01-29-2024, 09:58 AM
Stanford brought a better level of intensity against Maryland than against Colorado, and they won handily.
In doubles, our bottom two courts bounced back from disappointment against Colorado with dominating wins--6-0 from Ma/Yepifanova on 2 and 6-1 from Hui/Xu on 3. Blake/Blokhina led 4-3 when the doubles point was clinched.
Needing just three singles wins, Stanford got them in a hurry. Stanford won five of six first sets, the only exception being Blake at 1, whose place atop the lineup remains difficult to justify by results and form. But Yepifanova booked the first win, 6-1, 6-0, Hui was next with a 6-3, 6-2 win of her own, and Blokhina clinched with a matching 6-3, 6-2 scoreline soon after. Xu was one game away from clinching the match herself, leading 6-2, 5-2, but Blokhina won that race. Ma had won her first set 6-2 but was tied 3-3 in the second when the match was abandoned, while Blake was tied 2-2 in the second after dropping the first 7-5.
So, a great effort all around, including dominance from line 3-6 in singles, as our depth was just too much for Maryland and we book our place at ITA Indoor Nationals starting on February 9. I think Ma probably would've been fine, but who knows about Blake--she's played four dual matches now, all on Court 1, and while she won a tight one over USD's De Las Heras, she got crushed by A&M's Stoiana and she was losing to unranked players from CU and Maryland when the match got clinched.
I've got lots of confidence in this team overall, to be clear. And Blake over the past few season on Court 3 has given me every reason to believe in her. But Blake at 1? She hasn't demonstrated yet that she belongs there. It's not clear she has the extra gear that Ma and Yepifanova have shown the ability to reach when playing other elite players nationally.
It's early. We're 5-0. I should relax. And I recognize the value that sticking Blake at 1 theoretically brings in terms of making wins on 2 and 3 that much more likely. (But like I've said before, Ma/Yepifanova in some order at 1-2 and then Blake at 3 was also a pretty great combination last year, so I'm not sure that this makes us more likely to win.) But Blake can't keep putting up results like this and expect to keep that top spot.
Anyway, looking around to the rest of the results nationally, Stanford will be joined at National Indoors by #1 UNC, #3 Oklahoma State, #4 Georgia, #5 Michigan, #6 Pepperdine, #7 N.C. State, #8 Florida, #9 Texas A&M, #10 Texas, #11 UVA, #13 Ohio State, #14 Auburn, #18 USC, and #19 Cal. Lots of chalk.
But the few upsets came at the hands of the Pac-12:
* Cal took out Oklahoma 4-3 in Norman, so that's a great result for the Bears. Cal took doubles and then split four lopsided singles matches, with Viller Moeller and Ivanov getting crushed on 2 and 3 while Wiersholm and Mushika won on 4 and 5. It came down to a couple of three-setters, with Alsola losing hers on Court 1 while Lan Mi, a transfer from Cornell, clinched it for Cal on Court 6.
* USC beat #21 Miami and #17 Tennessee, and in Knoxville, no less, by matching 4-2 scorelines to advance. After dropping doubles to the Vols, Cayetano evened it up with a win on Court 4 for the only straight-sets result of the match, with all five other singles matches going the distance. International freshman Immi Haddad wpn hers for a 2-1 USC lead, Cheong lost hers to let it get back to 2-2, and Piper put USC one win away with a win on 5, and Charney clinched it with a win on Court 2. Snow Han's match on 1 was tied 5-5 in the third when the match was abandoned.
* UCLA didn't advance, but they did push #3 Oklahoma State to the limit, losing 4-3. And they certainly had their chances, as Oklahoma State needed to win 3 three-setters to pull it off, and they did so by 6-4, 6-4, and 7-6 scorelines in those final frames.
* Looking around the rest of the conference-for-now: Arizona got crushed by South Carolina but then whooped USF; Arizona State beat Kansas but got blanked by Ohio State; Utah lost to Michigan and Purdue; and Oregon lost to UNC and Charlotte.
* But the performances from USC, Cal, and UCLA suggest that we'll have a legitimate title race, which is good for Stanford's hopes for hosting a super regional and for their national title hopes--you need to be pushed in the regular season, and the Pac-12 hasn't always provided that. Sure, it makes winning the conference less likely, but that makes it more fun. FYI, we get USC and UCLA at home at the end of March, and we finish the regular season at Cal on April 19.
