02-27-2023, 09:42 AM
Sorry, folks, I was out and about doing kids' sports stuff all weekend, so I didn't get the chance to chime in. But holy mackerel, what a performance in singles!
We once again saw Lele flip our top two, with Yepifanova at 1 against Khirin and Ma at 2 against Chavatipon. (Lele also had Yepifanova at 1 against St. Mary's last week.) I remain of the view that Ma is objectively better than Yepifanova right now, and it's not close, but Lele wouldn't be doing this if she wasn't seeing something in practice that was making her think differently.
Yet, those two were the first off court, with Yepifanova cruising 6-4, 6-3 to tie the match up at 1-1, and then Ma soon thereafter giving us a 2-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win. Blokhina put us on the verge on Court 4 with a 7-6, 6-4 win, but the remaining three matches were headed to third sets. (Blake and Xu had won their first sets but dropped the second, while Choy got smoked in her first set, 1-6, but came back to take the second, 6-4.) We just needed one of the three, while Texas needed all three.
Texas closed the gap to 3-2, with Xu dropping her third set 6-4, and the other two matches were on serve in the third, so we'd need to find something and get a break. And we did, with Blake getting an opportune break late in the third to clinch the match with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win over Zeynalova. That seems to invigorate Choy, who then got a late break of her own to win her match 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 to make the final score 5-2.
A great, great win, and the best one we've had so far this year. We'll see how that affects the updated rankings coming out tomorrow. We'll rise and Texas will fall, but how much?
I complained about a perceived lack of grit sometimes, and how the body language sometimes falters when this team fails to finish. Well, I couldn't keep as close an eye on this match as I would've liked, but winning the top two courts in routine fashion? Getting a gutsy straight-sets-in-name-only type win from Blokhina? You don't win 7-6, 6-4 without a lot of fight and willpower. That sort of scoreline shows you're finding something extra in the key moments. And then with three matches going to third sets, you saw some different stories. Xu started strong but then wasn't competitive in the second and was close but not quite there in the third. Blake dominated her first, got dominated right back in the second, but shook it off and reasserted herself in the third. And Choy got crushed in the first (the only first set Texas won), before winning a couple of close, competitive sets. I'm glad they played the match out, because that's the kind of thing that can really instill confidence in a player and be a reservoir of grit as the season goes on.
We needed a win like this for lots of reasons. Rankings. A shot at hosting a super regional. Some self-belief heading into Pac-12 play. Because while we don't necessarily have teams on the level of Duke and Georgia that we'll be facing in the Pac-12, there are a number of very good teams that can absolutely beat us if we're not at our best. UCLA's current ranking doesn't reflect how dangerous that team can be. USC has the talent to beat anyone on the right day. Arizona State has seemingly joined that top tier of teams. Cal has struggled early, but just like UCLA, they have the talent to beat us depending on the day. Washington can be dangerous. Arizona, long a doormat, is now competitive against good, ranked teams. Still a lot of work to be done!
We once again saw Lele flip our top two, with Yepifanova at 1 against Khirin and Ma at 2 against Chavatipon. (Lele also had Yepifanova at 1 against St. Mary's last week.) I remain of the view that Ma is objectively better than Yepifanova right now, and it's not close, but Lele wouldn't be doing this if she wasn't seeing something in practice that was making her think differently.
Yet, those two were the first off court, with Yepifanova cruising 6-4, 6-3 to tie the match up at 1-1, and then Ma soon thereafter giving us a 2-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win. Blokhina put us on the verge on Court 4 with a 7-6, 6-4 win, but the remaining three matches were headed to third sets. (Blake and Xu had won their first sets but dropped the second, while Choy got smoked in her first set, 1-6, but came back to take the second, 6-4.) We just needed one of the three, while Texas needed all three.
Texas closed the gap to 3-2, with Xu dropping her third set 6-4, and the other two matches were on serve in the third, so we'd need to find something and get a break. And we did, with Blake getting an opportune break late in the third to clinch the match with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win over Zeynalova. That seems to invigorate Choy, who then got a late break of her own to win her match 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 to make the final score 5-2.
A great, great win, and the best one we've had so far this year. We'll see how that affects the updated rankings coming out tomorrow. We'll rise and Texas will fall, but how much?
I complained about a perceived lack of grit sometimes, and how the body language sometimes falters when this team fails to finish. Well, I couldn't keep as close an eye on this match as I would've liked, but winning the top two courts in routine fashion? Getting a gutsy straight-sets-in-name-only type win from Blokhina? You don't win 7-6, 6-4 without a lot of fight and willpower. That sort of scoreline shows you're finding something extra in the key moments. And then with three matches going to third sets, you saw some different stories. Xu started strong but then wasn't competitive in the second and was close but not quite there in the third. Blake dominated her first, got dominated right back in the second, but shook it off and reasserted herself in the third. And Choy got crushed in the first (the only first set Texas won), before winning a couple of close, competitive sets. I'm glad they played the match out, because that's the kind of thing that can really instill confidence in a player and be a reservoir of grit as the season goes on.
We needed a win like this for lots of reasons. Rankings. A shot at hosting a super regional. Some self-belief heading into Pac-12 play. Because while we don't necessarily have teams on the level of Duke and Georgia that we'll be facing in the Pac-12, there are a number of very good teams that can absolutely beat us if we're not at our best. UCLA's current ranking doesn't reflect how dangerous that team can be. USC has the talent to beat anyone on the right day. Arizona State has seemingly joined that top tier of teams. Cal has struggled early, but just like UCLA, they have the talent to beat us depending on the day. Washington can be dangerous. Arizona, long a doormat, is now competitive against good, ranked teams. Still a lot of work to be done!