Inspired by Kirijax...
The season serves it up this Saturday. Here is what we can expect from the team this year:
Link to preview in original state
Last season: Clemson was expected to take a slight step back last year after the loss of Yannick Maden, Ayrton Wibowo, Zac Rigsby and Gerardo Meza. However the new players on the team came together and made it a pretty successful year overall. The team finished 22nd in the country and the year ended with a very very tough 4-3 loss to Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament.
Last year was the 2nd straight year the Tigers had made the NCAA 2nd round(round of 32) after a 5 year hiatus rebuilding period from 2008-2012 which came about after the sudden departure of Chuck Kriese.
Looking ahead to 2015...
Lost pieces: (position on team in 2014)
Dominique Maden (#2, important #1 doubles player), Stuttgart, Germany
Returning players:
Austin Ansari (#4), Junior, Greensboro,NC
Robert Dudley (#6 rotation), Sophomore, Dublin,Ireland
Alejandro Augusto (#3), Senior, Madrid,Spain
Hunter Harrington (#1), Senior, Spartanburg,SC
Luke Johnson (#5), Junior, Leeds,England
Brent Lett (#6 rotation), Sophomore, Lugoff,SC
Fernando Sala (backup), Sophomore, Alicante,Spain
Christian Harris (backup), Sophomore, Hilton Head,SC
Daniel Strawn (backup), Sophomore, Macon,GA
New faces:
Hampton Drake, Freshman, Hilton Head,SC
Daffra Sanon (Washington transfer), Sophomore, Paris,France
Players in the 2015 pre-season rankings:
Hunter Harrigton #69
Projected 2015 line-up (fall season records)
1. Hunter Harrington (10-3)
Harrington will assuredly play #1 in 2015 for the team. He was a very solid #1 last year in his first year stepping into the role. He has a big game, big forehand and big serve and always looks to attack first. This makes him a dangerous player to almost anyone in the country. He is still susceptible to consistent baseline grinders and crafty players. In the ACC he should be a decent #1 player. He will lose some but will also won some. He is a good enough #1 for the purposes of this teams goals.
2. Alejandro Augusto (7-5)
Augusto was a breath of e air into the team last year, holding down the #3 spot and becoming one of the teams most clutch players, clinching vital wins vs both South Carolina and FSU. He will face a step up in competition at#2 and it may be a rough transition for him. He will need to improve if he is to win many matches at #2 in the ACC. I expect that he will improve and will become a 100-125 ranked player nationally. I have faith that he can improve enough so as to not make the #2 spot a weak spot for the team.
3. Austin Ansari (3-3)
This is where the team is lacking this year. The #3 spot will be tough for anyone on this team to hold down. I project Ansari here because of his experience and the fact that his game can be more aggressive and dangerous than some of the others despite its inconsistency. Barring massive improvement I do not foresee many wins for Ansari at #3 this year.
4. Luke Johnson (4-3)
Johnson transferred to Clemson last year from Florida. He was a solid #5 player for the Tigers and was a key keg in the teams wins. #4 will be a step up but not such a drastic one. He should be able to adjust fairly well to the new position. He could also slip up to to #3 on occasion and Ansari could move down to 4. 3 and 4 could be interchangeable in certain matches of the year.
5 and 6 are a little harder to project. There is a clump of players who could play anywhere from 5 to out of the line-up, it all depends on improvement.
5. Hampton Drake (5-3)
I am going to project the freshman from Hilton Head in this spot. He had good win over Eric Diaz of UGA in the fall and also had a decent match vs Jack Murray of UNC. The reason I am slotting him here is because honestly nobody else seems to want to take this position based on the struggles at #5 last year. Drake will step into the role nicely.
