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Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 09-13-2019

Our reigning national champions get back to work soon. I was expecting to announce that several Stanford players were selected for the ITA All-American Championships (selections were announced today), but the selections were just posted, and not a single Stanford player is on the list.

That's right, we're skipping ITA All-Americans. But why? The fall season doesn't factor into the ITA team rankings that dictate seeding and the like, but they are important for individual rankings, particularly for players who won't be playing at the top of the lineup. A good fall season can allow a player at the bottom of the lineup on a good team to bank some quality wins that can get them into the NCAA singles and doubles championship draws.

If this holds, and isn't just some administrative error, then I'm struggling to understand the rationale. Perhaps Lele is having our players play in some ITF tournaments?

In any event, the lack of ITA All-Americans means we can probably expect the following fall schedule of individual tournaments (we don't have a 2019-2020 schedule out yet):

* First week of October: St. Mary's Invitational, Moraga, CA

* October 18-22: ITA Northwest Regionals at Stanford.

* November 6-10: ITA National Fall Championships ("Fall Nationals") at Newport Beach, CA. To qualify for Fall Nationals, our singles players need to be quarterfinalists (or consolation finalists) at ITA All-Americans (so that's out as an option), finalists at Northwest Regionals, or be ranked highly enough to be one of 21 at-large selections. For doubles, teams need to either be semifinalists (or consolation finalists) at All-Americans, champions at Northwest Regionals, or be ranked highly enough to be one of 10 at-large duos.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 09-30-2019

Oh, and the first ITA individual rankings of the year are out. Here's where the Stanford women stack up in singles:

6. Michaela Gordon
30. Emily Arbuthnott
60. Janice Shin
78. Emma Higuchi
87. Sara Choy
93. Niluka Madurawe

No other team has six ranked players, but I'm not sure North Carolina minds too much, since they have four players in the top 15! (#3 Makenna Jones, #4 Alexa Graham, #7 Sara Daavettila, and #12 Cameron Morra.) UNC has 5 ranked players in all, the same as Georgia. UNC is going to be very, very tough to beat this year with that top 4. 

In doubles, we have just one ranked team, #10 Arbuthnott/Gordon. That's to be expected since we had three seniors playing doubles last year, so we don't have much of a track record for whatever duos end up playing #2 and #3 doubles for us this year. 

In the "Top 10 Freshmen/Newcomers" rankings, Angelica Blake checks in at #8, and there's a little more Pac-12 representation on that last than usual--USC's Carson Branstine is #2, UCLA's Abigail Forbes is #4, and Cal's Erin Richardson is #10. 

Here's the full list of Pac-12 singles players in the rankings:

6. Gordon
9. Jada Hart (UCLA)
16. Elysia Bolton (UCLA)
24. Julia Rosenqvist (Cal)
27. Michaela Bayerlova (WSU)
30. Arbuthnott
34. Salma Ewing (USC)
42. Anna Bright (Cal)
50. Angela Kulikov (USC)
54. Vanessa Wong (UW)
60. Shin
65. Sara Nayar (CU)
70. Abi Altick (UCLA)
75. Ilze Hattingh (ASU)
78. Higuchi
87. Choy
93. Madurawe
102. Danielle Willson (USC)
109. Ana Neffa (USC)
The rankings are never perfect, but they give a decent picture of the state of the Pac-12 race this season:

* Stanford's depth is tough to beat, with 6 ranked players and a top newcomer coming in (one of two blue chips), but we don't have proven top-end talent behind Gordon.
* UCLA is right on our heels. Just three ranked players, but a top newcomer coming in (one of two blue chips), and one of last year's top recruits, Taylor Johnson, coming back. 
* USC is absolutely right there. 4 ranked players with a top newcomer (one of two blue chips). They look to have righted the ship, and expect them to be back in the mix for years to come. 
* Cal looks like a clear (but close) fourth, with good players at the top and a top newcomer (the newcomer is British, but otherwise would have been one of two blue chips), but just not the same sort of depth as the top 3 in the conference. With the incoming talent, though, I wouldn't be surprised to see Cal beat one of UCLA or USC to jump into the top 3. The difference is that Cal would be relying more heavily on freshman performances, whereas Stanford, USC, and UCLA each have solid depth returning.

