Final Power Rankings

Final Power Rankings

1. Belmont Hill School (Previously: 1) 15-0

Belmont Hill lost a tough match to Brunswick in the New England Semi-Final but they pretty much dominated the ISL this year except for an 8-7 win over Nobles.  Belmont Hill graduates its 2, 4, 5, and 6 but it will return the leading MVP candidate, Carl Reid.

2. Milton Academy (3) 14-1

Milton lost a tough match to Hotchkiss in New England Class A's which they may have won if Noah Bragg had played this season.  Milton graduates at least its 1, Andrew Lebovitz, its 3, Anthony Blake and its 4, Josh "J. Chill" Cohen.  Next year definitely looks to be a rebuilding year.

3. Nobles School (2) 13-2

I honestly think that with Anthony Laurencio-Twymer that Nobles would have beaten Milton, but we will never know.  After Nobles' loss to Milton I had to move them down by default.  This squad is graduating only its 4, Will Shames, as a far as I know and they look to be the favorites to win next year's title.

4. Roxbury Latin School (4) 12-3

I think that RL had a slightly disappointing year because it wasn't able to crack the top 3.  RL only graduates its number 2, Ryan Sullivan, so I'm picking RL to finish 2nd in the league next year.

5. St. Paul's School (5) 11-4

St. Paul's had a very respectable season and just imagine what they could've done if their number 1, Jamie Raffini, had been healthy. St. Paul's only graduates its 3, Will Schoder, and its 5, Mark Poon.  They will be very solid next year and look for John Hwang '12 to have a breakout year.

6. Rivers School  (7) 10-5

Rivers finished up one of its most successful seasons ever and it was able to win the Class C Title.  I think that Rivers will return all of its starters and T.J. Moor will hopefully be able to serve overhand again.  Rivers will likely crack the top 4 or 5 next year.

7. BB&N (14) 7-8

BB&N had a lot of ups and downs this season but it dismantled St. George's in the second to last week of the season to return to 7th in the power rankings.  BB&N only loses its number 5, Alec Terrana, its number 6, Adrian "Kamikaze" Pfhorzeimer and its injured number 1, Cam Woodsum.

8. St. George's School (7) 6-7

St. George's had a solid season, especially after graduating a few players last season.  Look for this team to be somewhere in the middle of the pack next year because I know that they're graduating their number 3.

9. St. Mark's School (8) 7-8

St. Mark's graduates its number 1, Chris Bassett, and maybe its number 2.  St. Mark's should be somewhere in the middle of the ISL next year.

10. Middlesex School  (9) 6-8

Middlesex was very tough this year, defeating BB&N, Groton and St. Seb's.  They are graduating a few players.

11. Groton School (12) 4-10

Groton started strong but ended up dying at the end of the season.  They did beat St. Seb's and Thayer though.

12. St. Sebastian's School (13) 4-11

St. Seb's returns a bunch of strong players next year and hopefully they'll continue to improve.  Conor Haugey '12 had a very strong season at 1st singles.

13. Thayer Academy (10) 4-11

Thayer had a bunch of clutch 8-7 wins and they return Richie Robbie '11 next season.

14. Governor's Academy (15) 3-12

Governor's looked solid at the beginning of the year when they beat Groton but then they kind of fizzled out and lost a bunch of close matches.

15. Brooks School (11) 2-13

Brooks showed promise with a win over Groton, but other than that they didn't make too much noise.

16.  Lawrence Academy (16) 0-15

I'm not quite sure why Lawrence is in the ISL to be perfectly honest; they won 2 sets all season (against Middlesex).

Top 10 Boys' Tennis Players in MA: ESPN RISE vs. ISL TENNIS BLOG

Top 10 Boys' Tennis Players in MA: ESPN RISE vs. ISL TENNIS BLOG

I randomly came across the Greater Boston: May/June 2010 version of the ESPN Rise magazine, and as I was flipping through it I noticed that the magazine has a list of the Top 10 Boys' Tennis Players in Massachusetts.  Cool Right? Yeah, that's what I thought, until I read the list.  If you're going to make a list, why not make it good? I've always respected ESPN for being the leader in sports reporting but I have to say their list is not good.

