ISL All League Recipients

ISL All League Recipients

I should have done this post a long, long time ago but I got a little bit lazy at the very end of my senior year and I never posted it.

Carl Reid won the MVP award as expected; he has to be one of the first underclassman in a while that's won the Boys' MVP.

All-ISL List
Belmont Hill - Carl Reid '13, Jack Welch '11, Peter Yanofsky '10
Governor's Academy - Nate Collins '10
Milton Academy - Andrew Lebovitz '10, Matt Lebovitz '12
Nobles - Cam Chapman '13
Roxbury Latin - Carl Defranco '11
St. Sebastian's - Conor Haughey '12
Thayer Academy - Richie Robbie '11

Thanks to the Boston Globe for the information.  Thanks to everyone that supported the blog, check out my newest blog (it's a hip hop blog) GrindToTheTop.com.

10 Reactions to 2010 New England's

10 Reactions to 2010 New England's

1. Hopkins is unreal!
2. The NEPSAC should combine Class A and Class B because although Class A schools are bigger, they aren't as good.
3. Class C should be eliminated.  Congrats to Rivers on winning Class C but it is only 15 people smaller than BB&N.  Do classes go by size or ability??  There are about 12 schools in Class C and it's pointless to keep doing Class C Tournaments, plus I hate seeing Rivers wearing New England Champs jackets.
4. I did my homework and Nobles and St. Paul's didn't play New England's for different reasons.  I already ripped Nobles in an earlier post but they didn't play this year basically because they don't value the tournament.  I might add that Nobles has also never played in the tournament so they don't really know what they're missing.  From what I've gathered St. Paul's didn't play because the AD doesn't care about tennis.
5. Carl Reid took down the Brunswick #1 Sam King (who's also the FAA Champion) in an epic match on Saturday. 
6. Belmont Hill could've beaten Hotchkiss.
7. Did I already mention that Hopkins is unreal?
8. I don't understand how Ned Gallagher does the draws for New England's because on the PrepTennis website it says that "unseeded teams were assigned the remaining slots in the draw by random lot." I know for a fact though that teams are randomly assigned to the draw because in the past ten years (when the ISL has averaged four teams in the eight team Class B Draw) no two ISL teams have ever played each other in the first round.  With that being said, it's obvious that the guidelines which he has said he follows aren't being followed.  While I'm not accusing him of rigging draws, I wish that he was clear on how he actually makes the draws because it doesn't seem right to keep everyone in the dark.  I do want to point out that his team (Choate) got a bad draw and had to play the second seed, Deerfield, in the first round.
9. It's time for the ISL to play the 7-point format (with Super-tiebreakers) that we use for New England's
10. I picked all of the Class A and Class B matches correctly except for one, I did get the Hopkins "upset" of Brunswick though.

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.

Today's Match Results

Today's Match Results

(14) BB&N beat (7) St. George's 13-2
BB&N returned to full strength and Jess Karol, Will Kauppila, Aje Julian and Willie Peoples picked up 3 points apiece.  It was a good showing for a team that lost to Groton and Middlesex last week.

(4) Roxbury Latin beat (10) Thayer Academy 12-3

(2) Nobles beat (15) Governor's 13-2

(8) St. Mark's beat (13) St. Sebastian's 10-5

Comment with scores.

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.

New Power Rankings! (Seventh Edition)

New Power Rankings! (Seventh Edition)

 Click here for the Previous Power Rankings.  And just a quick note, if you click on a school in the power rankings list it will take you to the respective school's team page.

The Power Rankings are a weekly strength assessment of each team and generally speaking the rankings are used for the basis of predictions for the coming week as upsets rarely seem to happen.

1. Belmont Hill School (Previously: 1)

Belmont Hill pulled out a tough 8-7 victory over Nobles to essentially claim the ISL title and possibly a number 2 seed in the Class B Tournament.

2. Nobles School (3)

Although Nobles lost to Belmont Hill, they slide up one spot in the rankings because it was a much more competitive match than the Milton-Belmont Hill one.  Nobles had a convincing win over St. Paul's on Saturday 10-5.

3. Milton Academy (2)

After Milton's wins over Andover and Exeter, it looks like they might have a good enough resume to pick up the second seed in the Class A Tournament.  On the other hand, it's been a tough week publicity week for Milton after the Controversial Quotes Post.

