01-29-2020, 10:30 AM
A few notes from the other Pac-12 results at ITA Kick-Off Weekend that I found interesting:
* ASU's Lauryn John-Baptiste (who mostly played #2 singles for ASU last year) played #4 singles against Northwestern and Vanderbilt, behind last year's #3 (Kolarova) and #4 (Hampton). I'll be curious to see if that holds throughout the season, or if this was an attempt to stack the lineup with some plausible deniability. FWIW, against Northwestern, Hampton won at 2 and Kolarova was in a third-set tiebreak, and against Vanderbilt, both Hampton and Kolarova lost, but both matches were very competitive. So, might just be that John-Baptiste didn't improve as much as the others.
* UCLA rolled out the same lineup against Minnesota and Loyola Marymount: #14 Bolton (So.) at 1, #6 Forbes (Fr.) at 2, Altick (Jr.) at 3, #99 Goulak (Jr.) at 4, #108 Vagramov (Fr.) at 5, and Johnson (So.) at 6. Not sure what's up with #9 Jada Hart (R-Sr.), but as good as the UCLA lineup was, it's not as good as it could be with Hart playing 1 or 2 and pushing the others down.
* Cal's freshman class, which did so well in the fall season, was rewarded in their placement in the singles lineup. Last year's #1, #45 Julia Rosenqvist, keeps her spot, but freshman Haley Giavara (#21) and Valentina Ivanov (#20) enter the lineup at the 2 and 3 spots, respectively, and they did well, with Giavara giving Cal its only point against UVA and both winning against Kansas. #100 Anna Bright is fourth, and there's still some shuffling at the back end of the lineup, but last year's #3, Katerina Stloukalova, lost at #5 singles against UVA and was benched in singles for the Kansas match. Freshman Erin Richardson played #6 against UVA and #5 against Kansas.
* USC's lineup had some changes. Last year's #1, sophomore Salma Ewing, played #2 and #60 Angela Kulikov (Sr.) is now playing #1. Senior Sydney Van Alphen (ranked #68), who has struggled to crack the lineup and has mostly played at #6 when she has played, is now at #3, where she lost both matches handily. #70 Danielle Willson, last year's #5, is now at #4 and split her matches. Blue chip freshman Eryn Cayetano is at #5 and won both matches. Senior Constance Branstine lost both her matches at #6, and interestingly, her sister Carson (the #2 newcomer in the preseason rankings) didn't make the lineup. Preseason #109 Ana Neffa (Jr.), last year's #3 (with some significant time at #4, too) wasn't in the lineup, so whether she got passed or was hurt is unclear. But the lineup USC rolled out is not their best, assuming the younger Branstine and Neffa are both healthy.
* ASU's Lauryn John-Baptiste (who mostly played #2 singles for ASU last year) played #4 singles against Northwestern and Vanderbilt, behind last year's #3 (Kolarova) and #4 (Hampton). I'll be curious to see if that holds throughout the season, or if this was an attempt to stack the lineup with some plausible deniability. FWIW, against Northwestern, Hampton won at 2 and Kolarova was in a third-set tiebreak, and against Vanderbilt, both Hampton and Kolarova lost, but both matches were very competitive. So, might just be that John-Baptiste didn't improve as much as the others.
* UCLA rolled out the same lineup against Minnesota and Loyola Marymount: #14 Bolton (So.) at 1, #6 Forbes (Fr.) at 2, Altick (Jr.) at 3, #99 Goulak (Jr.) at 4, #108 Vagramov (Fr.) at 5, and Johnson (So.) at 6. Not sure what's up with #9 Jada Hart (R-Sr.), but as good as the UCLA lineup was, it's not as good as it could be with Hart playing 1 or 2 and pushing the others down.
* Cal's freshman class, which did so well in the fall season, was rewarded in their placement in the singles lineup. Last year's #1, #45 Julia Rosenqvist, keeps her spot, but freshman Haley Giavara (#21) and Valentina Ivanov (#20) enter the lineup at the 2 and 3 spots, respectively, and they did well, with Giavara giving Cal its only point against UVA and both winning against Kansas. #100 Anna Bright is fourth, and there's still some shuffling at the back end of the lineup, but last year's #3, Katerina Stloukalova, lost at #5 singles against UVA and was benched in singles for the Kansas match. Freshman Erin Richardson played #6 against UVA and #5 against Kansas.
* USC's lineup had some changes. Last year's #1, sophomore Salma Ewing, played #2 and #60 Angela Kulikov (Sr.) is now playing #1. Senior Sydney Van Alphen (ranked #68), who has struggled to crack the lineup and has mostly played at #6 when she has played, is now at #3, where she lost both matches handily. #70 Danielle Willson, last year's #5, is now at #4 and split her matches. Blue chip freshman Eryn Cayetano is at #5 and won both matches. Senior Constance Branstine lost both her matches at #6, and interestingly, her sister Carson (the #2 newcomer in the preseason rankings) didn't make the lineup. Preseason #109 Ana Neffa (Jr.), last year's #3 (with some significant time at #4, too) wasn't in the lineup, so whether she got passed or was hurt is unclear. But the lineup USC rolled out is not their best, assuming the younger Branstine and Neffa are both healthy.