[ColoradoTree]

Some thoughts on the Michigan match:

1. Stanford absolutely cruised in doubles, so there was no issue for them about having to play a match against a top-10 team at 6am body clock time.

2. Higuchi continues to dominate, and she hasn't lost a dual match all year. It's getting a little ridiculous how automatic she is.  Don't be surprised if she vaults Arbuthnott in next year's lineup, much like Lord vaulted Lampl this year.

3. Stanford needed to win three singles matches, and they got three first sets--from Higuchi, Lord, and Davidson. 

4. Good fight from the players who lost their first sets, as Arbuthnott stepped on the gas after losing her first set 3-6, taking the second 6-0 and squelching any thoughts of a comeback by winning 6-4.  Doyle also won her second set, and Lampl was on the verge of winning hers. 

5. An uneven outing from Lord, who was cruising and actually had a chance to close out her match before Higuchi did, but she then lost five straight games to lose the second set, before getting back on track in the third.  She was up 4-3 when her match was abandoned, so no guarantee that she would have won, but I'd say better than even odds. 

6. Doyle lost her rematch with Michigan's Fahey from last year's NCAA quarterfinal, when Doyle clinched Stanford's 4-3 win with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (4) win at the #3 spot.  Doyle showed some nice fight by decisively taking the second set in this match after losing the first, but she didn't have enough left. 

7. Lampl may not always win, but she never goes down easily.  After losing her first set, she got to a second set tiebreaker, which she led 6-5 when it was abandoned.  With a win there, I feel like she would have gotten Stanford a fourth point if the team needed it. 

8.  Davidson has been really up and down all year, winning solidly against top players and scuffling against unranked ones.  She can be streaky, but she's also a passionate player that seems to find an extra gear in the NCAA tournament (she's now 9-1 all-time in NCAAs, per the official team Twitter account).  She certainly showed that today, getting a tough first-set win before getting smoked in the second and then turning it on in the third. 

9. Lord and Lampl continue their NCAA unbeaten streak (each is 8-0), while Higuchi is now 2-0 in her young NCAA career (she would be 3-0, but Idaho forfeited the #6 singles spot in the first round this year).  Arbuthnott is now 2-1, and Doyle falls to 7-7 in her NCAA career, and she hasn't registered a NCAA win since her quarterfinal win over Michigan's Fahey last year. 

[ColoradoTree]

Some thoughts on the Michigan match:

1. Stanford absolutely cruised in doubles, so there was no issue for them about having to play a match against a top-10 team at 6am body clock time.

2. Higuchi continues to dominate, and she hasn't lost a dual match all year. It's getting a little ridiculous how automatic she is.  Don't be surprised if she vaults Arbuthnott in next year's lineup, much like Lord vaulted Lampl this year.

3. Stanford needed to win three singles matches, and they got three first sets--from Higuchi, Lord, and Davidson. 

4. Good fight from the players who lost their first sets, as Arbuthnott stepped on the gas after losing her first set 3-6, taking the second 6-0 and squelching any thoughts of a comeback by winning 6-4.  Doyle also won her second set, and Lampl was on the verge of winning hers. 

5. An uneven outing from Lord, who was cruising and actually had a chance to close out her match before Higuchi did, but she then lost five straight games to lose the second set, before getting back on track in the third.  She was up 4-3 when her match was abandoned, so no guarantee that she would have won, but I'd say better than even odds. 

6. Doyle lost her rematch with Michigan's Fahey from last year's NCAA quarterfinal, when Doyle clinched Stanford's 4-3 win with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (4) win at the #3 spot.  Doyle showed some nice fight by decisively taking the second set in this match after losing the first, but she didn't have enough left. 

7. Lampl may not always win, but she never goes down easily.  After losing her first set, she got to a second set tiebreaker, which she led 6-5 when it was abandoned.  With a win there, I feel like she would have gotten Stanford a fourth point if the team needed it. 

8.  Davidson has been really up and down all year, winning solidly against top players and scuffling against unranked ones.  She can be streaky, but she's also a passionate player that seems to find an extra gear in the NCAA tournament (she's now 9-1 all-time in NCAAs, per the official team Twitter account).  She certainly showed that today, getting a tough first-set win before getting smoked in the second and then turning it on in the third. 

9. Lord and Lampl continue their NCAA unbeaten streak (each is 8-0), while Higuchi is now 2-0 in her young NCAA career (she would be 3-0, but Idaho forfeited the #6 singles spot in the first round this year).  Arbuthnott is now 2-1, and Doyle falls to 7-7 in her NCAA career, and she hasn't registered a NCAA win since her quarterfinal win over Michigan's Fahey last year.