4. Roxbury Latin School (4)

Other than New England's, Roxbury Latin only has easy matches remaining on its schedule.

5. St. Paul's School (5)

St. Paul's had a big win over Rivers on Friday by a score of 9-6.  The loss to Nobles won't matter on Selection Day when the Class B Tournament is determined because St. Paul's will be safely in.

6. Rivers School  (7)

Rivers is on pace to have its best record in the past half-decade.

7. St. George's School (8)

St. George's has a big match versus BB&N this Wednesday.

8. St. Mark's School (10)

St. Mark's beat Thayer this past week and they have a showdown with St. Seb's on Wednesday.

9. Middlesex School  (11)

Middlesex has a tough stretch coming up with matches against RL and Belmont Hill; they picked up a big win versus BB&N on Saturday.

10. Thayer Academy (12)

Thayer has the potential to pick up another win versus maybe Collins-less Governor's on Wednesday.

11. Brooks School (13)

Brooks has winnable matches this week against Middlesex, Thayer, and St. Seb's.

12. Groton School (14)

Groton beat BB&N on Wednesday but they have a tough schedule down the stretch.

13. St. Sebastian's School (15)

St. Seb's had a big win against Governor's on Friday.

14. BB&N (7)

BB&N had a rough week and badly missed a few starters in both matches.  After consecutive lopsided losses to St. Paul's, Groton and Middlesex, BB&N has slipped all the way to 14th in the power rankings.

15. Governor's Academy (9)

With Nate Collins injured this team seems to have lost its fire as Governor's dropped matches to St. Seb's, St. Paul's and St. Mark's this past week.

16.  Lawrence Academy (16)

Lawrence has won 2 sets in 11 matches this season for an average of .18 Sets Per Match.  I think I just created a new statistic right there, that could be my legacy.  I'm trying to write the most out of a "bad situation" because I haven't done much coverage of this team all year besides saying that if Lawrence had beaten Belmont Hill it would've been the biggest upset in ISL Sports History.

Tomorrow's Matches

Tomorrow's Matches

I'm not going to do my normal predictions in this post, instead I'm going to do a less formal, more opinionated post.

 

Belmont Hill vs. Nobles
Belmont Hill and Nobles have a showdown tomorrow and the winner will most likely be crowned ISL champion.  Frankly I just can't see Nobles winning this match.  I got a comment an hour ago saying that Anthony Laurencio-Twymer might not play in the match but I think that even if he plays tomorrow it won't be too close.  The only thing that Nobles has going in its favor is that the match is at home and not at Belmont Hill's indoor courts.  Belmont Hill should dominate the doubles and win 1st and 5th singles pretty easily.  I think that the only way Nobles wins this match is by taking one of the doubles matches and splitting at 2nd, 3rd and 4th singles and winning 6th singles.  It could happen, I just don't think that it will.

Projected Singles Matchups
Belmont Hill vs. Nobles
1.  Carl Reid vs. Cam Chapman
2.  Peter Yanofsky vs. Anthony Laurencio-Twymer
3.  Jack Welch vs. Camden Smith
4.  Bashiru Akinfolarin vs. Will Shames
5.  Nick Tierney vs. Unknown
6.  Sam Mcquillan vs. Will Samuels



Milton Academy should clean up in its match against non-conference opponent Phillips Exeter.  This is an important match for Class A seeding purposes.

Rivers and St. George's have a big match tomorrow and I'd say Rivers is a 3 point favorite.  A St. George's win could shake up the power rankings.

Thayer Academy and St. Mark's play tomorrow and St. Mark's is a 5 point favorite.

Expect a new version of my New England Prep Tennis Bracketology for all 3 classes to be posted in the next few days.

Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

So for everyone who hasn't been keeping track I've only missed two match predictions all season and I don't have the exact number but I'm something like 46 for 48.

Apparently the St. George's- St. Mark's match which I've been looking forward to for a while has been canceled again.  Don't either of them have indoor courts? Wow.

Anyway, Brooks played 8 top 10 teams in its first 9 matches meaning that it has a very easy schedule coming down the stretch.  Other than the Belmont Hill match, it has five very winnable matches which should be nice for a team that won 6 sets in its first 7 matches.

Belmont Hill, Nobles, Roxbury Latin and St. Paul's look like they've all locked up bids into the Class B Tournament and Belmont Hill could potentially be seeded 2nd even though they probably aren't the 2nd best team.  I'll have a writeup in the next few days about the New England playoff picture.