ESPN RISE TOP 10:

10. Aaron Segal (Needham, So.)


9. Christian Heaney-Secord (Westwood, Sr.)


8. Andrew Lebovitz (Milton Academy, Sr.)


7. Roland Hence (Cambridge, Sr.)


6. Mesa Mei (Somerville, Sr.)


5. Aaron Revzin (Needham, So.)


4. Christian Boulanger (Winchester, Jr.)


3. William Spector (Weston, Jr.)


2. Cameron Ghorbani (Lexington, Sr.)


1. Alex Steinroeder (Concord-Carlisle, Jr.)


I have to say at first glance that I don't/ can't understand how ESPN Rise compiled this list.  Initially, I figured that they went by high school results, but I know that at least one (Roland Hence) of these players don't play high school tennis.  My next instinct was that maybe they combined tournament results and high school tennis but there's no way that's possible becaues Boulanger is ranked 47th in the 18 & Unders.  ESPN needs to keep it real and take Boulanger and Segal out of the Top 10 (no offense to them) because there's no way to justify ranking them that high.  In response to ESPN's rankings, I'm going to create my own top 10.  Without putting myself at number 1 (because it's too controversial) here is my top ten:

ISL TENNIS BLOG TOP 10:

10. Chris Barnhart, Longmeadow


9. Lavrensky Araghamia, Sharon


8. Andrew Lebovitz, Milton Academy


7. Carl Reid, Belmont Hill


6. Roland Hence, Cambridge


5. Aaron Revzin, Needham


4. Mesa Mei, Somerville


3. William Spector, Weston


2. Cameron Ghorbani, Lexington


1. Alex Steinroeder, Concord-Carlisle

Steinroeder

I made my list using high school results, TennisRecruiting.net and USTA New England Rankings.

I'm very interested to see what people think of my list and of the ESPN Rise list. Please comment below.

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.

Power Rankings- Sixth Edition

Power Rankings- Sixth Edition

In this edition of the power rankings I'm going to compare the current ranking to the (preseason ranking).  There was a lot of movement in the rankings from 11-15 because Groton lost to both Middlesex and Brooks.

1. Belmont Hill School (1)

Belmont Hill has its final test of the season against Nobles on Wednesday.

2. Milton Academy (4)

Milton had a solid week that included wins over Roxbury Latin and Phillips Andover.

3. Nobles School (2)

Nobles has two important matches this week: one against Belmont Hill and the other against St. Paul's.

4. Roxbury Latin School (3)

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

5. St. Paul's School (5)

St. Paul's smoked BB&N 14-1 on Saturday and looks to continue its momentum in its matches against Governor's, Rivers and Nobles this week.  

6. Rivers School  (7)

Rivers has probably locked up a berth into the New England Class C Tournament.

7. BB&N (6)

The Knights should pick up two wins this week against Groton and Middlesex.

8. St. George's School (12)

St. George's has an important make-up match against St. Mark's today and then another big match against Rivers.

9. Governor's Academy  (10)

Looks like Nate Collins split with Andrew Lebovitz of Milton this past Saturday.

10. St. Mark's School (11)

Big match against St. George's today.

11. Middlesex School  (13) (Up 2 spots)

Middlesex has a tough stretch coming up with matches against BB&N, RL and Belmont Hill.

12. Thayer Academy (9)

Thayer has the potential to pick up two more wins this week against Brooks and St. Mark's.

13. Brooks School (15) (Up 2 spots)

Brooks had a big win this past week against Groton.

14. Groton School (8) (Down 3 spots)

Groton dropped disappointing matches to Brooks and Middlesex this past week.

15. St. Sebastian's School (14) (Down one spot)

St Seb's took down Lawrence on Friday for its first win of the season.

