[ColoradoTree]

Also, for whatever reason, Stanford didn't play in the ITA All-American Championships held in Charleston, SC last week and the week before (including qualifying). So, while players at the top of our lineup will be able to improve their rankings through dual match play, the players at the bottom will likely be unranked come season's end, because they won't have played enough ranked players to boost their own rankings. So, don't be surprised come NCAAs to see us as a top 5 team but with relatively few ranked singles players.

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A reminder of the roster math. There are still 8 scholarships, and women's tennis is a headcount sport, but there's the covid bonus year that Gordon gets to have. At least, that's what I'm assuming based on (1) my recollection of what the precise extension was, and (2) the fact that there was a roster just published with her name on it. Anyway, here's what it looks like:

Fifth Year (1): Michaela Gordon
Seniors (2): Sara Choy, Niluka Madurawe
Juniors (2): Angelica Blake, Nicole Mossmer
Sophomores (2): Ana Geller, India Houghton
Freshmen (3): Connie Ma, Alexandra Yepifanova, Valencia Xu

So, even assuming Gordon's scholarship doesn't count against the eight, that's still one person who is paying her own way. My presumption has been that it's Xu, who was the lowest-ranked recruit in the class (who peaked as merely the #3 player in the class rather than #1 like the other two) and who (unlike Ma and Yepifanova) wasn't announced as part of the incoming class on the official website and wasn't reported as signing a NLI. I remember when scholarship math meant that Madurawe likely had to pay her own way for a year as a blue chip recruit, and how she was almost certainly the highest-ranked player ever not to be on scholarship out of the gate, and here we are again, with Xu coming in as a stronger recruit than Madurawe was, and she must not be on scholarship now, either.

Anyway, I'm really, really excited for that Virginia match in Charlottesville for kick-off weekend.

[ColoradoTree]

Also, for whatever reason, Stanford didn't play in the ITA All-American Championships held in Charleston, SC last week and the week before (including qualifying). So, while players at the top of our lineup will be able to improve their rankings through dual match play, the players at the bottom will likely be unranked come season's end, because they won't have played enough ranked players to boost their own rankings. So, don't be surprised come NCAAs to see us as a top 5 team but with relatively few ranked singles players.

---

A reminder of the roster math. There are still 8 scholarships, and women's tennis is a headcount sport, but there's the covid bonus year that Gordon gets to have. At least, that's what I'm assuming based on (1) my recollection of what the precise extension was, and (2) the fact that there was a roster just published with her name on it. Anyway, here's what it looks like:

Fifth Year (1): Michaela Gordon
Seniors (2): Sara Choy, Niluka Madurawe
Juniors (2): Angelica Blake, Nicole Mossmer
Sophomores (2): Ana Geller, India Houghton
Freshmen (3): Connie Ma, Alexandra Yepifanova, Valencia Xu

So, even assuming Gordon's scholarship doesn't count against the eight, that's still one person who is paying her own way. My presumption has been that it's Xu, who was the lowest-ranked recruit in the class (who peaked as merely the #3 player in the class rather than #1 like the other two) and who (unlike Ma and Yepifanova) wasn't announced as part of the incoming class on the official website and wasn't reported as signing a NLI. I remember when scholarship math meant that Madurawe likely had to pay her own way for a year as a blue chip recruit, and how she was almost certainly the highest-ranked player ever not to be on scholarship out of the gate, and here we are again, with Xu coming in as a stronger recruit than Madurawe was, and she must not be on scholarship now, either.

Anyway, I'm really, really excited for that Virginia match in Charlottesville for kick-off weekend.