01-19-2024, 01:12 PM
And unsurprisingly, we saw some lineup adjustments on the way to a 7-0 win.
* The senior class cracked the lineup, with Houghton rolling easily at the #6 spot in singles and teaming up with Geller for a win on Court 3 of doubles.
* Blake and Hui took the day off, and Yepifanova vaulted Ma to play 1, keeping Ma at 2, sliding Blokhina up to 3 and Xu to 4, Eleana Yu made her dual season debut at 5, and Houghton played 6.
* So based on that, we can determine that after our top 3 in whatever order, the pecking order is basically Blokhina > Hui > Xu > Yu > Houghton, and presumably Geller after that, followed by Okpara and Sun.
* With Blake and Hui out, Ma/Yepifanova slid up to the #1 doubles line, and Blokhina partnered with Xu on Court 2, leaving room for the senior duo on Court 3.
* Not much to say when Stanford dominates a team they're expected to dominate. But it can be hard to keep your foot on the gas against an overmatched opponent, and for the most part, we didn't do that. Ma, Yu, and Houghton only lost one game apiece, and Xu lost just two, while Yepifanova had a solid, but competitive, win, dropping six games in her two sets.
* But a win that dominant also makes it stand out where we struggled, and that leads us to Blokhina, who actually lost her second set (and by a lopsided 6-2 scoreline, too) before coming back and dominating the third set match tiebreaker, 10-3. Hard to know what was going on there without watching the match, but while it's not a great sign that she was pushed to a third by a lesser player, anytime you struggle and manage to come away with a win has some benefits.
* Not sure what the thinking behind Yepifanova vaulting Ma is, but if you think Ma is better against Texas A&M, why change your mind against UC Davis? Maybe it's just a reminder that nobody's lineup position is sacred, or it could be a reaction to how Ma fell to pieces in her third set against A&M, while Yepifanova fought hard in hers. As I've said many times, I think Ma is the superior player, but it's not a brobdingnagian margin, and she's much more prone to mental lapses--sometimes she just droops and you can tell she's already beaten--than Yepifanova does. Long term, we're a better team if Ma is tough mentally and playing higher than Yepifanova. But sometimes that seems to be a big if.
* The senior class cracked the lineup, with Houghton rolling easily at the #6 spot in singles and teaming up with Geller for a win on Court 3 of doubles.
* Blake and Hui took the day off, and Yepifanova vaulted Ma to play 1, keeping Ma at 2, sliding Blokhina up to 3 and Xu to 4, Eleana Yu made her dual season debut at 5, and Houghton played 6.
* So based on that, we can determine that after our top 3 in whatever order, the pecking order is basically Blokhina > Hui > Xu > Yu > Houghton, and presumably Geller after that, followed by Okpara and Sun.
* With Blake and Hui out, Ma/Yepifanova slid up to the #1 doubles line, and Blokhina partnered with Xu on Court 2, leaving room for the senior duo on Court 3.
* Not much to say when Stanford dominates a team they're expected to dominate. But it can be hard to keep your foot on the gas against an overmatched opponent, and for the most part, we didn't do that. Ma, Yu, and Houghton only lost one game apiece, and Xu lost just two, while Yepifanova had a solid, but competitive, win, dropping six games in her two sets.
* But a win that dominant also makes it stand out where we struggled, and that leads us to Blokhina, who actually lost her second set (and by a lopsided 6-2 scoreline, too) before coming back and dominating the third set match tiebreaker, 10-3. Hard to know what was going on there without watching the match, but while it's not a great sign that she was pushed to a third by a lesser player, anytime you struggle and manage to come away with a win has some benefits.
* Not sure what the thinking behind Yepifanova vaulting Ma is, but if you think Ma is better against Texas A&M, why change your mind against UC Davis? Maybe it's just a reminder that nobody's lineup position is sacred, or it could be a reaction to how Ma fell to pieces in her third set against A&M, while Yepifanova fought hard in hers. As I've said many times, I think Ma is the superior player, but it's not a brobdingnagian margin, and she's much more prone to mental lapses--sometimes she just droops and you can tell she's already beaten--than Yepifanova does. Long term, we're a better team if Ma is tough mentally and playing higher than Yepifanova. But sometimes that seems to be a big if.