Not to be too presumptous, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that it's good to have you back ColoradoTree!
We miss your insights and analyses at the end of last season. We were sorry to hear that personal matters pulled you away and wish the best for you going forward.
Thank you for the preview and looking forward to your thoughtful posts!
Two questions from your preview:
We miss your insights and analyses at the end of last season. We were sorry to hear that personal matters pulled you away and wish the best for you going forward.
Thank you for the preview and looking forward to your thoughtful posts!
(09-11-2023, 12:24 PM)ColoradoTree Wrote: Just where we can expect to see Hui and Yu in the lineup will be interesting, especially given the rankings' projection that not only is Yepifanova ahead of Ma, but Blake may have surpassed her as well. (I don't think that's actually happened, and I think Blake is getting a little extra juice in the rankings from her run to the quarterfinals in last year's NCAA singles tournament.)
Here's a recap of their junior accomplishments from the official site a few days ago: https://gostanford.com/news/2023/9/5/wom...ui-yu.aspx
As a reminder, Hui was generally viewed as the #2 recruit in the country (and in our class) behind Yu, who didn't enter the girls' tournament at the U.S. Open. She has preferred to play in lower-level professional tournaments over the past few months, though she hasn't met with much success. But Yu has always been that girl, having been ranked as the #1 recruit each year of high school and having made the US Open main draw in last year's tournament, whereas Hui was seen as a top 5 recruit but never hit the top spot until her senior year (though Yu later overtook her again).
I'm going to operate under the assumption that, despite the ITA ranking, Yu remains ahead of Hui in the pecking order, but where exactly they land will be curious to see. But I think they're both too good not to play, which means that it's going to be very difficult for seniors Ana Geller and India Houghton (or sophomore Emma Sun) to crack the singles lineup, and it might mean Valencia Xu falls out of the lineup. Here's a guess:
1. Yepifanova
2. Ma
3. Blake
4. Yu
5. Blokhina
6. Hui
And I wouldn't be shocked if Yu is in the top 3. Or if Hui pushes Blokhina to the #6 court. But one of Blokhina, Xu, Yu, and Hui won't be in the lineup, and I think that'll be Xu. Honestly, if we play UNC or someone like that, we should stage some matches between our respective 7-8-9 players. The depth is just bonkers, and the internal competition for lineup spots should be fierce. I'm pumped for it.
Getting a national championship this year would also keep our streak alive of each class winning a national championship for the past I'm-not-gonna-look-it-up-but-it's-a-lot-of years, since Blake is using her covid year for a final shot at a championship.
(09-11-2023, 12:19 PM)old spanish trail Wrote: Thanks, CT. Totally agree re ACC. I hadn't focused previously on how many ACC schools have juggernaut teams.
So, in last year's final team rankings, here's the Pac-12 (bold), ACC (italics), and SEC in the top 25:
1. UNC
2. Georgia
3. Texas A&M
4. N.C. State
5. Stanford
7. Texas*
11. Duke
12. Virginia
13. Oklahoma*
14. Tennessee
15. Florida
16. Miami
17. Auburn
18. UCLA
20. Georgia Tech
21. Washington
24. Florida State
25. USC
With USC/UCLA departing the Pac-12, we'd already been consigned to a mid-major level as far as tennis is concerned even if the conference had held together. so it's going to be a whole new world starting next year. A drastically tougher conference slate, and other teams like Wake and Notre Dame that can absolutely push you (and beat you on a bad day) in a way that we don't get from Oregon, Colorado, Wazzu, and Arizona. (ASU is a good team and will be one of the better ones along with Oklahoma State in the new-look Big 12, though the cream of that conference is departing for the SEC.)
Two questions from your preview:
- What is the difference between level of competition between junior Grand Slams and the collegiate game? I am guessing it's a big deal that Hui just won the Girls' title, but not knowing the transition to D1 tennis, I thought she might be slotted at least towards the middle if not the top of the lineup, but maybe I am giving too much credit to the level of junior majors as opposed to D1 tennis?
- Secondly, no matter where she is slotted, as you pointed out, our depth this year will be quite remarkable. How do we stack up against the other top teams in the country?