Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs

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RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - ColoradoTree - 05-09-2022

I wouldn't say an easy go of it--Oklahoma has been terrific this year, including on the back courts. But I sure like our odds better with an in-form Gordon at 5 and Xu at 6.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - Sakibomb25 - 05-09-2022

(05-09-2022, 03:41 PM)ColoradoTree Wrote: I wouldn't say an easy go of it--Oklahoma has been terrific this year, including on the back courts. But I sure like our odds better with an in-form Gordon at 5 and Xu at 6.

So my thoughts on Gordon - it could be the case where Forood is saving her for this very moment. Knowing that we'd have a fairly easy time to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, why give the opponents an opportunity to scout Gordon, and to figure out where she falls in the line-up (anywhere from 4-6, correct)? Since the team has been pretty inconsistent this year, this could just be another strategic ploy on Stanford's part to get as much of an advantage as possible.

Or if Gordon really was match ready, she would have been inserted into the line-up already?

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - ColoradoTree - 05-10-2022

(05-09-2022, 03:57 PM)Sakibomb25 Wrote:
(05-09-2022, 03:41 PM)ColoradoTree Wrote: I wouldn't say an easy go of it--Oklahoma has been terrific this year, including on the back courts. But I sure like our odds better with an in-form Gordon at 5 and Xu at 6.
So my thoughts on Gordon - it could be the case where Forood is saving her for this very moment. Knowing that we'd have a fairly easy time to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, why give the opponents an opportunity to scout Gordon, and to figure out where she falls in the line-up (anywhere from 4-6, correct)? Since the team has been pretty inconsistent this year, this could just be another strategic ploy on Stanford's part to get as much of an advantage as possible.

Or if Gordon really was match ready, she would have been inserted into the line-up already?

I have no earthly idea why she's back at all, let alone now. We certainly could've used her earlier in the season, and if she'd been playing from the beginning, she'd be in our top three. She's been routinely ranked in the teens and twenties throughout her time here, so she's demonstrated her quality.

It's such a shocking development that I have a hard time figuring out the intent behind the why and the when. I tend to think that if Gordon were in a place where she could've devoted the time to tennis, she would have been playing. That she didn't appear until NCAAs tells me that other stuff was going on, and whether that's grad school or personal stuff, I have no idea. But Gordon missed both the fall and spring seasons with the exception of one match in Hawaii on the fall break trip. No tournaments, no dual matches, nothing.

I think Lele wants her best lineup every time out there, so if Gordon were available for selection, she would have selected her.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - BostonCard - 05-10-2022

The most logical explanation in my book is that playing competitive tennis was not compatible with what she needed to be doing for her graduate program, she told coach as much, But they came to an agreement that if Stanford made it that far that she would play at NCAAs, for which the time commitment is more limited.

BC

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - ColoradoTree - 05-13-2022

OK, folks! We've got a banger on tap this afternoon, so let's dig into it a little bit.

What: Your #15 Stanford women's tennis team plays in the Super Regional in Norman, OK against the #2 Oklahoma Sooners, who are in the midst of a dream season.

When: Today at 4pm Pacific

How to watch: https://www.tennis.one/tournament/bb0ed943-fe20-4574-b0cd-3150ca42682c?tab=0

Probable lineups:

Doubles:

1. #19 Blake/Ma vs. #10 Corley/Corley
2. Choy/Yepifanova vs. Sleeth/Pisareva
3. Gordon/Xu vs. Guzman/Staker

Singles:

1. #26 Ma vs. #10 Layne Sleeth
2. #23 Yepifanova vs. #53 Carmen Corley
3. Blake vs. #97 Ivana Corley
4. Houghton vs. Dana Guzman
5. #113 Xu vs. Alexandra Pisareva
6. Choy vs. Emma Staker

Key singles omissions:

* If Gordon plays singles, I think we see Houghton drop entirely, and we keep Xu and Choy at 5 and 6. And having Gordon/Xu/Choy as our back courts is pretty devastatingly strong, even though Staker has been outstanding at 6 for Oklahoma.
* #69 Anchisa Chanta has been playing a lot of 3 and 4 for Oklahoma but was submitted as the #2 player in the lineup, and she's been terrific for the Sooners, but she's missing the match in order to play the Southeast Asian Games.