Milton Academy will probably be the only team from the ISL in Class A's since Groton is not very strong this year.   I'll look at whether Milton has a shot at being a seed in the next New England Playoff write-up.

Rivers will definitely make Class C's but other than that I haven't thought about it too much, I'll cover Class C soon too.

Belmont Hill has the ISL Title locked up unless they blow the match tomorrow against Nobles.  Even if they lose that match the worst that they could do would be to share the championship.

The ULTIMATE Showdown- Will I Be Considered the Greatest Match Picker of All Time?

The ULTIMATE Showdown- Will I Be Considered the Greatest Match Picker of All Time?

 Cam Woodsum (Me), BB&N

If you are going to read any of my prediction articles this is the one to read. Tomorrow has the most interesting match ups and it may be the most competitive day of the entire season.  You have the 2 vs. 4, 5 vs. 6, 9 vs. 10 and 13 vs. 14, in the life of a high school blogger what gets better than this.  You might ask why I put a picture of me at the top?  Simple, I'm something like 39 for 40 on the season picking matches and I need all the moral support that I can give myself because tomorrow will be my toughest day yet.  If I pick every match right then I might just retire and move to Vegas so that I can bet full-time.  I'm just saying...

Blogging from the hospital is about to become the next big thing. I don't mean to make this a super personal site but I wanted to mention that I had left hip surgery today at Children's Hospital and the surgery was a success.  If you're having hip problems Dr. Yen at Children's is the guy to see. Hip surgery is not an uncommon thing when it comes to tennis and it's become a more and more common and recognized injury.  If you're having hip problems feel free to email me because after this second surgery I feel like a certified hip expert.

If you haven't been on the site in a little while here are links to a few of my writeups:
Class A Bracketology
Class B Bracketology
Founders League Tennis vs. Independent School League Tennis Debate
MVP Update
Most Recent Power Rankings

Here are tomorrow's predictions:

(2) Milton Academy Tennis will beat (4) Roxbury Latin Tennis 9-6
I think that Milton is the definite favorite in this matchup and that they should have a clear advantage at 1st and 2nd Singles and Doubles.  I expect that Milton will get ahead early and stay ahead until the end.


(13) Middlesex Tennis will beat (14) St. Sebastian's Tennis 8-7
This was a really tough pick because both teams are winless (not counting Middlesex's win over Lawrence) and they have very few common opponents so far.  There really is no favorite and I'm split 50/50 over who will win it but I have to choose a winner so I'm taking Middlesex.  This could be a very tight match.


(9) Governor's Academy Tennis will beat (10) St. Mark's Tennis 9-6
This match could turn out to be a thriller because these two teams are pretty evenly matched. I think Governor's has a slight edge and I expect them to pull it out with Nate Collins leading the way.

(5) St. Paul's Tennis will beat (6) Rivers Tennis 9-6
Another very even match but St. Paul's definitely has the edge and although I expect this match to be very close, I would be shocked if Rivers wins this.

(7) BB&N Tennis vs. (12) Thayer Academy Tennis
The Jess Karol-Richie Robbie match at number 1 singles has the potential to be a very competitive match. No score because I don't predict BB&N scores anymore.

(1) Belmont Hill Tennis will beat (16) Lawrence Academy Tennis 15-0
If Lawrence were to win this it might be the biggest upset in ISL history in any sport.

(11) Groton Tennis will beat (15) Brooks Tennis 11-4
This is the first team that Brooks will play that's not ranked in the top ten.

(2) Nobles Tennis will beat (8) St. George's Tennis 12-3
One of the few easy picks that I get to make, it should be an easy win for Nobles.

Power Rankings- Fifth Edition

Power Rankings- Fifth Edition

Sorry for the delay guys.  I've been perfecting the rankings.  Also, if you haven't subscribed to the blog via email enter your email above. You get automatic emails everytime I post something on the blog and it's easy to unsubscribe if you don't like it.

1. Belmont Hill School 7-0

Belmont Hill didn't drop a set this week and the only team left on their schedule that could dethrone Belmont Hill is Nobles but I'd say it's very unlikely that Nobles takes more than 5 sets against the Hill.  Belmont HIll looks like a lock for the New England Prep Tennis Class B Tournament.

