02-05-2020, 10:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-05-2020, 11:00 AM by ColoradoTree.)
By beating USF and Washington State a couple weeks ago, Stanford punched its ticket to the 2020 Oracle ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship, or Indoor Nationals for short. The 16-team, single-elimination tournament starts this Friday, February 7th in Chicago. All teams are guaranteed three matches on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with the two teams making the finals getting a fourth match on Monday, February 10th.
Who's in the field?
Below is the bracket, with the seeded teams listed first by seed and the unseeded team listed second with most recent ranking before their names. The biggest shock is #5 Duke not being seeded while #12 Ohio State is, but there's a simple explanation for that--Duke just dropped a 4-2 match to Ohio State in Columbus. So, it's a reasonable seeding tweak. Texas is also seeded two lines ahead of its ranking, but it has wins already over N.C. State and Georgia Tech, better than Pepperdine's resume, so that makes sense, too.
(1) Stanford vs. #10 Michigan
(8) Ohio State vs. #22 Georgia Tech
(5) Texas vs. #9 Florida State
(4) UCLA vs. #31 Illinois
(3) Georgia vs. #11 Virginia
(6) Pepperdine vs. #5 Duke
(7) N.C. State vs. #17 Princeton
(2) North Carolina vs. #14 Arizona State
The bracket was constructed by taking the 8 seeds and placing them in a standard configuration, and then drawing the other 8 teams at random to determine opponents, avoiding conference matchups (and other matches already on teams' schedules) in the first round. Thus, Stanford gets something of a tougher first round draw in a good Michigan team, and Pepperdine gets a brutal Duke matchup, while the worst seed (Ohio State) gets the second-worst team by ranking in the field (the worst being host Illinois), and UCLA should be able to sleepwalk through the first round.
There were some dangerous first-round matchups looming, particularly FSU, Michigan, and UVA, but then again, the entire point of this tournament from Stanford's perspective is to play--and beat--top teams to have a resume that gets them a top 8 seed in NCAAs at the end of the year. So, why not hope for one of those teams? I was, and that's exactly what we got. UCLA doesn't get much of a benefit from beating Illinois, while beating Michigan would be a much bigger boost to Stanford. (Watch the scoreline, too. UNC beat Michigan 4-0, though 5 of the singles matches were reasonably competitive, and Michigan looked primed to take a couple points at the end.)
Thus, Stanford's path is #10 Michigan, probably #12 Ohio State (who will be top ten in the next rankings for sure following that Duke win), and then #4 UCLA/#7 Texas in the semis and #2 UNC/#3 UGA in the final. A run to the finals, even with a loss there, and a good regular season should give Stanford all it needs for that top 8 seed. But the lighter-than-usual schedule this year means the margin for error is slim. Slip up in the first round and maybe your next two matches are also against unseeded teams. Lose a couple of 4-3 matches to UCLA and Cal, and all of a sudden, you might not even be top 16 and you could be on the road in the NCAA early rounds for the first time in program history.
At this point, there's no match I find more interesting in terms of projecting the season than the potential Stanford-UCLA semifinal. UCLA is going to hang around the top 5 all year, so getting that win (and demonstrating that we're still the top dog in the Pac-12) would almost be bigger to me than beating UNC or Georgia the following round would be. In other words, this team has a lot of questions, and I think beating UCLA would answer most of them and would mean we're absolutely good enough to be in the mix for the NCAA title again this year. Whether we beat or lose to an excellent team in the final wouldn't change that fact.
Wait, when do we play?
Stanford plays Michigan on Friday at 3:30pm Central/1:30pm Pacific on Courts 1-6. If they win, they'll play the Ohio State/Georgia Tech winner at the same time on Saturday on courts to be determined.
