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).

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.

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.

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

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.

Today's Match Results

Today's Match Results

Click here if you haven't read my predictions yet.
Check the power rankings here.  New power rankings tomorrow.

Friday: Milton Academy beat St. Sebastian's 15-0.

Belmont Hill beat Milton Academy 11-4; I predicted a 9-6 victory.

Roxbury Latin beat Groton 15-0; I predicted a 14-1 victory.

Rivers beat BB&N 8-7; I predicted a 9-6 victory.
BB&N was missing its number 2 and number 6.

Nobles beat Brooks 14-1.

St. Paul's-St. Sebastian's got rained out.

Governor's-Lawrence got rained out.

St. George's-St. Mark's got rained out.

Check for the power rankings tomorrow.

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

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.

Other Match Predictions

Other Match Predictions

For my other match predictions, I'm still undefeated (10 for 10) on my match predictions this season so the best of luck to me so that I can keep my streak going. I'm a little bit worried I picked the Groton and St. George's matches wrong but we'll see.

(1) Belmont Hill will beat (5) St. Paul's 11-4
I'm not expecting this match to be too close and I'm very confident that Belmont Hill will win so I don't think it needs a match breakdown.

(6) BB&N will beat (10) Governor's 12-3
Nate Collins should pick up 2 points at number 1 and Governor's will probably steal 1 or 2 other points.

(7) Rivers will beat (15) Brooks 12-3

(3) Milton will beat (14) Middlesex 14-1

Upset Alert: (12) Groton will beat (11) Thayer 9-6

(9) St. Mark's will beat (16) Lawrence 15-0

(8) St. George's will beat (13) St. Sebastian's 9-6

Click here to see the Roxbury Latin vs. Nobles Preview.

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.

Todays Results

Todays Results

 Just wanted to point out that I went 8 for 8 on match predictions.

RL beat St. Paul's 9-6
This match was definitely closer than I expected but I'm impressed that RL was able to win without Sullivan.  They really need him back in the lineup if they want a chance to beat Milton and Nobles.

Milton beat Brooks 15-0
Straightforward win for Milton.

Belmont Hill beat Governor's 15-0
Carl Reid played number 1 singles and beat Nate Collins.  Just wanted to point out that the Boston Globe printed the score as Governor's 15- Belmont Hill 0 in the newspaper.

Nobles beat Middlesex 11-4
I figured that Nobles would take this by more, I'm not sure whether Middlesex played exceptionally well or if Nobles rested players.

St. George's beat Lawrence 15-0

BB&N beat St. Mark's 13-2
Easy win for the Knights.

Groton beat St. Sebastian's 8-7
I had a feeling this would be a close match but I didn't realize St. Seb's would have match points in the deciding tiebreak only to lose. That's real close. Good match either way.

Rivers beat Thayer 13-2

Results from Today

Results from Today

Carl Reid, Belmont Hill

Belmont Hill beat Roxbury Latin 10-5
This was a big win for Belmont Hill but it should be noted that Ryan Sullivan, the number 2 for RL, did not play because of an injury.  I actually didn't expect Roxbury Latin to keep the match this close without Ryan but now I'm wondering what might have happened if Ryan had played.  I don't have too much info on this match right now but I will post a full write-up either tomorrow or on friday because this match deserves some publicity.  For those of you who didn't read my preview of this match, I just want to point out that as I predicted Belmont Hill swept the doubles and I was only one point off from predicting the exact score (I predicted a 9-6 finish).

Jess Karol, BB&N

BB&N beat Brooks 13-2
The doubles was competitive in this match but the singles play by BB&N was a bit too strong for Brooks today.  3 and 5 singles both split sets. It was a beautiful day to play outdoors even though the wind was a bit strong.

Milton beat St. George's 14-1

Governor's beat Groton 9-6
WOW! Okay this match definitely just messed up my power rankings. If you look at my rankings I had Groton at number 8 and Governor's just moved down to number 12 after a loss to St. George's (11-4).  Either this was a fluke or I overestimated Groton this year. Groton has been anywhere from 5th to 8th in the league for the past five years or so If my memory is correct and they must be having a serious down year.  I don't mean to downplay the significance of this win for Governor's because they have been struggling for the past few years and maybe they are making a small push into the middle of the ISL.  I guess my power rankings aren't perfect.


Rivers beat St. Mark's 9-6
I'm a little bit surprised by how close this match score is because I figured that Rivers would have won this match handily.  I'm pretty sure that Rivers has a fairly solid team so it must be that St. Mark's has improved since last year. Maybe someone on the Rivers or St. Mark's team could comment and let me know what happened.


Nobles beat Thayer 12-3
Robbie won 1 singles and 1 double for Thayer.

St. Paul's beat Middlesex 13-2
St. Paul's split at 2 singles and lost 1 doubles.

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.

Results From Today

Results From Today

Roxbury Latin beat BB&N 13-2
RL swept BB&N in doubles but all of the doubles matches were very close.  RL won 1 and 3 doubles in tiebreakers and won 2 doubles by the score of 8-6.  RL then won every singles position except for number 2: Ryan Sullivan retired during the first set giving BB&N two points.

Nobles beat St. Sebastian's 14-1
Nobles cleaned up, winning every match except for number 3 singles where Will Shames split sets.

Belmont Hill beat Thayer 14-1
Pete Yanofsky and Richard Robbie split at number 1 singles and Bel Hill took the rest of the matches.

Milton beat Rivers 14-1

St. Paul's beat Brooks 14-1

St. George's beat Governor's 11-4

St. Mark's beat Middlesex 9-6

If I haven't posted your score just comment on this post.