswick.

(2nd Seed) Hopkins School vs. (5) Roxbury Latin School

Hopkins has way too much fire power for Roxbury Latin and they should roll to a 4-0 victory, setting up a rematch of last year's final with Brunswick.

Finals

(1st Seed) Brunswick School vs. (2nd Seed) Hopkins School

Brunswick has won the last two Class B Championships so they have a chance to three-peat on Sunday against a Hopkins team that they've beaten 4-3 three times in the past two years (if I'm not mistaken).  Considering how ridiculously close their last match up was I expect nothing less than a 4-3 result in the final.  The New England's match should prove to be very different from the regular season match though because New England's is a 6 singles, 3 doubles format instead of the standard FAA League 4 singles, 3 doubles format where ten players have to play.  It's kind of a battle between USTA Connecticut versus USTA New York players because from what I can tell most of Brunswick's players are ranked in the Eastern Section.  I like Hopkins to reverse the fortunes and win this one 4-3, too bad it's in CT (at Hoplkins) because I'd love to watch this showdown.  If you haven't read the writeup about the Hopkins-Brunswick regular season match, it's worth reading.

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

NEPSAC Class B Tennis Tournament Outlook

NEPSAC Class B Tennis Tournament Outlook

I just realized that Cheshire Academy is a Class A School, I'm an idiot. Anyway here are my new rankings, click here for the Old Class B Rankings, I didn't bother to take Cheshire out of the old rankings.

1. Brunswick School
Brunswick beat Hopkins 4-3 this past week, this result will give Brunswick the number 1 seed for the Class B Tournament.  Hopkins is the only team that can stop Brunswick from three-peating.

2. Hopkins School
I'm a little bit surprised that Hopkins lost to Brunswick but there's no reason why Hopkins shouldn't be able to beat Brunswick in NEPSACs.  I'm concerned that the committee is going to give the second seed to an ISL team (Belmont Hill) when Hopkins is a MUCH stronger team than Bel Hill.

3. Belmont Hill School
As much as I want an ISL school to win New England's there's really no chance that Bel Hill will beat either Hopkins or Brunswick.  Best case scenario is that Belmont Hill gets the second seed and the tournament committee puts Hopkins and Brunswick on the same side of the draw allowing Bel Hill to sneak to the finals and lose.  Realistically I really don't see this team winning more than one match.

4. Nobles & Greenough School
If Nobles is able to avoid Hopkins and Brunswick first round they could win a match.

5. Roxbury Latin School
I'm guessing that RL will probably draw either Hopkins or Brunswick.

6. St. Paul's School
Unless given an easy draw this team will probably bow out first round.

7. King Low Heyward Thomas School
King should pick up the FAA's third birth into the tournament.

8. Moses Brown School
This 8th spot is a real toss up and its annoying that the Moses Brown Athletic Website doesn't have any scores posted but this team isn't bad.

Teams on the bubble:

Tabor Academy
Tabor has a win and a loss versus Moses Brown but what could kill their tournament hopes is a lopsided 9-4 loss to BB&N.

Green Farms Academy
Green Farms has a 4-3 loss to King but if the tournament committee elects to take a 4th FAA team then Green Farms could sneak in.