How to follow along
Live scores: http://scores.tennisticker.de/usa/ita/wi...ml?lid=223
Live streaming: TBD
Tournament websites:
https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/event...s-indoors/
https://fightingillini.com/feature/itaindoors2020
Oh, and we got new singles rankings from the ITA today, so here they are:
Current Singles Rankings
Below is a list of the currently-ranked singles players from each of the teams at Indoor Nationals:
1. Ashley Lahey, Pepperdine
2. Anna Turati, Texas
4. Sara Daavettila, UNC
5. Abigail Forbes, UCLA
6. Michaela Gordon
7. Alexa Graham, UNC
8. Shiori Fukuda, Ohio State
9. Cameron Morra, UNC
10. Kelly Chen, Duke
14. Elysia Bolton, UCLA
16. Jada Hart, UCLA
17. Chloe Beck, Duke
18. Lea Ma, Georgia
20. Alana Smith, N.C. State
21. Natasha Subhash, UVA
23. Alle Sanford, UNC
29. Ilze Hattingh, Arizona State
30. Adriana Reami, N.C. State
34. Brianna Shvets, Princeton
35. Giulia Pairone, Michigan
36. Anastasia Iamachkine, Pepperdine
37. Jessica Failla, Pepperdine
41. Katarina Jokic, Georgia
42. Bianca Turati, Texas
43. Anna Rogers, N.C. State
49. Victoria Flores, Georgia Tech
50. Lexi Ryngler, Texas
51. Andrea Cerdan, Michigan
55. Rosie Johanson, UVA
58. Kacie Harvey, UNC
60. Kenya Jones, Georgia Tech
62. Irina Cantos Siemers, Ohio State
71. Zoe Howard, Princeton
74. Margaryta Bilokin, Duke
77. Angelica Blake
78. Amber O'Dell, UVA
83. Morgan Coppoc, Georgia
86. Nandini Das, Florida State
87. Sofia Munera, UVA
89. Meible Chi, Duke
90. Marta Gonzalez, Georgia
93. Gia Cohen, Georgia Tech
94. Alyvia Jones, Michigan
98. Daria Frayman, Princeton
99. Danielle Wolf, Ohio State
101. Makenna Jones, UNC
112. Annette Goulak, UCLA
123. Janice Shin
124. Lisa Zaar, Pepperdine
125. Fernanda Labrana, Texas
Also important to note are the following Pac-12 players not present at Indoor Nationals:
12. Haley Giavara, Cal
15. Angela Kulikov, USC
19. Mariia Kozyreva, St. Mary's (not Pac-12, I know, but someone we see a lot of)
26. Valentina Ivanov, Cal
46. Julia Rosenqvist, Cal
66. Vanessa Wong, UW
79. Michaela Bayerlova, WSU
82. Natsuho Arakawa, UW
91. Melisa Ates, WSU
108. Sydney Van Alphen, USC
110. Katarina Kopcalic, UW
119. Danielle Willson, USC
In other words, here's how we (6, 77, 123) stack up against other teams in terms of ranked players:
Pepperdine: 1, 36, 37, 124
Texas: 2, 42, 50, 125
UNC: 4, 7, 9, 23, 58, 101
UCLA: 5, 14, 16, 112
Ohio State: 8, 62, 99
Duke: 10, 17, 74, 89
Georgia: 18, 41, 83, 90
N.C. State: 20, 30, 43
UVA: 21, 55, 78, 87
ASU: 29
Princeton: 34, 71, 98
Michigan: 35, 51, 94
Georgia Tech: 49, 60, 93
FSU: 86
And elsewhere in the Pac-12:
Cal: 12, 26, 46
USC: 15, 108, 119
UW: 66, 82, 110
WSU: 79, 91
Like I've been saying, it looks more difficult this year to repeat as Pac-12 champs, let alone national champs. But we'll see!
Who's in the field?
Below is the bracket, with the seeded teams listed first by seed and the unseeded team listed second with most recent ranking before their names. The biggest shock is #5 Duke not being seeded while #12 Ohio State is, but there's a simple explanation for that--Duke just dropped a 4-2 match to Ohio State in Columbus. So, it's a reasonable seeding tweak. Texas is also seeded two lines ahead of its ranking, but it has wins already over N.C. State and Georgia Tech, better than Pepperdine's resume, so that makes sense, too.
(1) Stanford vs. #10 Michigan
(8) Ohio State vs. #22 Georgia Tech
(5) Texas vs. #9 Florida State
(4) UCLA vs. #31 Illinois
(3) Georgia vs. #11 Virginia
(6) Pepperdine vs. #5 Duke
(7) N.C. State vs. #17 Princeton
(2) North Carolina vs. #14 Arizona State
The bracket was constructed by taking the 8 seeds and placing them in a standard configuration, and then drawing the other 8 teams at random to determine opponents, avoiding conference matchups (and other matches already on teams' schedules) in the first round. Thus, Stanford gets something of a tougher first round draw in a good Michigan team, and Pepperdine gets a brutal Duke matchup, while the worst seed (Ohio State) gets the second-worst team by ranking in the field (the worst being host Illinois), and UCLA should be able to sleepwalk through the first round.
There were some dangerous first-round matchups looming, particularly FSU, Michigan, and UVA, but then again, the entire point of this tournament from Stanford's perspective is to play--and beat--top teams to have a resume that gets them a top 8 seed in NCAAs at the end of the year. So, why not hope for one of those teams? I was, and that's exactly what we got. UCLA doesn't get much of a benefit from beating Illinois, while beating Michigan would be a much bigger boost to Stanford. (Watch the scoreline, too. UNC beat Michigan 4-0, though 5 of the singles matches were reasonably competitive, and Michigan looked primed to take a couple points at the end.)