6. Daffra Sanon (5-3)
Sanon played #6 at times for Washington last year. Taking a set off of top UNC player Ronnie Schnieder in the fall raised a few eyebrows could potentially hint at Sanon's talent and ability. Like Drake I am putting him here because of how last year's players faired in big matches. I expect the two new faces Drake and Sanon to embrace their roles and solidify the botoom of the line-up more so than the team was able to do last year.
knocking on the door:
no matter what the Tigers did last year the #6 spot was a real struggle. Plugging in a variety of players but all with the same result, a loss. This cast of characters could not hold down #6 in any way shape or form, which is the reason I have put the new players in at 5 and 6.
Brent Lett (2-5)
Lett played at #6 some last year but was beaten almost each time. His rout loss to Kentucky in the NCAA tournament when things were in the balance confirmed that he should not be playing in the top 6 in big matches this year.
Robert Dudley (no play)
At one time it looked as if Dudley would be a fine addition to the top 6 last year and be a consistent winner at #6. But he struggled as the year wore on and accumulated losses. He did not play at all in the fall, that is not a good sign for him in the spring.
Fernando Sala (3-2)
Looked promising in the early parts of last year but like Dudley, started to accumulate losses as the season went on. He will likely not see the court very often this year in big matches,
Christian Harris (4-3)
Had a pretty good fall but it was vs lower level competitors. He is no match for ACC talent.
The schedule: (Clemson is pre-season ranked #24)
This year's schedule is fairly soft out of conference but the ACC is devilishly tough this year.
Game by game predictions: (opponent pre-season ranking precedes team)
Jan.17 Winthrop (W)
Jan.17 @ Davidson (W)
Jan 23. vs #23 Memphis (in Durham,NC) (W)
Jan 24 vs winner of Duke/Wake (L)
Jan 31 @ #27 South Carolina (L)
Feb 7. Gardner-Webb (W)
Feb 7. Mercer (W)
Feb 7. Wofford (W)
Feb 13. @ #42 Auburn (W)
Feb 20-22 @ Blue Gray Classic (Alabama,Auburn,Boise State,Miss State,Princeton,South Florida,Texas Tech)
Mar 6. #75 Georgia Tech (w)
Mar 8. College of Charleston (W)
Mar 8. Presbyterian (W)
Mar 13. @ #2 Virginia (L)
Mar 15. @ #38 Virginia Tech (L)
Mar 20. @ #52 Miami (W)
Mar 22. @ #35 Florida State (W) , this match will be on ESPN3
Mar 27. #12 Duke (L)
Mar 29. #39 Louisville (W)
Apr 3. #28 NC State (W)
Apr 5. #20 Wake Forest (L)
Apr 10. @ #14 Notre Dame (L)
Apr 12. @ Boston College (W)
Apr. 19 #6 North Carolina (L)
There are a few matches that you can go ahead and pencil in the wins and losses. We are not going to beat Virginia,Duke or UNC and probably not Wake either. And of course there are the easy wins.
The key to the season will be the swing matches. There are those that we should win and need to avoid losses, such as Louisville, Florida State, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Miami. A loss in any of those would be a bad loss and will spell trouble.
Then there are the 50/50 matches: NC State, South Carolina, the blue gray matches (depending on opponent), Virginia Tech, Memphis.
And there is one match that we aren't expected to win but can win and would be a massive win: Notre Dame
In order for this team to stay in the top 30, they cannot lose in many of the swing matches.
easier to read breakdown:
Sure wins: Winthrop, Davidson, Gardner Webb, Mercer, Wofford, CofC, PC, Boston College
Swing matches, should win: FSU, GT, Louisville, Auburn, Texas Tech (potential opponent), Princeton (potential opponent)
50/50: Memphis, NC State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech. Alabama (potential opponent), Miss State (potential opponent, Boise State (potential opponent)
Swing matches, underdog: Notre Dame, Wake Forest, USF (potential opponent)
Sure losses: Virginia, Duke, North Carolina
looking at a final ranking around 25-30 I think which will likely lead to another NCAA 2nd round appearance.