In doubles, our bottom two courts bounced back from disappointment against Colorado with dominating wins--6-0 from Ma/Yepifanova on 2 and 6-1 from Hui/Xu on 3. Blake/Blokhina led 4-3 when the doubles point was clinched.
Needing just three singles wins, Stanford got them in a hurry. Stanford won five of six first sets, the only exception being Blake at 1, whose place atop the lineup remains difficult to justify by results and form. But Yepifanova booked the first win, 6-1, 6-0, Hui was next with a 6-3, 6-2 win of her own, and Blokhina clinched with a matching 6-3, 6-2 scoreline soon after. Xu was one game away from clinching the match herself, leading 6-2, 5-2, but Blokhina won that race. Ma had won her first set 6-2 but was tied 3-3 in the second when the match was abandoned, while Blake was tied 2-2 in the second after dropping the first 7-5.
So, a great effort all around, including dominance from line 3-6 in singles, as our depth was just too much for Maryland and we book our place at ITA Indoor Nationals starting on February 9. I think Ma probably would've been fine, but who knows about Blake--she's played four dual matches now, all on Court 1, and while she won a tight one over USD's De Las Heras, she got crushed by A&M's Stoiana and she was losing to unranked players from CU and Maryland when the match got clinched.
I've got lots of confidence in this team overall, to be clear. And Blake over the past few season on Court 3 has given me every reason to believe in her. But Blake at 1? She hasn't demonstrated yet that she belongs there. It's not clear she has the extra gear that Ma and Yepifanova have shown the ability to reach when playing other elite players nationally.
It's early. We're 5-0. I should relax. And I recognize the value that sticking Blake at 1 theoretically brings in terms of making wins on 2 and 3 that much more likely. (But like I've said before, Ma/Yepifanova in some order at 1-2 and then Blake at 3 was also a pretty great combination last year, so I'm not sure that this makes us more likely to win.) But Blake can't keep putting up results like this and expect to keep that top spot.
Anyway, looking around to the rest of the results nationally, Stanford will be joined at National Indoors by #1 UNC, #3 Oklahoma State, #4 Georgia, #5 Michigan, #6 Pepperdine, #7 N.C. State, #8 Florida, #9 Texas A&M, #10 Texas, #11 UVA, #13 Ohio State, #14 Auburn, #18 USC, and #19 Cal. Lots of chalk.
But the few upsets came at the hands of the Pac-12:
* Cal took out Oklahoma 4-3 in Norman, so that's a great result for the Bears. Cal took doubles and then split four lopsided singles matches, with Viller Moeller and Ivanov getting crushed on 2 and 3 while Wiersholm and Mushika won on 4 and 5. It came down to a couple of three-setters, with Alsola losing hers on Court 1 while Lan Mi, a transfer from Cornell, clinched it for Cal on Court 6.
* USC beat #21 Miami and #17 Tennessee, and in Knoxville, no less, by matching 4-2 scorelines to advance. After dropping doubles to the Vols, Cayetano evened it up with a win on Court 4 for the only straight-sets result of the match, with all five other singles matches going the distance. International freshman Immi Haddad wpn hers for a 2-1 USC lead, Cheong lost hers to let it get back to 2-2, and Piper put USC one win away with a win on 5, and Charney clinched it with a win on Court 2. Snow Han's match on 1 was tied 5-5 in the third when the match was abandoned.
* UCLA didn't advance, but they did push #3 Oklahoma State to the limit, losing 4-3. And they certainly had their chances, as Oklahoma State needed to win 3 three-setters to pull it off, and they did so by 6-4, 6-4, and 7-6 scorelines in those final frames.
* Looking around the rest of the conference-for-now: Arizona got crushed by South Carolina but then whooped USF; Arizona State beat Kansas but got blanked by Ohio State; Utah lost to Michigan and Purdue; and Oregon lost to UNC and Charlotte.
* But the performances from USC, Cal, and UCLA suggest that we'll have a legitimate title race, which is good for Stanford's hopes for hosting a super regional and for their national title hopes--you need to be pushed in the regular season, and the Pac-12 hasn't always provided that. Sure, it makes winning the conference less likely, but that makes it more fun. FYI, we get USC and UCLA at home at the end of March, and we finish the regular season at Cal on April 19.