Prediction: If we win the doubles point and Gordon plays singles, we win the match. If we drop doubles and Houghton plays at 4, I don't think we win the match. But what happens if we take doubles but Houghton plays?

I think we drop #1 doubles but take the doubles point behind the #2 and #3 lines, and that sets the tone. I think we get wins from Blake and Xu while Houghton and Choy lose, and we end up winning 4-2 behind a Yepifanova clincher while Ma's match is locked in a third set. Chanta's absence looms large for Oklahoma. Conversely, if we drop doubles, getting four wins in singles in Norman is an incredibly tall mountain to climb.

This will be a hostile environment unlike any Stanford has faced this year, and how our freshmen respond is going to decide the match. But I think ultimately that Yepifanova is tough enough at 2 to get us that fourth point. But Oklahoma is #2 in the country for a reason, and they're playing at home before what will be a loud, intense crowd. That's meaningful, and you have to think Oklahoma is the favorite, even without Chanta.

I'll be out of pocket for the match itself, unfortunately, so I can't follow along with all of you here, but there's no reason this season has to end today. Stanford has the talent.

I think we're probably favored at 2 and 3, OU has the edge at 4 and 6, I'd give a slight lean to us at 5, and Court 1 could be one for the ages. But again, home court advantage could loom large today and move the needle on those matches. Doubles is always important, but it feels extra crucial today.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - ColoradoTree - 05-13-2022

FYI, Lele gave an interview to Alex Gruskin of Cracked Racquets and you can hear that interview here:
https://www.tennis.com/news/podcasts/cracked-interviews

A good listen and just 29 minutes if you just skip the general podcast intro that has nothing to do with Stanford and start at the 5:20 mark.

But for those who don't want to spend the time listening, here are the key takeaways:

* On Gordon, Lele thought she'd have her on the team as of last summer, but with Gordon's grad school schedule and working part-time for the company she's going to be working for going forward, there just wasn't enough time. But with injuries to Madurawe and Geller (just what those injuries were is unclear), by the time of Pac-12s, we were down to six healthy players, so Lele went back to Michaela and asked her if she could make it work the rest of the way, and her schedule allowed for it. Gordon had been hitting with the club tennis team, so she's not quite herself, but she's working back into form.

* Ma was adjusting to school/tennis balance in that part of the dual match season where she dropped four in a row, but she's worked through it and Lele thinks she's all systems go right now.

* Yepifanova's potential is through the roof and Lele has really enjoyed working with her so far.

* Blake might be the most improved player, and we need to remember she's still pretty new to the NCAA process given the pandemic interruptions, even though she's a junior. Choy has been impressive as well.

* Lele strongly prefers having the Round of 16 at one final site like it used to be--the additional travel required and the amount of school that's missed by breaking the round of 16 across two weeks is unacceptable to her. The interviewer noted that it creates a great atmosphere for the Round of 16 matches that is somewhat lacking when you have 9:00am matches with a couple dozen people present, and Lele pushed back, saying that's an easy problem to fix--just have NCAAs at a place like the USTA National Tennis Center in Lake Nona, FL that can accommodate 32 teams. Facilities exist that don't require you to shunt matches early or late. Give college tennis a permanent championship home.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - ColoradoTree - 05-13-2022

Just to look quickly at the matchups by UTR since I just saw Bobby Knight (the college tennis one) put those on his feed, here's how things stand:

1. Ma (10.99) vs. Sleeth (11.06): toss-up (OU +0.07)
2. Yepifanova (10.84) vs. Carmen Corley (10.48): Stanford favored (+0.36)
3. Blake (10.71) vs. Ivana Corley (10.46): Stanford favored (+0.25)
4. Houghton (10.09) vs. Guzman (10.50): OU favored (+0.41)
5. Xu (10.72) vs. Pisareva (10.46): Stanford favored (+0.26)
6. Choy (10.47) vs. Staker (10.49): toss-up (OU +0.02)

Chanta is a 11.02 while Gordon is a 10.67 (though Gordon's UTR has to come with a brobdingnagian asterisk due to the lack of competitive singles matches in the last year). So you can see how costly it is for OU to play us without Chanta. And on the other side, you can see how we might look if we swapped Houghton for Gordon, making the only court where OU is a clear UTR favorite into a slight Stanford lean.

