[Jamesy]

Sakibomb, as for Yu sitting, it's hard to say what it means, especially since it's still pretty early. It's useful to remember that Valencia Xu was a top 10 recruit (and often top 5) recruit in what was a ridiculous year for American girls, with Ma, Yepifanova, Sarah Hamner (South Carolina), Mary Stoiana (A&M), Kylie Collins (Texas, LSU), and others. It was an absurd year. And now Xu has two years of college tennis and physical development under her belt, so it's not a shock for Xu to have held onto a lineup spot. 

College tennis is certainly an adjustment, and some folks adapt to it better and more quickly than others. That Yu is currently our #7 doesn't mean that she's a bust, of course. This lineup we have is so, so strong. Ma and Yepifanova are as strong a 1-2 punch as we've had in many years, and Blake has developed into an incredibly solid 3. There's just not much of a chance to displace these folks, you know? As it is, Yu is higher than Houghton and Geller (themselves very highly touted recruits), as well as Sun and Okpara. If you think about next year's roster, it looks like this:

1. Ma (Sr.)
2. Yepifanova (Sr.)
3. Blokhina (Jr.)
4. Hui (So.)
5. Xu (Sr.)
6. Yu (So.) 

Playing on Court 6 in that lineup shouldn't mean you've disappointed. (Of course, that means incoming frosh Glozman, who is also outstanding, would be on the bench, which might not be super realistic.) What happens the following year, though, will be interesting, and I would expect to see some reshuffling and no guarantee that Blokhina stays ahead of Hui, Yu, and Glozman.  

As to whether I'm surprised? I suppose I am a bit. But it speaks well of Xu that she's responded to the challenge of potentially being the odd woman out and kept a spot. I figured it would be Hui, Yu, and Xu in some order, but it's always hard to predict how specific players do when matched up against others. Maybe Yu might be better against certain competition but she hasn't done as well against Hui and Xu internally, and that's the end of it as far as Lele's concerned. In other words, sure, I'm a little surprised, but I'm not shocked, and I have everlasting faith in Lele. 

In any event, we have really enviable depth. We have a #7 that most teams would kill to play in their top 6--and probably pretty high in their top 6. And I don't think that spells doom once our current junior class graduates, either. Melissa Lord and Caroline Lampl started out at 5 and 6, but ended up as dominant mainstays near the top of our lineup. And if, say, Glozman and someone who comes in after her both end up vaulting Yu in that Spring 2026 lineup, then it'll probably mean Yu will be dominant on a lower court, and we'll still be an excellent team. 

Man, that sure was a long way of saying "too early to call."

Thanks for the analysis. I see our most likely path to wins against top teams would be to sweep the bottom courts and win the doubles point. I think that's where we separate ourselves the most though UNC is also very deep.

[Jamesy]

Sakibomb, as for Yu sitting, it's hard to say what it means, especially since it's still pretty early. It's useful to remember that Valencia Xu was a top 10 recruit (and often top 5) recruit in what was a ridiculous year for American girls, with Ma, Yepifanova, Sarah Hamner (South Carolina), Mary Stoiana (A&M), Kylie Collins (Texas, LSU), and others. It was an absurd year. And now Xu has two years of college tennis and physical development under her belt, so it's not a shock for Xu to have held onto a lineup spot. 

College tennis is certainly an adjustment, and some folks adapt to it better and more quickly than others. That Yu is currently our #7 doesn't mean that she's a bust, of course. This lineup we have is so, so strong. Ma and Yepifanova are as strong a 1-2 punch as we've had in many years, and Blake has developed into an incredibly solid 3. There's just not much of a chance to displace these folks, you know? As it is, Yu is higher than Houghton and Geller (themselves very highly touted recruits), as well as Sun and Okpara. If you think about next year's roster, it looks like this:

1. Ma (Sr.)
2. Yepifanova (Sr.)
3. Blokhina (Jr.)
4. Hui (So.)
5. Xu (Sr.)
6. Yu (So.) 

Playing on Court 6 in that lineup shouldn't mean you've disappointed. (Of course, that means incoming frosh Glozman, who is also outstanding, would be on the bench, which might not be super realistic.) What happens the following year, though, will be interesting, and I would expect to see some reshuffling and no guarantee that Blokhina stays ahead of Hui, Yu, and Glozman.  

As to whether I'm surprised? I suppose I am a bit. But it speaks well of Xu that she's responded to the challenge of potentially being the odd woman out and kept a spot. I figured it would be Hui, Yu, and Xu in some order, but it's always hard to predict how specific players do when matched up against others. Maybe Yu might be better against certain competition but she hasn't done as well against Hui and Xu internally, and that's the end of it as far as Lele's concerned. In other words, sure, I'm a little surprised, but I'm not shocked, and I have everlasting faith in Lele. 

In any event, we have really enviable depth. We have a #7 that most teams would kill to play in their top 6--and probably pretty high in their top 6. And I don't think that spells doom once our current junior class graduates, either. Melissa Lord and Caroline Lampl started out at 5 and 6, but ended up as dominant mainstays near the top of our lineup. And if, say, Glozman and someone who comes in after her both end up vaulting Yu in that Spring 2026 lineup, then it'll probably mean Yu will be dominant on a lower court, and we'll still be an excellent team. 

Man, that sure was a long way of saying "too early to call."

Thanks for the analysis. I see our most likely path to wins against top teams would be to sweep the bottom courts and win the doubles point. I think that's where we separate ourselves the most though UNC is also very deep.