Thus, Stanford's path is #10 Michigan, probably #12 Ohio State (who will be top ten in the next rankings for sure following that Duke win), and then #4 UCLA/#7 Texas in the semis and #2 UNC/#3 UGA in the final. A run to the finals, even with a loss there, and a good regular season should give Stanford all it needs for that top 8 seed. But the lighter-than-usual schedule this year means the margin for error is slim. Slip up in the first round and maybe your next two matches are also against unseeded teams. Lose a couple of 4-3 matches to UCLA and Cal, and all of a sudden, you might not even be top 16 and you could be on the road in the NCAA early rounds for the first time in program history.
At this point, there's no match I find more interesting in terms of projecting the season than the potential Stanford-UCLA semifinal. UCLA is going to hang around the top 5 all year, so getting that win (and demonstrating that we're still the top dog in the Pac-12) would almost be bigger to me than beating UNC or Georgia the following round would be. In other words, this team has a lot of questions, and I think beating UCLA would answer most of them and would mean we're absolutely good enough to be in the mix for the NCAA title again this year. Whether we beat or lose to an excellent team in the final wouldn't change that fact.
Wait, when do we play?
Stanford plays Michigan on Friday at 3:30pm Central/1:30pm Pacific on Courts 1-6. If they win, they'll play the Ohio State/Georgia Tech winner at the same time on Saturday on courts to be determined.
How to follow along
Live scores: http://scores.tennisticker.de/usa/ita/wi...ml?lid=223
Live streaming: TBD
Tournament websites:
https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/event...s-indoors/
https://fightingillini.com/feature/itaindoors2020
Oh, and we got new singles rankings from the ITA today, so here they are:
Current Singles Rankings
Below is a list of the currently-ranked singles players from each of the teams at Indoor Nationals:
1. Ashley Lahey, Pepperdine
2. Anna Turati, Texas
4. Sara Daavettila, UNC
5. Abigail Forbes, UCLA
6. Michaela Gordon
7. Alexa Graham, UNC
8. Shiori Fukuda, Ohio State
9. Cameron Morra, UNC
10. Kelly Chen, Duke
14. Elysia Bolton, UCLA
16. Jada Hart, UCLA
17. Chloe Beck, Duke
18. Lea Ma, Georgia
20. Alana Smith, N.C. State
21. Natasha Subhash, UVA
23. Alle Sanford, UNC
29. Ilze Hattingh, Arizona State
30. Adriana Reami, N.C. State
34. Brianna Shvets, Princeton
35. Giulia Pairone, Michigan
36. Anastasia Iamachkine, Pepperdine
37. Jessica Failla, Pepperdine
41. Katarina Jokic, Georgia
42. Bianca Turati, Texas
43. Anna Rogers, N.C. State
49. Victoria Flores, Georgia Tech
50. Lexi Ryngler, Texas
51. Andrea Cerdan, Michigan
55. Rosie Johanson, UVA
58. Kacie Harvey, UNC
60. Kenya Jones, Georgia Tech
62. Irina Cantos Siemers, Ohio State
71. Zoe Howard, Princeton
74. Margaryta Bilokin, Duke
77. Angelica Blake
78. Amber O'Dell, UVA
83. Morgan Coppoc, Georgia
86. Nandini Das, Florida State
87. Sofia Munera, UVA
89. Meible Chi, Duke
90. Marta Gonzalez, Georgia
93. Gia Cohen, Georgia Tech
94. Alyvia Jones, Michigan
98. Daria Frayman, Princeton
99. Danielle Wolf, Ohio State
101. Makenna Jones, UNC
112. Annette Goulak, UCLA
123. Janice Shin
124. Lisa Zaar, Pepperdine
125. Fernanda Labrana, Texas
Also important to note are the following Pac-12 players not present at Indoor Nationals:
12. Haley Giavara, Cal
15. Angela Kulikov, USC
19. Mariia Kozyreva, St. Mary's (not Pac-12, I know, but someone we see a lot of)
26. Valentina Ivanov, Cal
46. Julia Rosenqvist, Cal
66. Vanessa Wong, UW
79. Michaela Bayerlova, WSU
82. Natsuho Arakawa, UW
91. Melisa Ates, WSU
108. Sydney Van Alphen, USC
110. Katarina Kopcalic, UW
119. Danielle Willson, USC
In other words, here's how we (6, 77, 123) stack up against other teams in terms of ranked players:
Pepperdine: 1, 36, 37, 124
Texas: 2, 42, 50, 125
UNC: 4, 7, 9, 23, 58, 101
UCLA: 5, 14, 16, 112
Ohio State: 8, 62, 99
Duke: 10, 17, 74, 89
Georgia: 18, 41, 83, 90
N.C. State: 20, 30, 43
UVA: 21, 55, 78, 87
ASU: 29
Princeton: 34, 71, 98
Michigan: 35, 51, 94
Georgia Tech: 49, 60, 93
FSU: 86
And elsewhere in the Pac-12:
Cal: 12, 26, 46
USC: 15, 108, 119
UW: 66, 82, 110
WSU: 79, 91
Like I've been saying, it looks more difficult this year to repeat as Pac-12 champs, let alone national champs. But we'll see!