Brings into focus how critical doubles is, too. If you give OU the toss-ups because of home court, then doubles could decide it. At the same time, it clarifies that talent-wise, this is a very winnable match.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - DC 86 - 05-13-2022

Oklahoma won the doubles point (won #2 and #3 and was leading #1), singles now underway.

Gordon not in the lineup. Ma/Yepifanova/Blake/Houghton/Xu/Choy.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - martyup - 05-13-2022

I guess home court really matters. We're getting smoked.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - Madera86 - 05-13-2022

(05-13-2022, 05:56 PM)martyup Wrote: I guess home court really matters. We're getting smoked.

There is still hope. For now, the Yepifanova tiebreaker will determine if we go home early or keep fighting. These Stanford WT teams have shown a ton of heart and fighting spirit over the years.

Sigh. Now 1-3. Next up: Houghton, who has battled back to 4-5 in the second set.

Sigh.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - DC 86 - 05-13-2022

Stanford falls 4-1, Choy the only winner. Three straight set losses. In the remaining matches Ma was down a set and Xu had split the first two sets when Oklahoma clinched.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - oldalum - 05-14-2022

Bottom line: without Gordon fully participating in her fifth year and with injuries to other players, we were a very good but not great team this year. Not a national championship threat. Our ranking of #15 for the NCAA tournament was just about right (versus other years when we won the natty ranked similarly). We were 1-4 against teams that made the NCAA super-regional (the top 16 teams); our only impressive win all year was against Texas at home early in the season. We were only the second-best team in the Pac-12, and won the conference tournament without having to play the best team in the conference (Kal, the only other Pac-12 team to make the super-regional field and who beat us handily in our only meeting). I hope CT can give us an optimistic view of the outlook for next year: we have a great freshman class this year; who's coming in, and any chance for a top graduate transfer???

Before closing out the year, let's celebrate the Stanford career of Michaela Gordon, who slogged it out for us at #1 singles and in doubles for 4 years, leading the team to two national championships, and in her 5th year showing she has her priorities straight by placing her academics and post-Stanford work career ahead of tennis, yet pitching in at the end of the season when we needed a boost. Go forth and do your thing.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - BobK - 05-14-2022

Excellent comments on Gordon. Good for her
We are young and will bounce back.

I second the waiting for CT and next year

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - ColoradoTree - 05-16-2022

You want optimism for next year? Here it is. (I'll do a more comprehensive preview when the season gets going again this fall, but for now, here's why I'm very bullish on Stanford women's tennis next year.)

