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Women's Tennis: Home vs. Hawaii - ColoradoTree - 01-30-2020

Our third dual match of the season is on tap today for your #1 Stanford Cardinal, this time vs. Hawaii at the ol' Taube Family Tennis Center at 1:30pm PT.

Season so far

Last weekend, Stanford beat South Florida and Washington State, both by a 4-0 score, to qualify for Indoor Nationals, which happens February 7-10, with each team guaranteed three matches against the other qualifiers (and the finalists getting a fourth). 

Meanwhile, Hawaii is 0-2 to start the season, having dropped a 5-1 decision to Washington and a 5-2 decision to Florida State. Now, those are two pretty good teams, and both are ranked, which should be taken into account. At #1, Hawaii's Petra Melounova (the preseason #33, but currently unranked after a light fall schedule) beat FSU's #1 player 6-0, 6-2, while the 2-5 matches were each competitive. Hawaii has two currently ranked players, #91 Bojana Markovic (a transfer from Texas) at #2, and #103 Satsuki Takamura (a transfer from Pepperdine) at #3. This is a more dangerous Hawaii team than we've played in the past, so we can't look past them. 

Our lineup will probably be the same as it was last weekend: Gordon at 1, Arbuthnott at 2, Blake at 3, Shin at 4, Choy at 5, and Higuchi at 6, with the doubles teams being Arbuthnott/Blake, Gordon/Shin, and Choy/Higuchi. If so, then that suggests Lele feels pretty solid about where things stand. But watch for Madurawe making an appearance in the lineup, which would suggest the pecking order remains fluid. 

Last time we played them:

We had an oddly shuffled lineup when we played Hawaii last year, with Caroline Lampl getting a chance at 1, Gordon playing 2, and Lord at 3. Lampl seized the opportunity and crushed Melounova 6-1, 6-2, while Gordon, Lord, Shin, and Higuchi each had routine wins. Only Arbuthnott struggled, dropping the second set but winning the third 6-1 (against Michelle Pits, who will likely play Shin at #4 this time around). But this is a tougher lineup than we faced last year, with Markovic and Takamura added, so last year's #3 is now playing #5

Prediction:

I'll guess 4-0 behind the doubles point and wins from Higuchi, Choy, and Blake, with Gordon, Arbuthnott, and Shin each getting pressed. If they play it out (as Hawaii often does, and as we did last year), 6-1 or 5-2 seems about right, with Gordon pulling it out, Arbuthnott falling short, and Shin being in a tough one. (That being said, I wouldn't be shocked for Shin to roll, either. She's better than her opponent, but she's been better than her last two opponents, too, and she struggled against them. I hope that at some point this season, everything starts to click for her.)

How to watch: http://streamingtennis.com/Cardinal/?DB_OEM_ID=30600

RE: Women's Tennis: Home vs. Hawaii - oldalum - 01-30-2020

my live stream has been freezing after about 5 seconds, on both Chrome and Safari browsers, which makes it unwatchable. Any suggestions?

RE: Women's Tennis: Home vs. Hawaii - ColoradoTree - 01-30-2020

(01-30-2020, 11:16 AM)oldalum Wrote:  my live stream has been freezing after about 5 seconds, on both Chrome and Safari browsers, which makes it unwatchable. Any suggestions?

I wish I did. I've been having the same issues with Chrome and on my Mac at home (and my phone) so far this year. When I'm at work, using Microsoft Edge seems to work when I can't get it to work on Chrome. (I just tested it, and the cameras for Courts 1 and 3-6 all seem to be working, but 2 is out.) But if you don't have a PC, you might be out of luck. Firefox, maybe?
FWIW, the stream (except for Court 2) seems to be working on Chrome on my desktop now, for whatever reason. Still no dice on Safari, though.

RE: Women's Tennis: Home vs. Hawaii - ColoradoTree - 01-30-2020

From what I can see of the scoreboard from the Court 3 camera feed, it looks like the singles lineup is the same as it has been, but I think I see Madurawe/Mossmer listed under #3 doubles. We'll see soon enough if that's right, but Madurawe and Mossmer were warming each other up on Court 3 for a while and are currently serving in earnest, which wouldn't be necessary if they weren't in the lineup.
Yep, it's Madurawe/Mossmer on Court 3, with Choy/Higuchi getting a break today.

In the early going, Arbuthnott/Blake are up 3-1 (where one of the Hawaii players is serving underhanded!) and the other two courts are tied at 2-2.
Arbuthnott/Blake book a 6-1 win on Court 1, and soon after, Gordon/Shin go up 5-3 while Madurawe/Mossmer are still knotted at 3-3.
And that's the doubles point! Gordon/Shin hold on deciding point to take the set 6-3. At the time, Madurawe/Mossmer were up 4-3 and up 40-15 in the game, so they looked to be in decent shape, too. Singles shortly, with Stanford up 1-0.

RE: Women's Tennis: Home vs. Hawaii - ColoradoTree - 01-30-2020

Singles matchups are roughly as expected, though the Hawaii lineup at 4-6 has been different in each match so far, so things are far from settled there:

1. #7 Gordon vs. Petra Melounova
2. Arbuthnott vs. #91 Bojana Markovic
3. Blake vs. #103 Satsuki Takamura
4. #49 Shin vs. Michelle Pits
5. Choy vs. Nikola Dolakova
6. Higuchi vs. Madison Kim
Seemingly late decision to scratch Gordon (not sure why!), and the scoreboard is changed so that everyone else moves up a line, with Madurawe now playing #6. Not sure if this was the plan all along and the scoreboard was originally in error, or if Gordon tweaked something during doubles. In any event, here's where we are now:

Stanford 1, Hawaii 0

1. Arbuthnott tied 2-2 (this underhand serve is driving me nuts--maybe Melounova's shoulder is jacked up?)
2. Blake leads 2-1 (the scoreboard isn't registering a game that Markovic won on deciding point, it seems)
3. Shin trails 0-3
4. Choy leads 2-1
5. Higuchi leads 3-0
6. Madurawe leads 3-1

A good test of our depth, but one hopes the Gordon thing isn't serious. I'm assuming the scoreboard was originally correct, and this was a late decision, so I'm concerned.

