02-24-2023, 12:59 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-24-2023, 02:10 PM by ColoradoTree.)
The rankings have flipped the switch from a coaches' poll to the automated rankings, which means that what would have been a matchup between the #12 and #4 teams in the country last week (and the #8 and #1 teams in the preseason) is now the #22 Stanford Cardinal going to Austin to play the #8 Texas Longhorns. At a certain point, your resume takes over, and if you don't have enough quality wins to feed into the equation, you're gonna drop, no matter how good coaches think you are.
Texas so far this year
The two-time defending national champions were also tabbed as the #1 team in the preseason despite losing their top two players, both sophomores last season. Peyton Stearns joined the pro ranks, and Kylie Collins left for LSU, so while I think this is an excellent team, I probably would have had them below UNC, Duke, and maybe a couple of others, at least until we saw how their terrific freshman class panned out (they had the #4 and #8 newcomers in the preseason). Texas has dropped just one match, a 4-1 upset by an Iowa State team that seems to be surprising everyone this year.
In reality, this is a top ten matchup. Both teams have plausible designs on a deep postseason run.
When?
Saturday, 2/25 at 10:00am Pacific.
Lineups
Anyway, here's what the singles lineup likely will be:
1. #5 Connie Ma vs. Nicole Khirin (preseason #4 newcomer)
2. #25 Alexandra Yepifanova vs. #60 Charlotte Chavatipon
3. #20 Angelica Blake vs. #79 Sabina Zeynalova
4. #72 Alexis Blokhina vs. Malaika Rapolu
5. Valencia Xu vs. Taisiya Pachkaleva (transfer from Pepperdine who mostly played 3 and 4 last year for the Waves)
6. Sara Choy vs. Nicole Rivkin (preseason #8 newcomer)
#97 Marlee Zein could also figure at the 6 spot. The Texas lineup has been something of a moving target.
How to watch: https://texassports.com/sports/2018/2/8/...live-video
Live stats: http://sidearmstats.com/texas/wtennis/xlive.htm
Prediction: I'll go out on a limb and predict that Stanford takes the doubles point and gets singles wins from Ma, Blokhina, and Choy to get the win. Maybe we drop one or two matches, but I don't think there will be a match where we get smoked.
Texas so far this year
The two-time defending national champions were also tabbed as the #1 team in the preseason despite losing their top two players, both sophomores last season. Peyton Stearns joined the pro ranks, and Kylie Collins left for LSU, so while I think this is an excellent team, I probably would have had them below UNC, Duke, and maybe a couple of others, at least until we saw how their terrific freshman class panned out (they had the #4 and #8 newcomers in the preseason). Texas has dropped just one match, a 4-1 upset by an Iowa State team that seems to be surprising everyone this year.
In reality, this is a top ten matchup. Both teams have plausible designs on a deep postseason run.
When?
Saturday, 2/25 at 10:00am Pacific.
Lineups
Anyway, here's what the singles lineup likely will be:
1. #5 Connie Ma vs. Nicole Khirin (preseason #4 newcomer)
2. #25 Alexandra Yepifanova vs. #60 Charlotte Chavatipon
3. #20 Angelica Blake vs. #79 Sabina Zeynalova
4. #72 Alexis Blokhina vs. Malaika Rapolu
5. Valencia Xu vs. Taisiya Pachkaleva (transfer from Pepperdine who mostly played 3 and 4 last year for the Waves)
6. Sara Choy vs. Nicole Rivkin (preseason #8 newcomer)
#97 Marlee Zein could also figure at the 6 spot. The Texas lineup has been something of a moving target.
How to watch: https://texassports.com/sports/2018/2/8/...live-video
Live stats: http://sidearmstats.com/texas/wtennis/xlive.htm
Prediction: I'll go out on a limb and predict that Stanford takes the doubles point and gets singles wins from Ma, Blokhina, and Choy to get the win. Maybe we drop one or two matches, but I don't think there will be a match where we get smoked.