And without disrespecting the rest of the conference, there you have it. Last year, Washington still had Stacey Fung at the top, and I don't see them quite matching that performance. They'll be a tough out, to be sure, but they just don't have the same talent level as the top 4. As always, Gordon will have the toughest match of the day against the rest of the conference, and she'll drop the occasional match to someone like Hattingh or Bayerlova, but teams like Wazzu and ASU can't match our depth. 

I still like Stanford to win the conference, especially since we get UCLA and USC at home this year. But it'll be tight.

(Keep in mind that we host UCLA, USC, Cal, Colorado, Utah, and Oregon this year, while we travel to Washington, Washington State, Arizona, and Arizona State. The full spring schedule isn't posted yet, but we'd be due for road trips to play Vanderbilt in Nashville and Texas in Austin, as well as whoever else lands on the schedule. That Texas match is up on the Longhorns' website, but it's not yet clear who else we'll play on that road trip.)

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 09-30-2019

Oh, and there's been some news on the recruiting front as well, as the Tennis Recruiting Network is showing top 5 player India Houghton (from Belvedere/Tiburon, CA) as having verbally committed to Stanford. Houghton's profile has climbed, from a top 50-ish player as a freshman to peaking at #43 as a sophomore to peaking at #20 last year. But this year, she's currently #4 (and the top player in California) in the Babolat national recruiting rankings, and she's #3 in the Dunlop RPI rankings. I can't find an announcement of the commitment, but TRN wouldn't have made it up. 

So, here's a quick look at our current scholarship roster math (we're finally balanced after the departure of the great class of Lord, Lampl, and Yee):

Seniors: Arbuthnott and Higuchi
Juniors: Gordon and Shin
Sophomores: Choy and Madurawe
Freshmen: Blake and Mossmer
HS Class of 2020: Ana Geller (from Argentina), and now India Houghton. 

Unless someone decides to leave early or one of Geller/Houghton backs out of the commitment, then we're done with recruiting this year on the early side.
Stanford has now posted the fall schedule:

* October 3-6: Women's Collegiate Classic (hosted by Pepperdine in Malibu)

* October 4-6: St. Mary's Invitational, Moraga, CA

* October 18-22: ITA Northwest Regionals at Stanford.

* November 6-10: ITA National Fall Championships ("Fall Nationals") at Newport Beach, CA. To qualify for Fall Nationals, our singles players need to be quarterfinalists (or consolation finalists) at ITA All-Americans (so that's out as an option), finalists at Northwest Regionals, or be ranked highly enough to be one of 21 at-large selections. For doubles, teams need to either be semifinalists (or consolation finalists) at All-Americans, champions at Northwest Regionals, or be ranked highly enough to be one of 10 at-large duos.

* November 8-10: San Diego State Fall Classic

So, in lieu of ITA All-Americans, Stanford adds a second, higher-profile invitational tournament at the same time as the St. Mary's Invitational (and the same time as ITA All-Americans). I'm not sure exactly how many top players will be there, since the entry list at ITA All-Americans looks to have swept up the top players and teams, but we'll be there. FYI, the Pepperdine website lists this tournament as the Riviera Invitational, and until ITA All-Americans left Malibu for Tulsa, the tournament had been known in recent years as the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships. Also, for whatever players don't qualify for Fall Nationals, we'll have the San Diego State Fall Classic to get some good matches in before the fall season ends. 

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - oldalum - 09-30-2019

I assume Ana Geller is the sister of our men's team star, Axel Geller, which I think means she is unlikely to change her commitment.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - Sakibomb25 - 09-30-2019

(09-30-2019, 10:40 AM)oldalum Wrote:  I assume Ana Geller is the sister of our men's team star, Axel Geller, which I think means she is unlikely to change her commitment.
How good is Ana Gellar? Could she be a walk-on?

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 10-01-2019

(09-30-2019, 05:05 PM)SakiBomb25 Wrote:  
(09-30-2019, 10:40 AM)oldalum Wrote:  I assume Ana Geller is the sister of our men's team star, Axel Geller, which I think means she is unlikely to change her commitment.
How good is Ana Gellar? Could she be a walk-on?