* We were an incredibly young team this year. We started freshmen at 1, 2, and 5, something I can't remember this team doing before in the time since I started following them closely. Losing in the final 16 ain't so bad for such a young team, especially on the road. With the freshman class we had, I thought next year was when we'd challenge for a title, but maybe, just maybe, things would come together for this year.
* This is not a slight to Sara Choy or Niluka Madurawe, but in terms of on-court presence, we don't lose a great deal. We return our top 6 singles players, if you include both Houghton and Geller. Everyone is a year older and a year wiser.
* Geller can still be a big piece for us, and recall that she did very well at #4 singles as a freshman in spring 2021. She wasn't herself this year but still had a couple nice results in the preseason.
* This is the most tennis Connie Ma has ever played in such a short timeframe. Recall that her parents put such a priority on being a normal (albeit very high-achieving) high school student that she skipped most of the big tournaments that other junior players attend. She's now in an environment where she practices more and plays more high-level matches than she ever did, and that should lead to a nice jump in her game once she gets used to it. And perhaps we'll even see her in more tournaments over the summer, further jumpstarting that development. And while she has the talent to perhaps leave early, that dedication to academics tells me we don't have to worry about her leaving early. I expect Ma to be a perennial feature in the top 10 for the rest of her career.
* Like Lele said in that interview, Yepifanova's potential is through the roof. We have two players ranked in the 20s as freshmen. That's absurd. And both of them just learned a lot about tough NCAA matches and finishing this year. They'll be better next year.
* In terms of what's coming in the door, we have the #2 class in the nation (behind USC, unfortunately). Alexis Blokhina is currently the #6 recruit in the country (has peaked as high as #4 in the class), and Emma Sun has charged up the rankings year by year, and she's now the #11 recruit (having peaked at 10).
* First, Blokhina. She's a hard-hitting lefty even though she's not super tall. She's compact but powerful, a little reminiscent of Caroline Lampl when Lampl was at her best. She's currently the 32nd-ranked junior in the world, having peaked a few weeks ago at 25th. That's nearly 20 spots higher than her previous career high, and the reason why is she just won the Easter Bowl, one of the preeminent junior tennis tournaments in the country. She did it in exciting fashion, too, knocking off UNC-bound Reese Brantmeier, who is arguably the top recruit in the country this year, in a third-set tiebreaker. She's 1-1 in her career against our own Alexandra Yepifanova, beating Sasha 6-2, 6-4 in March of 2021. She lost in three sets to Valencia Xu last August, around the same time she was partnering with Xu at the U.S. Open girls' tournament. She has some three-set wins against some top NCAA competitors, including a win over UGA's Mell Reasco, who mostly played #2 for Georgia this year but took over the #1 spot as a freshman down the stretch for the Bulldogs, though that win is aging a bit, coming in February 2020. In the $25K Sarasota tournament last week, she knocked off Adriana Reami in three sets (Reami just finished up a terrific career at NC State a year ago, where she finished as the program's all-time leader in singles wins, playing in the top half of the lineup her whole career (mostly at #3 singles). She has a few three-set losses against elite NCAA players like South Carolina's Sara Hamner and Iowa's Alexa Noel. When she was 13, she became the youngest-ever Florida 18U state champion. She's got an interesting tennis profile, as she lacks a lot of history against other American blue chip recruits, but unlike Ma, it's because she has been playing a ton of international competition, focusing on European ITF junior tournaments. Seems like she's intent on a pro career, so she may be a risk to move on early, but perhaps she reconsiders if she doesn't vault over Ma and Yepifanova in our lineup (and I don't think she will).
* Looking at Emma Sun, she has something of a Ma-like profile in that she focused on high school tennis to the exclusion of a lot of tournament play. Unlike Blokhina (who is very active on Instagram), Sun's instagram profile gives little hint she's an elite tennis player. Just six posts, three of which are related to high-level piano competitions, and just one related to tennis--her Stanford commitment post. Looking at this old LA Times article, she seems like she's close to the platonic ideal of a Stanford student-athlete, where school and music often come first: https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2020-09-25/emma-sun-is-becoming-a-virtuoso-on-the-court-and-a-stage . I wouldn't expect her to come in and play near the top of the lineup by any means, but she strikes me as a player who has a lot of untapped potential and someone who could climb in the lineup as she devotes more of her life to tennis. But my current expectations from her are slightly higher than I had for Choy coming in.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - ColoradoTree - 05-16-2022

So, here's the roster math:

Seniors (2): Blake, Mossmer*
Juniors (2): Geller, Houghton
Sophomores (3): Ma, Yepifanova, Xu
Freshmen (2): Blokhina, Sun

That adds up to nine, and we only get eight, so either Mossmer medically retires, or Sun is paying her own way for a year. If you recall, Xu wasn't announced on signing day with Ma and Yepifanova last year, so I assumed that was because the roster math was still then unsettled. Whether it resolved to allow Xu to be on scholarship this year, I don't know, but we remain at nine. So, perhaps Sun pays her own way a year this year and is on scholarship next year.

As for the singles lineup, here's my best guess:

1. Connie Ma (So.)
2. Alexandra Yepifanova (So.)
3. Angelica Blake (Sr.)
4. Valencia Xu (So.)
5. Alexis Blokhina (Fr.)
6. Ana Geller (Jr.)

That would leave Houghton and Sun on the bench, but you could swap either of them for Geller at 6, and I wouldn't bat an eye. I just think that if Geller is healthy and in form, she's our best option there, and I take a healthy Geller over Houghton all day long. (That said, Emma Sun is something of a wildcard given her limited tournament exposure, so I'm excited to see if she can come in and surprise us all.) And the order between Blokhina and Xu is fluid, too. But that top 3 is pretty much set in stone, and what a top three it is.

It is unquestionably a better lineup than we fielded this year. I'm hopeful we see jumps in quality from this year's freshmen, our #4 line would go from weakness to strength, and we should handle business regularly on Courts 5 and 6.

