The regular season has just wrapped up and postseason play is in full swing. Boys tennis had districts and preliminary substate last week and over the weekend but now it's the girls turn to get going. Girls team regional play has gotten started over the last weekend and few days and will get back to it on Saturday May 22. Right now, we turn to individual regional play that is set to take place tomorrow at eight host sites across the state. Individual regionals strictly qualify singles players and doubles teams to the state tournament and have no implications on team play such as the boys side. There seems to be a lot of rain in the forecast this week, so I am hoping with you all that play can get through fairly smoothly and we have some great tennis all over!
View the team brackets and individual regional assignments here:
*Live updated brackets for individual regionals will be provided on Wednesday so you can follow along with all the action
Team Regionals
Class 2A Quarterfinal Predictions:
#4 Ankeny Centennial v #5 Valley
#2 Dowling v #7 Johnston
#6 CR Wash v #3 Cedar Falls
#8 Clinton v #1 Iowa City West
Regionals looked to be split up very well this year, and they usually are. I think most are going to be straight forward and I expect the eight teams above to move along. Keep an eye on Region 3 where CR Wash and Pleasant Valley most likely meet in the regional final. While I have the Warriors moving to the quarterfinals, PV is going to be a tough test.
The next close match I think will be very competitive is Clinton and Cedar Rapids Kennedy in their regional final should both advance. Kennedy has a great record this season dropping matches to powerhouses in IC West and Cedar Falls. What concerns me about them is their blowout loss to CR Wash as I thought that one would have been more competitive.
Johnston and Waukee rematch in their regional final will be very close as well. Johnston edged Waukee 5-4 just a few weeks ago. Waukee has some nice wins this year and Johnston continues to prove they are a team that can play and be tough to beat. Johnston is my pick to move on but this one should be very close again.
Lastly, Centennial and Valley will be the match before the final four. I believe these two met to open the season and Centennial took a really close 5-4 win. Both teams have a stud at #1 singles in Abbie Peterson and Claire Gu which went to a tight super tiebreaker for the win in March. Your guess is as good as mine for who makes the semis.
Class 1A Quarterfinal Predictions:
#8 Union v #2 Columbus
#9 Spirit Lake-Okoboji v #4 Red Oak
#5 Assumption v #7 Pella Christian
Decorah v #1 Xavier
REGION 3 has some insane regional final matchups in Assumption/Fairfield and Pella Christian/Pella. I am quite interested in the Assumption v Fairfield match as both teams have had really good seasons, but Fairfield didn't really get to play anyone, AND do now have state singles champion Yana Gaskell on the roster. Assumption had the luxury of getting to play some 2A MAC teams in Clinton, Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley. While all three of those meets were losses, it could pay dividends coming up this weekend and is why I have Assumption moving on.
Pella Christian and Pella played just a couple weeks ago with PC taking a tight match. I expect the same to happen again and even be closer if that is possible! I am going with PC this time around even though I think it is a toss up.
Another really good match will be Decorah and Wahlert in their regional final. Decorah dominated #6 Aplington-Parkersburg last weekend 5-0, the Vikings can play. Wahlert hasn't lived up to the expectations that maybe were set on them at the beginning of the season. That doesn't mean they have not had a good season, because they have, but it isn't as strong of a team as years past. I am going with the hot hand of Decorah for this one.
Lastly, Union v Kuemper Catholic might turn out to be a very competitive match. Union has entered their name in the rankings this year and a team that has a good chance to move on to the quarterfinals. This is a top 10 matchup and I expect a close battle. I am giving the nod to Union this time around, but very very close.
Individual Regionals
Class 2A
From what I can see, the 2A individual assignments are quite good. The Girls Union has done a good job with team brackets and individual regional assignments for a while so I wasn't too worried about something crazy happening. That being said, most sites are pretty straight forward I would say. One site that stands out to me the most is Johnston
The Johnston site includes Johnston, Waukee and Ames, where all teams have strong players at the top. This site to me is not a place where any of these three teams get more than 2 entries in max to the state tournament. I imagine Arunadee Fernando of Ames will be in the singles draw. After that, there is a real opportunity for a few other singles players to make the final. The doubles draw could end up being very competitive and come down to a few points that will decide the state qualifiers.
Class 1A
Like 2A, the assignments are laid out very well. Once again, I see only one site that is really jam packed, which is at Decorah. Decorah will also play host to Aplington-Parkersburg, Dubuque Wahlert and Waverly-Shell Rock. DW and WSR have been in the top 10 throughout the earlier part of the season and Decorah just blanked AP in team play last weekend. I don't see any of these teams advancing multiple entries to state, unless one of the draws is loaded. What a competitive site tomorrow.
Other notables include sites that have two strong teams together. Union and Waterloo Columbus will meet up at Columbus. Davenport Assumption will head over to Fairfield at Fairfield. Pella plays host to Pella Christian before their team rematch this Saturday.
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