12-07-2020, 03:57 PM
As a reminder, the cancellation of the rest of the 2020 season meant that everyone got an extra year of eligibility if they wanted it, meaning that we don't need to say goodbye to Emily Arbuthnott and Emma Higuchi after all! This year's roster will thus have ten scholarship players on it rather than the usual 8, something that can continue for another few years:
Fifth years (2): Emily Arbuthnott, Emma Higuchi
Seniors (2): Michaela Gordon, Janice Shin
Juniors (2): Niluka Madurawe, Sara Choy
Sophomores (2): Angelica Blake, Nicole Mossmer
Freshmen (2): India Houghton, Ana Geller
Houghton and Geller mark what's one of the best 2-player classes in the country. (UVA is the other. UVA was #4 and Stanford was #7 in the 2020 class rankings, which take into account quality and quantity. Texas was #1 (3 recruits, 2 of which are at our recruits' level, 1 a bit below), Georgia Tech #2 (4 recruits, just 1 at our level, 2 a bit below, 1 well below), Cal #3 (3 recruits, 1 in our range, 1 a bit below, 1 well below), UNC #5 (3 recruits, 2 in our range, 1 well below), Michigan #6 (3 recruits, 1 in our range, 1 a bit below, 1 well below), and USC #8 (3 recruits, 2 in our range, 1 well below).
I don't know how you leave either one of them out of the singles lineup, frankly, but who do you leave off? With so few matches over the summer and fall, we don't have a ton of data points to see who's improved her game and who has stagnated.
It's nice to have options, though, considering how stacked the rest of the top teams' rosters are going to be. For example, UNC had 3 seniors last year on what was probably the best roster in the sport, all top 10-caliber players: Sara Daavettila, Alexa Graham, and Makenna Jones. All three are coming back, they still have another top 10-type player in junior Cameron Morra, several other good players, and they add one of the top incoming freshmen in Fiona Crawley.
Pepperdine gets Ashley Lahey (who was having an otherworldly season last year) and Jessica Failla back for another year, they get a couple of outstanding transfers (Lexi Ryngler from Texas, who will be a sophomore, and Shiori Fukuda from Ohio State, who is a grad transfer with two years of eligibility left), a promising freshman in Nikki Redelijk, and they still have a few other good players. This is an outstanding team, and they'll be better than #12.
UCLA's Jada Hurt returns for a sixth year (she was a redshirt senior last year), they lose no one else, and they add incoming transfer Vivian Wolff (Jr.) from Georgia (the preseason #37 player in the country last year). A small recruiting class for them (just one player, Vanessa Ong), but a blue chip. They're lined up for a great 2021 class, too, with three blue chips (not the top handful of players, though, whereas our 2021 class is lights out).
Texas lost Bianca Turati, but her twin sister Anna decided to stay another year. Texas also lost an outgoing transfer, a blue chip freshman from last year, Lexi Ryngler (to Pepperdine), but they add the top incoming recruiting class in the country, so they'll be just fine.
Fifth years (2): Emily Arbuthnott, Emma Higuchi
Seniors (2): Michaela Gordon, Janice Shin
Juniors (2): Niluka Madurawe, Sara Choy
Sophomores (2): Angelica Blake, Nicole Mossmer
Freshmen (2): India Houghton, Ana Geller
Houghton and Geller mark what's one of the best 2-player classes in the country. (UVA is the other. UVA was #4 and Stanford was #7 in the 2020 class rankings, which take into account quality and quantity. Texas was #1 (3 recruits, 2 of which are at our recruits' level, 1 a bit below), Georgia Tech #2 (4 recruits, just 1 at our level, 2 a bit below, 1 well below), Cal #3 (3 recruits, 1 in our range, 1 a bit below, 1 well below), UNC #5 (3 recruits, 2 in our range, 1 well below), Michigan #6 (3 recruits, 1 in our range, 1 a bit below, 1 well below), and USC #8 (3 recruits, 2 in our range, 1 well below).
I don't know how you leave either one of them out of the singles lineup, frankly, but who do you leave off? With so few matches over the summer and fall, we don't have a ton of data points to see who's improved her game and who has stagnated.
It's nice to have options, though, considering how stacked the rest of the top teams' rosters are going to be. For example, UNC had 3 seniors last year on what was probably the best roster in the sport, all top 10-caliber players: Sara Daavettila, Alexa Graham, and Makenna Jones. All three are coming back, they still have another top 10-type player in junior Cameron Morra, several other good players, and they add one of the top incoming freshmen in Fiona Crawley.
Pepperdine gets Ashley Lahey (who was having an otherworldly season last year) and Jessica Failla back for another year, they get a couple of outstanding transfers (Lexi Ryngler from Texas, who will be a sophomore, and Shiori Fukuda from Ohio State, who is a grad transfer with two years of eligibility left), a promising freshman in Nikki Redelijk, and they still have a few other good players. This is an outstanding team, and they'll be better than #12.
UCLA's Jada Hurt returns for a sixth year (she was a redshirt senior last year), they lose no one else, and they add incoming transfer Vivian Wolff (Jr.) from Georgia (the preseason #37 player in the country last year). A small recruiting class for them (just one player, Vanessa Ong), but a blue chip. They're lined up for a great 2021 class, too, with three blue chips (not the top handful of players, though, whereas our 2021 class is lights out).
Texas lost Bianca Turati, but her twin sister Anna decided to stay another year. Texas also lost an outgoing transfer, a blue chip freshman from last year, Lexi Ryngler (to Pepperdine), but they add the top incoming recruiting class in the country, so they'll be just fine.