2. Milton Academy  7-1

Milton also didn't drop a set this week and Andrew Lebovitz beat Richie Robbie 6-4, 6-0.  Milton could make some noise in the New England Class A Tennis Tournament.

3. Nobles School  7-0

Nobles had a solid week, highlighted by a convincing 13-2 win over BB&N.

4. Roxbury Latin School  6-2

Roxbury Latin picked up three wins this week and they have a HUGE showdown with Milton on Wednesday.  Look forward to a match breakdown late tonight.

5. St. Paul's School 5-2

St. Paul's has two very important matches coming up this week against 6th ranked Rivers and 7th ranked BB&N.  They need to win both matches to ensure that they get a birth in the Class B Tournament.

6. Rivers School  7-1

Rivers is having a very solid season this year.

7. BB&N  4-3

If BB&N beats St. Paul's this Saturday they may have a case to make New England's.

8. St. George's School  3-3

The St. George's-St. Mark's make up match should be very interesting.

9. Governor's Academy  2-5

Governor's dropped a tough 9-6 match to Rivers this past week.  They have an important match against St. Mark's on Wednesday.

10. St. Mark's School  3-3

St. Mark's has a key matchup with Governor's on Wednesday.

11. Groton School 3-4

Groton lost both matches this week and they should have a good match with Middlesex this Saturday.

12. Thayer Academy (14th last week) 1-6

I appreciate the Thayer website being fully updated.  Thayer will get another win this Saturday against Lawrence.

13. Middlesex School  (12th last week) 1-6

Wow. I'm impressed, last week my comment was for Middlesex to update its website and today all the scores were up-to-date.  Thank you Coach Palmer.  Middlesex picked up its first win against Lawrence Academy this past week.

14. St. Sebastian's School (13th last week) 0-7

St. Seb's should pick up its first win against either Middlesex on Wednesday or Lawrence on Friday.

15. Brooks School 0-7

Brooks should get its first win May 5th against Lawrence.

16.  Lawrence Academy 0-5

Lawrence finally got its first couple of sets this season against Middlesex.

Weekend Results

Weekend Results

Check out my predictions here.

BB&N beat St. Sebastian's 11-4
Conor Haughey won his singles match against Jess Karol at 1st Singles.

Non-League: Roxbury Latin beat Phillips Andover 4-3

Nobles beat Groton 15-0

Rivers beat Middlesex 11-4

Belmont Hill beat St. Mark's 14-1

Milton Academy beat Lawrence Academy 15-0

St. George's beat Brooks 13-2

I need scores! Comment Below.

2nd Edition of Standings

2nd Edition of Standings

Place School W L Power Rank 1 Belmont Hill 6 0 1 1 Nobles 6 0 3 3 Milton 6 1 2 4 Rivers 5 1 6 5 Roxbury Latin 4 2 4 6 St. George's 3 2 8 6 Groton 3 2 11 6 St. Paul's 3 2 5 6 St. Mark's 3 2 10 10 BB&N 3 3 7 11 Governor's Academy 2 4 9 12 Middlesex 1 5 12 12 Thayer 1 5 14 14 Lawrence 0 4 16 15 Brooks 0 6 15 15 St. Sebastian's 0 6 13

Wednesday's Match Results

Wednesday's Match Results

There's an interesting discussion going on in the comments section of the ISL Tennis vs. Founders League Tennis article.  Feel free to add your voice in the discussion, I'm always looking for new opinions.

Click here to see my predictions for today's matches.
I'm perfect so far today. 30 for 31 on the season.

(3) Nobles beat (7) BB&N 13-2
This match was closer than what the score shows.
Cam Chapman and Jess Karol split sets.

Roxbury Latin beat St. George's 11-4

Middlesex beat Lawrence Academy 13-2

Rivers beat Governor's 9-6

Belmont Hill beat St. Sebastian's 15-0

St. Mark's beat Brooks 14-1

Milton Academy beat Thayer 15-0
Andrew Lebovitz beat Richie Robbie.


From Monday and Tuesday (predictions):
Nobles beat Brooks 14-1

Thayer beat Middlesex 8-7; I had Middlesex winning this match.

Governor's beat Lawrence Academy 15-0

Groton beat Lawrence 15-0

St. Paul's beat St. Sebastian's 13-2

Power Rankings- Fourth Edition

Power Rankings- Fourth Edition

1. Belmont Hill School 5-0

Belmont Hill is in the clear to win the ISL championship and maybe to have the ISL MVP in Carl Reid (more on that later).  Nobles is the only top 5 team that Bel Hill has left to play and it probably won't be very close.  The only real challenge that the Hill has left is winning New England's which looks like a longshot because Hopkins and Brunswick appear to be much better.