16.  Lawrence Academy (16)

It's been a tough season for Lawrence.

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.

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.

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.

New Power Rankings

New Power Rankings

You (my readers) spoke and I listened so here are the new rankings. If you have any suggestions for the site email me or write on the facebook fan group wall because I am very open to criticism and to improving the site.

Whether you agree, disagree or downright don't care, I want to hear your opinion! Comment below.

1. Belmont Hill

Belmont Hill is my early favorite to win the ISL because of its addition of freshman Carl Reid and its depth. Dawson Luke '09 is the only player who graduated last year so the team should be stronger than it was last year. I expect Carl to play somewhere in the top 3 alongside Peter Yanofsky and John Welch. Belmont Hill should expect some strong competition from defending champion Milton Academy as well as Roxbury Latin and Nobles. The strength of Belmont Hill's 1-4 should be way too much for the other teams in the ISL.

2. Nobles

The Nobles squad definitely has some replacing to do after losing its number 1, 2 and 4 to graduation. The addition of Cam Chapman who could potentially play number 1 or 2 and Will Samuels who should dominate towards the bottom of the lineup may be enough to replace the graduating seniors. I’m not sure how Nobles will match up with Milton and Roxbury Latin but both matches should be very close. Captain Will Shames ’10 is one of the only upperclassmen on this young team.

3. Roxbury Latin

I watched the BB&N-RL match on Saturday and RL won handily 13-2 but the score didn't reflect how close many of the sets were.  RL wasn't unbelievable but they were solid at every position and their depth could potentially threaten Milton and Nobles.

4. Milton

Before I found out that Noah Bragg would not be playing this year I had Milton picked as the overwhelming favorite to win the league. While Milton returns its numbers 2,4,5 and 6, the question is whether it can fill the holes left by Noah and Will Hunnewell. Milton has a strong 1-4 and they should clean up at 1 and 2 doubles but 5 and 6 singles is a real question mark this year. Milton's first test will be against Belmont Hill on April 17th. The biggest achilles heel for this team will probably be its depth.

5. St. Paul's

I'm not sure how strong St. Paul's will be this year but they are one of the most consistent teams in the league and they tend to have good depth every year. Returning a strong 1,2 duo in Raffini ’10 and Bartlett ‘11, and always boasting a deep squad, expect St. Paul's to have another successful season.

6. BB&N

 BB&N should have a very competitive match against Rivers in two weeks with a fair amount on the line. The Knights dropped a tough match against Roxbury Latin where they lost a lot of very close sets.

7. Rivers

Rivers returns T.J. Moor and Cal Louis and should have a strong squad this season. Rivers dropped its first match against Milton 14-1.

8. Groton

Groton graduated its number 1 and 2 probably will be somewhere in the middle of the league. Groton could move up as high as sixth or possibly fifth but it will unlikely finish higher than that.

9. Thayer

Thayer graduated league MVP Tom Darling and the squad continues to get weaker since its 2006 New England Class B Championship. Richie Robbie '11 should have a successful season at number 1.

10. St. George's (12th last week)

St. George's graduated its number 1 and I think it's number 2 was a senior as well.  St. George's moved up after beating Governor's 11-4.

11. St. Mark's

St. Mark's returns number 1 Chris Bassett '10 and looks to improve upon last year. St. Mark's started the season with a solid win against Middlesex.

12. Governor's (10th last week)

Governor's will once again be led by Nate Collins '10 who has been playing at the number 1 spot since his freshman year. He is an early MVP candidate who needs players to win towards the end of the lineup for Governor's to improve on last season.

13. Middlesex

Middlesex was young last year and they should be stronger now that there players have had time to improve.

14. St. Sebastian's

Conor Haughey leads this St. Sebastian's team that hopes to improve on last year.

15. Brooks

Since Alex Skinner left, this squad hasn't been too strong.

16.  Lawrence

Lawrence looks to improve upon its disappointing season last year.