We discussed her a little bit when she committed (here's that link: https://thecardboard.org/board/showthread.php?tid=17676&page=11&highlight=ana+geller), but as the #60 player in the ITF junior rankings, she's absolutely a scholarship-caliber player. Since November of last year, she's got a 12-3 record against blue chip recruits, though most of those wins are against players a year or two younger, but that's tournament play for you. 

Here's an article from September about her commitment: https://www.tennisrecruiting.net/article.asp?id=306429260. She also took official visits to Vanderbilt, USC, Duke, and Northwestern, so she was pretty clearly locked in on the schools that could give her a great education along with a top tennis program. She was in Argentina through her sophomore year (mostly practicing against top boys due to the lack of high-level female opponents), and has spent the last year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. She'll fit right in.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - oldalum - 10-01-2019

(10-01-2019, 08:53 AM)ColoradoTree Wrote:  We discussed her a little bit when she committed (here's that link: https://thecardboard.org/board/showthread.php?tid=17676&page=11&highlight=ana+geller),

Well, I see now that I participated in that discussion 2 months ago, and I knew then they were brother/sister: just further proof that my brain has basically turned to squash. Remind me again, which school are we all rooting for here??? And the sport we're talking about is squash, right?

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 10-03-2019

So, the ITA moved the All-American Championships this year from Malibu (where they'd been for years) to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The selections came out, and it looked like everyone but us was going to Tulsa. Our schedule came out, and we were going to a new tournament--the "Women's Collegiate Classic"--in Malibu, with Lele as tournament director. The draws are now out for that tournament, and several players who had committed to the ITA All-Americans are in the draw for the Malibu tournament, including #5 Kelly Chen (Duke), #13 Marta Gonzalez (UGA), #14 Ashley Lahey (Pepperdine), #15 Christina Rosca (Vanderbilt), #22 Solymar Colling (San Diego), #24 Julia Rosenqvist (Cal), and #26 Chiara Lommer (Michigan), among many others. Now, it's probable that most of those players will go straight from this tournament to Tulsa, so this could be a both/and situation, not an either/or. But a few weeks ago, it looked like we were going to miss out on a big chance to get quality wins on our players' resumes, and Lele created a new chance. 

Just how this came about we don't yet know, but it sure looks like Lele didn't like an elite fall tournament being taken out of California (or just didn't want to go to Tulsa), so she convinced enough coaches to send top talent here right before All-Americans. This tournament doesn't have automatic qualification for Fall Nationals, unfortunately, but it'll provide high-quality matches and be just as good of a resume builder for individual NCAA selections come spring. This should be a fun one. 

No schedule yet (the tournament is scheduled to start today), but here are the first-round matchups for the Stanford players:

(2) Michaela Gordon vs. #35 Georgia Drummy (Vanderbilt)
#30 Emily Arbuthnott vs. (6) Solymar Colling (USD)
#60 Janice Shin vs. (3) Marta Gonzalez (UGA)

The St. Mary's Invitational is scheduled to start tomorrow. I haven't seen draws for that tournament yet, but I'll post them when I do.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - oldalum - 10-03-2019

tough first matches for all 3. Drummy had a successful summer in pro tournaments.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 10-03-2019

Here's a link to Michaela's match: https://web.playsight.com/live/private/66ee702a61434cb6b25897b853911714.

EDIT: Deleting what I wrote previously because it seems clear that Playsight (at least at the tail end of that set) thinks Gordon is Drummy and vice versa. They're in a first-set tiebreak right now, and Drummy leads 4-2 at the changeover.
And Drummy takes the first set 7-6, 7-4 in the tiebreaker.
Gordon just broke Drummy to start the second set, so while the score reads as Gordon 7-6, 0-1, it's the opposite, 6-7, 1-0.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 10-03-2019

Gordon is struggling with her serve, but luckily, she's returning well. She just broke Drummy again to take a 3-2 lead in the second set. 