2. Milton Academy (3rd last week) 5-1

Milton is no longer in contention for the ISL title but they might be able to make a little bit of noise in Class A's.  They slid up ahead of Nobles because matchup wise I think that they will beat Nobles head to head.  They need to worry about the Roxbury Latin match coming up in a week and a half because RL's depth could lead to an upset.

3. Nobles School (2nd last week) 4-0

Nobles took care of business against RL, edging out an 8-7 victory.  This team looks like a lock for New England's but it's unlikely that they will pose any kind of threat to the title contenders.

4. Roxbury Latin School  3-2

RL's 8-7 loss to Nobles had to be devastating but they are still on course to make New England's with ease.  Their only test left is Milton Academy.

5. St. Paul's School 2-2

St. Paul's has important matches coming up against Rivers and BB&N.  They should be a lock for New England's after BB&N's loss to Rivers.

6. Rivers School (7th last week) 4-1

Rivers had a nice win over BB&N this past Saturday and they are probably favorites to win the very weak Class C tournament.  That link takes you to an article written by the Globe about the come from behind victory.

7. BB&N (6th last week) 3-2

The loss to Rivers knocks BB&N out of contention to make New England's unless BB&N beat St. Paul's and St. Paul's also loses to Rivers.  BB&N badly missed its number 2 and number 6 singles players in the loss to Rivers.

8. St. George's School  3-1

The St. George's-St. Mark's make up match should be very interesting. St. George's is pretty far from moving into the Top 7.

9. Governor's Academy  (10th last week) 1-3

Watch out, this is a strong Governor's team.

10. St. Mark's School  (9th last week) 2-2

St. Mark's needed Chris Bassett in the match against BB&N.  This team desperately needs to beat St. George's.

11. Groton School (12th last week) 2-2

 This has been a disappointing year so far for Groton but the win against St. Seb's might get them back on track.

12. Middlesex School (14th last week)  0-4

Please update your website.

13. St. Sebastian's School 0-4

The arrows have yet to win.

14. Thayer Academy (11th last week) 0-4

It's very annoying that Thayer doesn't update their website.  I have no idea if they beat Middlesex.

15. Brooks School 0-4

Brooks should get its first win May 5th against Lawrence.

16.  Lawrence Academy 0-2

Lawrence hasn't won a set yet.

Match Pick 'Em for Tomorrow

Match Pick 'Em for Tomorrow

I'm 18 for 18 so far this season picking matches.  Think you can beat me? Tell me which matches I'm going to get wrong in the comment section below.  Now that I'm on a roll I'm not stopping pick 'em anytime soon.  Totally inappropriate for high school sports but I should be making betting lines for these matches. Without further ado here are my picks.  Click here for the full Milton-Belmont Hill preview.

(2) Nobles will beat (15) Brooks 15-0
This is kindof a no-brainer. Brooks is getting slaughtered with a tough schedule to start the year. 5 top 7 teams in a row! Yikes!

(10) Governor's Academy will beat (16) Lawrence 15-0
This Governor's team might be the strongest squad they've had in the past five years and Lawrence is still looking for their first set this year.

(4) Roxbury Latin will beat (12) Groton 14-1
RL will bounce back with a win in this match.  This isn't a Groton squad that should challenge them this year.

Upset Alert: (14) Middlesex will beat (11) Thayer 9-6
This is a really tough match to pick because both teams are winless but I like Middlesex here because they got six sets against St. Mark's and they got 4 and 3 points off Nobles and Milton, respectively. 

(8) St. George's will beat (9) St. Mark's 10-5
This one could go either way but St. George's is the stronger team in my mind.  I was impressed by St. George's destruction of Governor's 11-4.

(5) St. Paul's will beat (13) St. Sebastian's 13-2
I like St. Seb's at 1 singles and St. Paul's at every other position.

Upset Alert: (7) Rivers will beat (6) BB&N 9-6
I'm not going to say much about this one because it's my own team, but this is my prediction.

Click here for the Milton-Belmont Hill Preview.

