02-09-2024, 12:42 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-09-2024, 12:54 PM by ColoradoTree.)
A solid doubles win, with Blake/Blokhina trailing 4-5 on Court 1 when it was clinched, but Ma/Yepifanova controlled their match, winning 6-2, and Hui/Xu took theirs 6-4.
In singles, we ran out the same lineup we've been using, and Florida used the following:
1. Blake vs. Briggs
2. Ma vs. Gailis
3. Yepifanova vs. De Oliveira
4. Blokhina vs. Dudeney
5. Hui vs. Lopez
6. Xu vs. Rowinska
We came out swinging, winning five of six first sets. And while usually it's our depth that carries us, today it was the top of the lineup imposing their will. Yepifanova was off court first with a 6-0, 6-2 win over De Oliveira, Blake was next with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Briggs, and Ma clinched it with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Gailis. Love it. No notes. If we can get play like that from our top 3, the sky is the limit. And while I expect these sorts of things from Ma and Yepifanova, we haven't seen dominance like this from Blake yet this season, so I'm particularly excited about that performance. She just wiped the floor with the preseason #34 player! Sometimes it's not just the win, but how you get there, and hopefully that dominance injects a little extra confidence.
On the back three courts, however, I do have some notes. In a battle of highly-touted freshmen on Court 5, Hui won the first set over Lopez 6-4 but dropped the second 6-2, and they hadn't yet started their third. On Court 6, Xu handled Rowinska 6-2 in the first, but was down a break in the second, with Rowinska serving for the set up 5-3. And on Court 4, Blokhina lost the first 6-4 to Dudeney but was on serve in the second, 4-4, when the match was abandoned. Entirely possible that we pull out one or more of those matches in three if we needed them. And a Xu comeback in the second set wasn't out of the question (it was 15-30 in that game, so two more points and Xu would be back on serve, down 4-5).
But that's all first world problem kinda stuff. We shut out a top 10 team. That's a great result however you slice it. Onward and upward!
As for tomorrow's opponent, we won't know until later this afternoon. Georgia and Ohio State don't play until a half hour from now, so we'll have the benefit of a few hours' extra rest over the winner.
FYI, Cal has a potential upset brewing over Michigan (which works to our benefit, since we play Cal this year and not Michigan). Cal took a very close doubles point (winning 7-6 on 2 and 7-5 on 3 with Court 1 tied 6-6), and while Michigan won quickly on Court 5 to level the match, Cal answered right back with a win on Court 3 for a 2-1 lead, and Michigan won 7-6, 6-1 on Court 1 for a 2-2 match. Cal won first sets on two other matches, so they could win a tight one if they hold onto those, but one is in a second-set tiebreaker (Court 4) and the other just went to a third set (Court 2). The final match is on Court 6, where Cal's Lan Mi dropped the first 6-1 but is tied in a second-set tiebreaker.
Wowza. Lan Mi takes the second set tiebreaker 11-9 to keep her match alive against Piper Charney, who is another top freshman (the #8 behind #2 Hui, #4 Eleana Yu, and #7 Lopez of Florida). But on the other hand, Wiersholm drops her tiebreaker and is already down a break in her third set on Court 4. And on Court 2, Alsola leads UM's Fliegner 1-0 in the third, but it's on serve.
In singles, we ran out the same lineup we've been using, and Florida used the following:
1. Blake vs. Briggs
2. Ma vs. Gailis
3. Yepifanova vs. De Oliveira
4. Blokhina vs. Dudeney
5. Hui vs. Lopez
6. Xu vs. Rowinska
We came out swinging, winning five of six first sets. And while usually it's our depth that carries us, today it was the top of the lineup imposing their will. Yepifanova was off court first with a 6-0, 6-2 win over De Oliveira, Blake was next with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Briggs, and Ma clinched it with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Gailis. Love it. No notes. If we can get play like that from our top 3, the sky is the limit. And while I expect these sorts of things from Ma and Yepifanova, we haven't seen dominance like this from Blake yet this season, so I'm particularly excited about that performance. She just wiped the floor with the preseason #34 player! Sometimes it's not just the win, but how you get there, and hopefully that dominance injects a little extra confidence.
On the back three courts, however, I do have some notes. In a battle of highly-touted freshmen on Court 5, Hui won the first set over Lopez 6-4 but dropped the second 6-2, and they hadn't yet started their third. On Court 6, Xu handled Rowinska 6-2 in the first, but was down a break in the second, with Rowinska serving for the set up 5-3. And on Court 4, Blokhina lost the first 6-4 to Dudeney but was on serve in the second, 4-4, when the match was abandoned. Entirely possible that we pull out one or more of those matches in three if we needed them. And a Xu comeback in the second set wasn't out of the question (it was 15-30 in that game, so two more points and Xu would be back on serve, down 4-5).
But that's all first world problem kinda stuff. We shut out a top 10 team. That's a great result however you slice it. Onward and upward!
As for tomorrow's opponent, we won't know until later this afternoon. Georgia and Ohio State don't play until a half hour from now, so we'll have the benefit of a few hours' extra rest over the winner.
FYI, Cal has a potential upset brewing over Michigan (which works to our benefit, since we play Cal this year and not Michigan). Cal took a very close doubles point (winning 7-6 on 2 and 7-5 on 3 with Court 1 tied 6-6), and while Michigan won quickly on Court 5 to level the match, Cal answered right back with a win on Court 3 for a 2-1 lead, and Michigan won 7-6, 6-1 on Court 1 for a 2-2 match. Cal won first sets on two other matches, so they could win a tight one if they hold onto those, but one is in a second-set tiebreaker (Court 4) and the other just went to a third set (Court 2). The final match is on Court 6, where Cal's Lan Mi dropped the first 6-1 but is tied in a second-set tiebreaker.
Wowza. Lan Mi takes the second set tiebreaker 11-9 to keep her match alive against Piper Charney, who is another top freshman (the #8 behind #2 Hui, #4 Eleana Yu, and #7 Lopez of Florida). But on the other hand, Wiersholm drops her tiebreaker and is already down a break in her third set on Court 4. And on Court 2, Alsola leads UM's Fliegner 1-0 in the third, but it's on serve.