01-27-2023, 09:13 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-27-2023, 09:59 AM by ColoradoTree.)
Your #7 Stanford women's tennis team plays host to Kansas State, Arkansas, and Florida State starting this afternoon for ITA Kick-Off Weekend! The winner of this four-team regional joins the winners of fourteen other regionals as well as the University of Washington (as host) at ITA Indoor Nationals, which takes place in Seattle from Feb. 10-13. Given how light our non-conference schedule is, and with the new postseason format only having 8 teams at the final site rather than 16, being in the top 8 and securing home court for the super regional is more important than ever. With relatively few elite matches on our schedule, we need to add a few by playing those teams at Indoor Nationals, and going 2-0 this weekend is the first step.
None of these other teams is ranked, so let's be clear, Stanford is the very strong favorite to advance out of the weekend. When the draft took place last year, Stanford was then ranked #13, FSU was #33, Arkansas was #34, and Kansas State was #56. Right now, though, we only have the Top 25. But it would be an absolute shock if Stanford didn't take care of business this weekend.
FSU and Arkansas start things off at 10am today, while Stanford and Kansas State follow at 1pm. The two losing teams play tomorrow at 10am, and the two winners face off for that Indoor Nationals berth following that match at 1pm. This will be the first time Stanford plays Kansas State, and if they face FSU in the final tomorrow, it'll be the first time we play them, too. (Stanford last played Arkansas at this event last year, winning 4-2.)
Ranked singles players and doubles teams this weekend, either in the most recent rankings or preseason, with the preseason rank in parentheses:
#11 Connie Ma (#7)
#36 Carolina Gomez Alonso (Arkansas) (NR)
#38 Alexandra Yepifanova (#14)
#44 Alexis Blokhina (#5 newcomer)
#45 Angelica Blake (#105)
#52 Anna Arkadianou (FSU) (NR)
NR Mila Saric (FSU) (#75)
NR Valencia Xu (#83)
#36 Blokhina/Yepifanova (NR)
NR Blake/Ma (#12)
NR Arkadianou/Allen (FSU) (#49)
How to watch: https://gostanford.com/sports/2022/3/17/...ideo-stats
What I'm watching for: Stanford will win today, but how? What does the singles lineup look like, and what are the doubles pairs? Who is dominant and who struggles? Are those struggles early and then overcome, or do they start strong and have to white-knuckle it to the finish?
None of these other teams is ranked, so let's be clear, Stanford is the very strong favorite to advance out of the weekend. When the draft took place last year, Stanford was then ranked #13, FSU was #33, Arkansas was #34, and Kansas State was #56. Right now, though, we only have the Top 25. But it would be an absolute shock if Stanford didn't take care of business this weekend.
FSU and Arkansas start things off at 10am today, while Stanford and Kansas State follow at 1pm. The two losing teams play tomorrow at 10am, and the two winners face off for that Indoor Nationals berth following that match at 1pm. This will be the first time Stanford plays Kansas State, and if they face FSU in the final tomorrow, it'll be the first time we play them, too. (Stanford last played Arkansas at this event last year, winning 4-2.)
Ranked singles players and doubles teams this weekend, either in the most recent rankings or preseason, with the preseason rank in parentheses:
#11 Connie Ma (#7)
#36 Carolina Gomez Alonso (Arkansas) (NR)
#38 Alexandra Yepifanova (#14)
#44 Alexis Blokhina (#5 newcomer)
#45 Angelica Blake (#105)
#52 Anna Arkadianou (FSU) (NR)
NR Mila Saric (FSU) (#75)
NR Valencia Xu (#83)
#36 Blokhina/Yepifanova (NR)
NR Blake/Ma (#12)
NR Arkadianou/Allen (FSU) (#49)
How to watch: https://gostanford.com/sports/2022/3/17/...ideo-stats
What I'm watching for: Stanford will win today, but how? What does the singles lineup look like, and what are the doubles pairs? Who is dominant and who struggles? Are those struggles early and then overcome, or do they start strong and have to white-knuckle it to the finish?