We need Janice to turn things around!
Stanford 1, Hawaii 0

1. Arbuthnott leads 6-3 (apparently Melounova has served primarily underhand for almost a year now due to a past shoulder injury)
2. Blake leads 5-2
3. Shin trails 2-4
4. Choy leads 4-3
5. Higuchi leads 5-2
6. Madurawe leads 6-1

Madurawe books her set first, a minute or two before Arbuthnott takes hers.

RE: Women's Tennis: Home vs. Hawaii - ColoradoTree - 01-30-2020

Stanford 1, Hawaii 0

1. Arbuthnott leads 6-3, 2-2
2. Blake leads 6-4, 1-0 (up a break)
3. Shin trails 3-6, 1-0 (on serve)
4. Choy leads 6-3, 1-1
5. Higuchi leads 6-3, 2-1 (on serve)
6. Madurawe leads 6-1, 5-1

First sets, in order: 6, 1, 5, 4, 2, 3
Stanford 2, Hawaii 0

1. Arbuthnott leads 6-3, 3-2 (up a break)
2. Blake leads 6-4, 2-0
3. Shin trails 3-6, 2-0
4. Choy leads 6-3, 2-1 (up a break)
5. Higuchi leads 6-3, 2-1 (up a break)
6. Madurawe wins 6-1, 6-1

Madurawe is first to close out her match, and Stanford leads 2-0!
Stanford 3, Hawaii 0

1. Arbuthnott wins 6-3, 6-2
2. Blake leads 6-4, 3-1
3. Shin trails 3-6, 2-2
4. Choy leads 6-3, 4-1
5. Higuchi leads 6-3, 4-2

Arubthnott delivers on Court 1 to make it 3-0! Shin's level looks better so far this second set, so we'll see how it goes. But things are looking good everywhere else.

RE: Women's Tennis: Home vs. Hawaii - ColoradoTree - 01-30-2020

Choy clinches, and Higuchi and Blake follow soon after to make it 6-0 while Shin fights to stay in it.

Shin had been down 5-2 in the second, but she just won two in a row. Her opponent will serve for it again at 5-4.

EDIT: And the final is 6-1 as Shin falls short.

RE: Women's Tennis: Home vs. Hawaii - ColoradoTree - 01-31-2020

Great job by everyone except for Janice Shin. Whether Gordon's absence was a curveball or not, everyone handled it with aplomb, except for Shin, who seemed very much in her own head. A lot of deciding points in that match, so it's not like she wasn't competitive--she just lost the large majority of them. I'm really pleased Madurawe was so dominant, and for Arbuthnott and Blake to do that up top is really impressive--those are a couple of very good players that they just handled with ease. 

Updated percentage of games won, regardless of singles line, by each player:

Madurawe - 85.71%
Choy - 81.82%
Blake - 72.73%
Higuchi - 70%
Gordon - 65.63%
Arbuthnott - 62%
Shin - 44.44%

To translate that back out to match scores, here's what this roughly shakes out to for an average match:

Madurawe - 6-1, 6-1
Choy - 6-1, 6-1 or 6-2
Blake - 6-2, 6-2
Higuchi - 6-2, 6-3
Gordon - 6-3, 6-3
Arbuthnott - 6-3, 6-4
Shin - 5-7, 6-7

Shin's performance so far this year stands out, and not for the reasons she would've wished. Again, the three teams we've played so far aren't all that good, so what should we expect when we play one of the better teams in our conference or one of the teams at Indoor Nationals? I don't think it's insane to start thinking of switching Shin and Choy in the lineup and see how that goes. If nothing else, it might be a useful wake-up call to Janice. Whether it's physical, mental, or just a skill-level thing where she shouldn't be playing this high in the lineup, one hopes it gets figured out soon.

So, the downside is obviously Shin's match, but the positives coming out of this match (assuming Gordon is fine health-wise) are way, way more important. We've been having questions about Arbuthnott, but she just handled the preseason #33 player in the country with ease (and someone who Gordon lost handily to a couple of years ago). If Emily is turning the corner and will be a reliable #2 this year, our outlook just got a lot rosier. And Blake! I've been so impressed with her so far. Thrown into the top half of the lineup as a freshman? That is a very rare thing for Lele to do, and she's rewarded that trust with three great efforts. Higuchi has been everything we've come to depend on over the years. Choy has been taking full advantage of her opportunity. And Madurawe took out whatever frustration she may be feeling at being left out of the singles lineup in the first two matches on her opponent, and ran away with it. Now, this is Hawaii, not a top 25-type team. But that's a pretty darn good top three they have, and that team played some competitive matches throughout the lineup against Washington and Florida State. But aside from Court 3, we were terrific. So, my main takeaway is increased optimism about our prospects this season.
FWIW, this is Choy's second clincher of the young season (she also clinched the match against USF). Arbuthnott clinched against Washington State. Those, of course, aren't as important as clinchers in contested matches where the outcome of the dual match is in doubt (e.g., when it's 3-2 with two matches in the third set left on court) or when it's against a top-ranked team.