09-30-2019, 08:13 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-30-2019, 09:18 AM by ColoradoTree.)
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.)
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.)