Standings

Standings

Sorry to everyone who has been waiting for me to post this.  Just a quick note, someone commented on the Class B Rankings asking me if I would write about Class A which I will, if there's something that you want me to write about or something that I missed just write a quick comment and I'll get on it.

Place	School	W	L		Power Rank
1	Belmont Hill	4	0		1
1	Milton Academy	4	0		2
1	Nobles	4	0		3
4	BB&N	3	1		6
4	Rivers	3	1		7
4	St. George's	3	1		8
7	Roxbury Latin	2	2		4
7	St. Paul's	2	2		5
7	St. Mark's	2	2		9
7	Groton School	2	1		12
11	Governor's Academy	1	3		10
12	Thayer Academy	0	4		11
12	St. Sebastian's	0	3		13
12	Middlesex School	0	4		14
12	Brooks School	0	4		15
12	Lawrence Academy	0	2		16

New England Class B Bracketology

New England Class B Bracketology

If the Nepsac tournament started tomorrow these would be my 8 teams in the tournament.  Check out the Class A Bracketology.

1.  Hopkins
Hopkins is unbelievable.  They have Nolan Paige (ranked top 5 in NE), Bobby Berkowitz (top 20), Russell Einbinder (top 10), Brian Astrachan (top 10), Jerrod Dobkin (top 50) and Michael Bartimer.  Talk about a stacked lineup.  They have a match with Brunswick this week who actually beat them last year and I'm very interested to see what happens.  This might be one of the best teams to ever play in the NEPSAC (assuming they beat Brunswick). The founders league is strong this year.

2.  Brunswick
This team has won Class B's two years in a row so I must be crazy not to have them at number 1 right?  Well when you look at how good Hopkins is it's hard to pick anyone else. I'm not sure who Brunswick graduated although I do know that Sam King plays number one for them.

3.  Belmont Hill
Belmont Hill is a very strong team and probably the best ISL team, as shown by the power rankings, but if Brunswick and Hopkins are healthy I honestly think that this team has zero shot at winning and I mean that with all due respect.  Belmont Hill's strength is their depth and their abundance of good players. Against Hopkins I think that they would lose all top 5 matches in straight sets.

4.  Cheshire Academy
Cheshire has a really good 1, 2 punch in Beck Bond and Michael Rosengren (both top 15 in NE I think). Beyond that I'm not quite sure how good they are but these two could definitely carry them to some big wins.

5.  Nobles
This team is good but do they have a shot in New Englands? Not really just because of how good the field is this year.

6.  Roxbury Latin
This isn't RL's year to win it.

7. St. Paul's
St. Paul's will probably get in unless they lose to BB&N but they are unlikely to make it out of the first round.

8. King School
Don't know much about this school and I don't know who will end up filling this 8 spot because it will probably be a CT school unless BB&N sneaks in here.

Teams on the outside:
BB&N
Williston Northampton
Green Farms
Westminster

Today's Match Results

Today's Match Results

 So I'm officially challenging anyone who thinks that they can beat me in pick'em to either comment with all of their predictions for Saturday or send me an email because I'm feeling pretty confident right now.  I picked all 8 matches correctly making me 18 for 18 on the season.  My score predictions were on average 1.5 points off.

(6) BB&N beat (10) Governor's 8-7; I predicted a 12-3 victory.
This was a very close match that ended up coming down to the final set at number 2 singles.  Governor's has a much stronger squad this year then I expected.

(3) Milton Academy beat (14) Middlesex 12-3; I predicted a 14-1 victory.
Milton was missing their fourth singles player.

(8) St. George's beat (13) St. Sebastian's 10-5; I predicted a 9-6 victory.

For the big one, (2) Nobles beat (4) Roxbury Latin and the score was 8-7; I predicted the score correctly.
Ryan Sullivan played in this match and Nobles took 1 and 2 doubles while Roxbury Latin took number 3. 1st and 2nd singles both split and then Camden Smith beat Cam Ferguson at 3rd singles.  At fourth singles J.B. Gough beat Will Shames then RL won 5th singles and Nobles won 6th singles.  Basically the singles was even and the doubles decided the match. Click here to see the full match preview.

Just wanted to point out that in a 7-point system the match would be undecided because the first and second singles matches would have to play third sets.  Nobles would've been up 3-2.  It's a shame we play the way we do.

(9) St. Mark's beat (16) Lawrence Academy 15-0; I predicted the right score.

(1) Belmont Hill beat (5) St. Paul's 12-3; I predicted an 11-4 victory.

