[ColoradoTree]

A little preview of the semifinal match vs. Ohio State.

Rankings/Seedings: OSU is ranked #2, but seeded #3.  Stanford is ranked #6, but seeded #7. 

Records: OSU is 33-2 and Stanford is 25-2.  OSU's losses are to North Carolina (4-3 at ITA Indoors) and Florida (4-1), while Stanford's are to Florida (4-1) and Pepperdine (5-2). 

Common Opponents: North Carolina (Stanford just won 4-2, Ohio State lost 4-3); Pepperdine (Stanford lost 5-2, Ohio State won 6-1); Oklahoma State (Stanford won 4-3, Ohio State won 4-3); Arizona State (Stanford won 4-0, Ohio State won 4-0).  So, not a ton to learn from that--both teams lost to someone the other team beat. 

Ohio State's Run: Beat Buffalo 4-0, #32 Notre Dame 4-0, #14 South Carolina 4-1, and #7 Texas Tech (the #6 seed) 4-0.  The one loss came against South Carolina at #2 singles.  Against Texas Tech (which was played an hour and a half away at Georgia Tech's indoor courts in Atlanta), Ohio State won the doubles points by winning at #2 and #3, with the match at #1 tied 4-4 when it was abandoned.  In singles, Ohio State got wins at #2, #4, and #6; in the other three matches, Texas Tech had won the first set, so much like UNC-Duke, the scoreline is something of an accident of timing. 

Individual Matchups:

Doubles

#1. #39 Davidson/Arbuthnott vs. #18 Francesca Di Lorenzo/Miho Kowase
#2. #46 Doyle/Lord vs. Anna Sanford/Sandy Niehaus
#3. Lampl/Higuchi vs. Gabriella De Santis/Ferny Angeles Paz

Singles

#1. #38 Caroline Doyle vs. #1 Francesca Di Lorenzo. 
#2. #28 Melissa Lord vs. #67 Anna Sanford. 
#3. #54 Taylor Davidson vs. #95 Gabriella De Santis. 
#4. #90 Caroline Lampl vs. #91 Miko Kowase
#5. Emily Arbuthnott vs. #112 Sandy Niehaus
#6.  #71 Emma Higuchi vs. Ferny Angeles Paz

UNC and Pepperdine:

Since both teams played UNC and Pepperdine but had different results, I thought it might be useful to look at the matches against those teams to see what happened.

Stanford vs. UNC: I mean, you guys remember.  Stanford won the doubles point through dominant performances at #1 and #2 doubles (and would have lost the match at #3 doubles had it finished), got trounced at #1 singles, won solidly at #3 singles, Lord turned on the gas to win #2 singles going away, Lampl lost a battle at #4 singles, and Arbuthnott turned it on as well to win at #5.  Higuchi struggled initially--which is totally understandable, given how long she'd waited to go on court when she's usually the first player off it--but turned the corner and ran away with the second set and all the momentum going into the third. 

Ohio State vs. UNC:  Ohio State lost the doubles point, losing 6-2 at #1, winning 6-4 at #2, and losing in a tiebreaker at #3.  UNC then won at the top three courts (winning #1 and #2 in three sets), while Ohio State won at 4-6 (winning #4 and #6 in three sets). 

Stanford vs. Pepperdine: This match was in Malibu. Stanford lost the doubles point, losing 6-3 at #1, winning 6-4 at #2, and losing 6-4 at #3.  Davidson was the first to lose at #3 (4 & 1); Higuchi won solidly to cut the deficit to one; Doyle then had arguably her best match of the season to beat then-#9 Luisa Stefani at #1 to tie the match up at 2-2; Arbuthnott then lost a close one to put Pepperdine one match away; the match was clinched when Lampl lost 7-5, 7-5 at #4; with the match decided, they played out #2 anyway (Lord had won the first set 6-2, and was up 5-2 in the second before disappearing, losing that set in a tiebreaker and losing the third 6-1).  A disappointing match, but it was also on the road against a very good team. 