For the most part, Drummy has been the aggressor, and Gordon is playing patient, defensive tennis. But then again, that's how Michaela usually plays, so that doesn't tell us a great deal.
Gordon leads the second set 5-3, up a break, with Drummy now serving to stay in the set.
Drummy holds, but so does Gordon, and she takes the second set 6-4. Not sure whether they'll play a 10-point tiebreaker for the third, or whether they'll play it out....
Looks like they're playing it out! Surprising for an early-season match, but the more tennis the better, I say. I dislike match tiebreakers to resolve matches that will count, as these will for ranking and NCAA qualification purposes.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - eb388 - 10-03-2019

Thanks for all the updates. Better than Playsight! Do you know if any of the others have started?

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 10-03-2019

(10-03-2019, 01:41 PM)eb388 Wrote:  Thanks for all the updates. Better than Playsight! Do you know if any of the others have started?

Sorry, I don't. The various team twitter accounts aren't showing anything, and the playsight list of current matches doesn't show Arbuthnott or Shin: https://web.playsight.com/facility/pepperdine-university/home Frustrating that there is no order of play on the tournament website, but this is what we're left with. 

It's now 5-0 Gordon in the third (I think), and she's got a real pep in her step. By contrast, Drummy is showing more frustration after her unforced errors than she was earlier in the match.
Gordon runs away with the third set, and while she didn't necessarily look that great in that match, you can't argue with the result against a Top 50 opponent (who will probably climb higher than her current #35 ranking). Gradually asserting control in your first collegiate match of the year is exactly how you'd want that to go, I'd imagine.

Up next for Gordon is the winner between ASU's Ilze Hattingh (ranked #75) and Georgia's Lea Ma (the #5 freshman).

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - oldalum - 10-03-2019

that's a good win for Michaela, Drummy is no slouch. Drummy will have a chance to avenge it, however, in our spring match vs. Vandy.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 10-03-2019

I think that's Arbuthnott playing Colling right now on Court 2, but I'm not positive. No idea on the score, either.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - eb388 - 10-03-2019

They updated the draw. Arbuthnott, Shin, and Madurawe all lost but had encouraging showings. 

Arbuthnott fell 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Colling
Madurawe fell 4 and 3 to Alle Sanford of UNC
And Shin lost in three sets to Gonzalez (5-7, 6-2, 6-1)

Gordon won another round, beating Ma 4 and 2

Too bad there's no consolation for the others... at least, I think there isn't...

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - ColoradoTree - 10-03-2019

Gordon gets Pepperdine’s Jessica Failla in the quarterfinals tomorrow, and the match should start at 11:00am or soon thereafter. Failla is ranked #32, played #1 for USC two years ago, and just absolutely destroyed two very good players, #26 Chiara Lommer of Michigan (6-1, 6-0) and FSU's Petra Hule (6-0, 6-1). Gordon will have her hands full, that's for sure.

One result to note: Cal freshman Haley Giavara upset top-seeded Kelly Chen of Duke in three sets, so Cal may be more of a threat than I thought.

There are no doubles draws on the website, but apparently some doubles got played today, too, according to the Pepperdine recap? We’ll see if/how our teams played once the Stanford recap comes out.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - eb388 - 10-04-2019

From the other teams' sites... 

Shin/Madurawe lost 6-1 to Alyvia Jones/Andrea Cerdan of Michigan 
Arbuthnott/Gordon won 6-4 over Hannah Zhao/Summer Dvorak of Duke

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - oldalum - 10-04-2019

(10-04-2019, 05:45 AM)eb388 Wrote:  Arbuthnott/Gordon won 6-4 over Hannah Zhao/Summer Dvorak of Duke
Interesting, Dvorak is a grad transfer from Vanderbilt where she played #6 singles and #3 doubles. Doesn't seem that common in tennis.

RE: Women's Tennis: Fall Season - eb388 - 10-04-2019

(10-04-2019, 08:08 AM)oldalum Wrote:  
(10-04-2019, 05:45 AM)eb388 Wrote:  Arbuthnott/Gordon won 6-4 over Hannah Zhao/Summer Dvorak of Duke
Interesting, Dvorak is a grad transfer from Vanderbilt where she played #6 singles and #3 doubles. Doesn't seem that common in tennis.

That's interesting. I guess they really needed her. They only have seven on the roster with her included. Looks like Maria Mateas, their freshman 1 from last year, appears to have gone pro.