(7) Rivers beat (15) Brooks 15-0; I predicted a 12-3 victory.

(12) Groton beat (11) Thayer 10-5; I predicted a 9-6 victory.

(2) Nobles vs. (4) Roxbury Latin Preview

(2) Nobles vs. (4) Roxbury Latin Preview

There are some key matches tomorrow and I will try to post live updates or immediate results. For my match predictions in the key matches I use tennisrecruiting.net to compare players and predict winners for each match.

Anthony Laurencio-Twymer, Nobles

(4) Roxbury Latin vs. (2) Nobles

For starters I'm assuming that Ryan Sullivan isn't playing although I don't know for sure. I think that Roxbury Latin will win number 2 doubles and I like Nobles to win at number 1 doubles. 3rd doubles has me a little bit stumped because I don't know too much about the Roxbury Latin players but I think I'm going to give the edge to Nobles.

In singles I'm confident that Cam Chapman from Nobles will take both sets at number 1. At number 2, I envision Cam Ferguson and Anthony Laurencio-Twymer splitting sets. 3rd Singles should be tight as well although Nobles has an experience advantage because Will Shames is a senior and J.B. Gough is a freshman but I'm guessing a split. At fourth singles it's another toss-up because Camden Smith and Perry Hart both have very similar tennisrecruiting rankings. I"m predicting another split in this match. At 5th singles it should be another close match but I like Justin Chapman from Nobles to take both sets and at 6th singles I think Will Samuels, the 8th grader from Nobles, should win both sets fairly easily.

My predicted score is that Nobles will win 11-4 (if Ryan Sullivan doesn't play) although there are a lot of matches that could go either way so that score could fluctuate a bit. If Ryan plays then my predicted score is 8-7 Nobles. Stay tuned this could be very close!

Click here to see my other match predictions.

Third Edition of the Power Rankings!

Third Edition of the Power Rankings!

 1. Belmont Hill School 3-0

Belmont Hill looks very solid all around and Carl Reid has been playing well, sliding into the number 1 spot for the time being. Belmont Hill should win easily against St. Paul's this Wednesday, more on that later.

2. Nobles School 3-0

 Nobles has had an easy schedule so far but their match Wednesday against Roxbury Latin should be their first test.

3. Milton Academy (4th last week) 3-0

Milton won't be tested for another week when they play Belmont Hill but so far against pretty easy competition they've dominated.

4. Roxbury Latin School (3rd last week) 2-1

Roxbury Latin faces its fourth straight top six team this Wednesday (Nobles) and it's a must-win if they want to remain in the hunt for the ISL championship.  Interesting that RL plays almost all the good teams at the start of the season. RL needs Ryan Sullivan to recover from injury quickly before the season slips away.

5. St. Paul's School 2-1

St. Paul's needs a win against Belmont Hill this Wednesday or else they don't have any shot of winning ISL's.  Their number 1 singles player, Jamie Raffini, is hurt and hasn't played all season.

6. BB&N 2-1

BB&N has looked pretty solid and they will probably finish the season in the sixth slot unless they can upset St. Paul's.  

7. Rivers School 2-1

Rivers close victory against St. Mark's scared me a little bit considering BB&N won against St. Mark's 13-2 a few days later. I'm really looking forward to the Rivers-BB&N match this coming Saturday.

8. St. George's School (10th last week) 2-1

St. George's has started off the season well and it should be an interesting match against St. Seb's this Wednesday.

9. St. Mark's School (11th last week) 1-2

St. Mark's has looked fairly strong other than their lopsided defeat at the hands of BB&N.

10. Governor's Academy (12th last week) 1-2

I'm a bit surprised they didn't get a set against Belmont Hill but I was impressed by their win over Groton.

11. Thayer Academy (9th last week) 0-3

Thayer has started off 0-3 and they need to beat St. Seb's on Wednesday unless they want to fall further in the rankings.

12. Groton School (8th last week) 1-1

 This has been a disappointing year so far for Groton but the win against St. Seb's might get them back on track.

13. St. Sebastian's School (14th last week) 0-2

A win against Groton would've been huge.

14. Middlesex School (13th last week) 0-3

Middlesex is still looking for its first win.

15. Brooks School 0-3

This team should move up the ranks a few spots this season.

16.  Lawrence Academy 0-1

Lawrence lost its first match this Saturday 15-0.