Ohio State vs. Pepperdine: This match was at a neutral site (Tempe, AZ).  Ohio State won the doubles point by getting wins at #1 (6-3) and #3 (6-2). They lost #2 by a 6-1 score. In singles, Pepperdine won at #2, but Ohio State won on all other courts, only needing three sets to win at #4. 

Match Prediction: 

Doubles: Stanford wins at #2, and loses a close one at #1 before winning a similarly close one at #3 to take the doubles point. 

In singles:
#1. Sorry, Caroline.
#2. When Ohio State drops matches in wins or when they lose overall, they usually take a loss at #2.  I think Lord wins here.
#3. UNC's Aney (who Davidson just beat yesterday) crushed De Santis 6-1, 6-3 back when they played. Of course, Pepperdine's Sherif crushed Davidson (4 & 1) and was beaten in turn by De Santis (7-5, 6-3).  Heck if I know.  But it's NCAAs, so I'll lean Davidson. 
#4. OSU's Niehaus beat both UNC's Graham and Pepperdine's Gulbe, while Lampl lost both matches, though all four were competitive.  But Lampl won't be playing Niehaus, though; Kowase has been playing #4 now.  I think this one is a toss-up.
#5. Arbuthnott didn't play the same Pepperdine player, so tough to compare directly. Both beat UNC's Makenna Jones.  This one will be a long slog. 
#6. Higuchi crushed her Pepperdine opponent, while Paz struggled (but ended up winning). Paz beat UNC in three sets, just as Higuchi likely would have done.  Closer than Emma is used to, but I'll give this one to Higuchi. 

So, for Stanford to win, they would dearly love to get the doubles point, limit the early damages to a loss at #1, get a quick win from Higuchi and then hope Lord or Davidson can win quickly.  I think Stanford should win at 2 and 6, while Ohio State should win at 1.  I lean toward Davidson at #3, but 4 and 5 will be very, very close, and it wouldn't be at all shocking to see Ohio State win those.  Thus, the doubles point looms very, very large. 

[ColoradoTree]

A little preview of the semifinal match vs. Ohio State.

Rankings/Seedings: OSU is ranked #2, but seeded #3.  Stanford is ranked #6, but seeded #7. 

Records: OSU is 33-2 and Stanford is 25-2.  OSU's losses are to North Carolina (4-3 at ITA Indoors) and Florida (4-1), while Stanford's are to Florida (4-1) and Pepperdine (5-2). 

Common Opponents: North Carolina (Stanford just won 4-2, Ohio State lost 4-3); Pepperdine (Stanford lost 5-2, Ohio State won 6-1); Oklahoma State (Stanford won 4-3, Ohio State won 4-3); Arizona State (Stanford won 4-0, Ohio State won 4-0).  So, not a ton to learn from that--both teams lost to someone the other team beat. 

Ohio State's Run: Beat Buffalo 4-0, #32 Notre Dame 4-0, #14 South Carolina 4-1, and #7 Texas Tech (the #6 seed) 4-0.  The one loss came against South Carolina at #2 singles.  Against Texas Tech (which was played an hour and a half away at Georgia Tech's indoor courts in Atlanta), Ohio State won the doubles points by winning at #2 and #3, with the match at #1 tied 4-4 when it was abandoned.  In singles, Ohio State got wins at #2, #4, and #6; in the other three matches, Texas Tech had won the first set, so much like UNC-Duke, the scoreline is something of an accident of timing. 

Individual Matchups:

Doubles

#1. #39 Davidson/Arbuthnott vs. #18 Francesca Di Lorenzo/Miho Kowase
#2. #46 Doyle/Lord vs. Anna Sanford/Sandy Niehaus
#3. Lampl/Higuchi vs. Gabriella De Santis/Ferny Angeles Paz

Singles

#1. #38 Caroline Doyle vs. #1 Francesca Di Lorenzo. 
#2. #28 Melissa Lord vs. #67 Anna Sanford. 
#3. #54 Taylor Davidson vs. #95 Gabriella De Santis. 
#4. #90 Caroline Lampl vs. #91 Miko Kowase
#5. Emily Arbuthnott vs. #112 Sandy Niehaus
#6.  #71 Emma Higuchi vs. Ferny Angeles Paz

UNC and Pepperdine:

Since both teams played UNC and Pepperdine but had different results, I thought it might be useful to look at the matches against those teams to see what happened.