Doubles-wise, we see our top pair of Blake/Ma return. Xu/Yepifanova had looked promising but never seemed to find success together, so hopefully we find some more successful pairings. Xu/Blokhina paired at the US Open girls' tournament, so maybe there's some chemistry there already to build on, even if they haven't played much together. Just a guess, but maybe Yepifanova/Sun is the other pair? Geller was just 4-4 at the #3 line with Madurawe, and Houghton barely cracked the doubles lineup even when we were struggling, so there's an opportunity for the incoming freshmen to stake a claim in doubles. Blokhina is an accomplished doubles player, having made the Easter Bowl final in doubles, too, so perhaps it's unreasonable, but I'm hopeful we kick it up a notch in doubles next year.

We will again be a very young team, and I don't think it's exaggerating to say that next year is the first year of a three-year championship window. I'd love to see it happen next year--after how interrupted her career has been with covid, it would be sad for Blake to graduate as part of the first class since the 1990s not to win a national championship in their time here. Perhaps she'll take a fifth year?

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - oldalum - 05-22-2022

thanks CT for the look ahead!

Just an update: the final four went according to seed. In the semifinals, #4 Texas upset #1 North Carolina 4-2, and #2 Oklahoma beat #3 Duke 4-3.
The championship match is in progress: Texas won the doubles point handily; in singles, Texas has won first sets in 4 matches, though Oklahoma won #6 singles and is leading in the second set of 4 of the remaining matches. (remind me how we beat Texas this year!?)

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - BostonCard - 05-22-2022

Rooting for Oklahoma. Better to lose to the champ than the finalist, and I think Texas is a threat (maybe the favorite) to win the Sears (excuse me, directora) cup, so we have to hope the stumble.

BC

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - oldalum - 05-22-2022

Texas won 4-1, on the strength of winning two second-set tiebreakers. Oklahoma was about to win on court 4 and the remaining court was on serve in the third set.

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - ColoradoTree - 05-23-2022

Now that the team competition is over, the NCAA singles and doubles tournament are next up, with singles starting today and doubles starting tomorrow. Connie Ma and Alexandra Yepifanova compete in singles and Angelica Blake partners with Ma in the doubles.

Singles Round of 64

1pm: #26 Connie Ma vs. #116 Marie Mattel (UCF). If Connie wins, she'll face the winner of #12 McCartney Kessler (Florida) and #45 Solymar Colling (San Diego).

2:30pm: #23 Alexandra Yepifanova vs. #68 Petra Sedlackova (Alabama). If Sasha wins, she'll face the winner of #2 Peyton Stearns (Texas) and #67 Sydni Ratliff (Ohio State).

Doubles Round of 32

Time TBD: #19 Blake/Ma vs. #11 Stearns/Zamarippa (Texas). If Connie and Angelica win, they'll play the winners of #5 Brylin/Killingsworth (Wake Forest) and #21 Kuczer/McGiffin (Tennessee).

RE: Women's Tennis: Pac-12 Champs and looking ahead to NCAAs - TheFarm07 - 05-23-2022

(05-23-2022, 10:27 AM)ColoradoTree Wrote: Now that the team competition is over, the NCAA singles and doubles tournament are next up, with singles starting today and doubles starting tomorrow. Connie Ma and Alexandra Yepifanova compete in singles and Angelica Blake partners with Ma in the doubles.

Singles Round of 128

1pm: #26 Connie Ma vs. #116 Marie Mattel (UCF). If Connie wins, she'll face the winner of #12 McCartney Kessler (Florida) and #45 Solymar Colling (San Diego).

2:30pm: #23 Alexandra Yepifanova vs. #68 Petra Sedlackova (Alabama). If Sasha wins, she'll face the winner of #2 Peyton Stearns (Texas) and #67 Sydni Ratliff (Ohio State).

Doubles Round of 32

Time TBD: #19 Blake/Ma vs. #11 Stearns/Zamarippa (Texas). If Connie and Angelica win, they'll play the winners of #5 Brylin/Killingsworth (Wake Forest) and #21 Kuczer/McGiffin (Tennessee).

Any predictions on how well Ma, Yepifanova and Blake/Ma will do? Potentially facing the #2 seed in the second round sounds like a tough draw for Yepifanova, but squaring off against the #12 ranked player for Ma isn't exactly a stroll through the park either.