Stanford vs. UNC: I mean, you guys remember.  Stanford won the doubles point through dominant performances at #1 and #2 doubles (and would have lost the match at #3 doubles had it finished), got trounced at #1 singles, won solidly at #3 singles, Lord turned on the gas to win #2 singles going away, Lampl lost a battle at #4 singles, and Arbuthnott turned it on as well to win at #5.  Higuchi struggled initially--which is totally understandable, given how long she'd waited to go on court when she's usually the first player off it--but turned the corner and ran away with the second set and all the momentum going into the third. 

Ohio State vs. UNC:  Ohio State lost the doubles point, losing 6-2 at #1, winning 6-4 at #2, and losing in a tiebreaker at #3.  UNC then won at the top three courts (winning #1 and #2 in three sets), while Ohio State won at 4-6 (winning #4 and #6 in three sets). 

Stanford vs. Pepperdine: This match was in Malibu. Stanford lost the doubles point, losing 6-3 at #1, winning 6-4 at #2, and losing 6-4 at #3.  Davidson was the first to lose at #3 (4 & 1); Higuchi won solidly to cut the deficit to one; Doyle then had arguably her best match of the season to beat then-#9 Luisa Stefani at #1 to tie the match up at 2-2; Arbuthnott then lost a close one to put Pepperdine one match away; the match was clinched when Lampl lost 7-5, 7-5 at #4; with the match decided, they played out #2 anyway (Lord had won the first set 6-2, and was up 5-2 in the second before disappearing, losing that set in a tiebreaker and losing the third 6-1).  A disappointing match, but it was also on the road against a very good team. 

Ohio State vs. Pepperdine: This match was at a neutral site (Tempe, AZ).  Ohio State won the doubles point by getting wins at #1 (6-3) and #3 (6-2). They lost #2 by a 6-1 score. In singles, Pepperdine won at #2, but Ohio State won on all other courts, only needing three sets to win at #4. 

Match Prediction: 

Doubles: Stanford wins at #2, and loses a close one at #1 before winning a similarly close one at #3 to take the doubles point. 

In singles:
#1. Sorry, Caroline.
#2. When Ohio State drops matches in wins or when they lose overall, they usually take a loss at #2.  I think Lord wins here.
#3. UNC's Aney (who Davidson just beat yesterday) crushed De Santis 6-1, 6-3 back when they played. Of course, Pepperdine's Sherif crushed Davidson (4 & 1) and was beaten in turn by De Santis (7-5, 6-3).  Heck if I know.  But it's NCAAs, so I'll lean Davidson. 
#4. OSU's Niehaus beat both UNC's Graham and Pepperdine's Gulbe, while Lampl lost both matches, though all four were competitive.  But Lampl won't be playing Niehaus, though; Kowase has been playing #4 now.  I think this one is a toss-up.
#5. Arbuthnott didn't play the same Pepperdine player, so tough to compare directly. Both beat UNC's Makenna Jones.  This one will be a long slog. 
#6. Higuchi crushed her Pepperdine opponent, while Paz struggled (but ended up winning). Paz beat UNC in three sets, just as Higuchi likely would have done.  Closer than Emma is used to, but I'll give this one to Higuchi. 

So, for Stanford to win, they would dearly love to get the doubles point, limit the early damages to a loss at #1, get a quick win from Higuchi and then hope Lord or Davidson can win quickly.  I think Stanford should win at 2 and 6, while Ohio State should win at 1.  I lean toward Davidson at #3, but 4 and 5 will be very, very close, and it wouldn't be at all shocking to see Ohio State win those.  Thus, the doubles point looms very, very large.