04-05-2024, 10:44 AM
OK folks, there's a big one at the Farm today--#5 Stanford (14-2, 4-1 Pac-12) hosts #3 Pepperdine (11-3, 2-0 WCC) at 1:30pm. So, if you can get there, get there. If you can't, try to follow along!
But first, here's how the last couple of weeks went:
* Our match against CU was rained out;
* With Yepifanova and Blokhina taking the day off, we still beat Utah 4-0, though Hui/Xu lost 6-1 at #3 doubles. The singles wins came from Hui at 3, Ma at 2, and Houghton at 5, though Blake was two games away from a win on 1, Xu was one game away on 4, and Yu was two games away on 6.
* Our first attempt to play UCLA on Friday, March 29 was rained out, but we got that match in on Sunday. But first, #9 USC last Saturday.
* We won a close doubles point and then Ma rolled over #28 Charney, 6-0, 6-1 at #2, and Hui put us a point away with a 6-3, 6-1 win on Court 5. Blokhina lost to Cayetano 6-3, 6-3 at 4, but then Yepifanova clinched the 4-1 win with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Grace Piper at 3. At the time the match was abandoned, Blake led Snow Han and Xu led Koenig, both by 7-6, 3-1 scores. Solid, solid result.
* It fell apart the next day against #17 UCLA, though. Blake/Blokhina dropped a tiebreaker at Court 2 that gave the doubles point to UCLA, and then Blokhina got blown off the court at 4 by Lutkemeyer, who I don't put close to Blokhina's level. And then Tian Fangran crushed Blake 6-0, 6-4 to make it 3-0 Bruins. We started to fight back, getting it to 3-1 behind Xu's 6-3, 6-1 win on Court 6, Yepifanova shook off a first set loss by winning the second and third sets 6-1 and 6-0, and Hui knotted things up with a 7-5, 6-4 win on Court 5. It was all down to Connie Ma, playing Kimmi Hance--who, while good, is not in Ma's league. Ma forced a third sit by winning a tiebreaker, and despite having match points in the third set, she ultimately lost her match in a third-set tiebreaker. A great comeback fell short because Ma--who has been one of our most consistent performers--couldn't close the deal at home against a lesser player. Frustrating.
* Of course, we wouldn't have been in that position had Blokhina not laid an egg, or had Blake not failed to show up for her match. But Ma can't be losing to Hance, she just can't. Ultimately, however, it's not crushing to our hopes, and UCLA has been playing very well. We should expect to see them climb the rankings a bit. But it's still a match we should've won. And that's what rankles.
Moving onto today, we get a Pepperdine team that is ranked third with an 11-3 record, with those two losses coming at now-#1 Oklahoma State, vs. now-#4 UVA, and at now-#2 Michigan. That's a pretty good trio of losses if you have to take them. They have one of the most aggressive non-conference schedules in the country (a necessity given their weak conference schedule), and that has resulted in two wins over #9 USC, two wins over #10 Cal, and wins over #16 Auburn, #13 Florida, and #12 Ohio State (with that last one coming on the road).
In singles, they boast #8 Savannah Broadus, #10 Lisa Zaar, #52 Janice Tjen, #90 Anna Campana, and #95 Nikki Redelijk. So here are the expected matchups:
1. Blake vs. #10 Zaar
2. #9 Ma vs. #8 Broadus
3. Yepifanova vs. #52 Tjen
4. Blokhina vs. #90 Campana
5. Hui vs. #95 Redelijk
6. Xu vs. Jasmine Conway
In doubles, Broadus/Tjen are Pepperdine's only ranked pair, but they're dominant--#2 in the country and undefeated in dual play on Court 1. Zaar/Conway have been excellent on Court 3, but the Waves have struggled on Court 2. So we'll see whether we can pull off the doubles point with wins on the lower two courts, because if we play in singles like we did against UCLA, we'll darn well need it.
Here's how to watch: https://gostanford.com/sports/2022/3/17/...ideo-stats
But first, here's how the last couple of weeks went:
* Our match against CU was rained out;
* With Yepifanova and Blokhina taking the day off, we still beat Utah 4-0, though Hui/Xu lost 6-1 at #3 doubles. The singles wins came from Hui at 3, Ma at 2, and Houghton at 5, though Blake was two games away from a win on 1, Xu was one game away on 4, and Yu was two games away on 6.
* Our first attempt to play UCLA on Friday, March 29 was rained out, but we got that match in on Sunday. But first, #9 USC last Saturday.
* We won a close doubles point and then Ma rolled over #28 Charney, 6-0, 6-1 at #2, and Hui put us a point away with a 6-3, 6-1 win on Court 5. Blokhina lost to Cayetano 6-3, 6-3 at 4, but then Yepifanova clinched the 4-1 win with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Grace Piper at 3. At the time the match was abandoned, Blake led Snow Han and Xu led Koenig, both by 7-6, 3-1 scores. Solid, solid result.
* It fell apart the next day against #17 UCLA, though. Blake/Blokhina dropped a tiebreaker at Court 2 that gave the doubles point to UCLA, and then Blokhina got blown off the court at 4 by Lutkemeyer, who I don't put close to Blokhina's level. And then Tian Fangran crushed Blake 6-0, 6-4 to make it 3-0 Bruins. We started to fight back, getting it to 3-1 behind Xu's 6-3, 6-1 win on Court 6, Yepifanova shook off a first set loss by winning the second and third sets 6-1 and 6-0, and Hui knotted things up with a 7-5, 6-4 win on Court 5. It was all down to Connie Ma, playing Kimmi Hance--who, while good, is not in Ma's league. Ma forced a third sit by winning a tiebreaker, and despite having match points in the third set, she ultimately lost her match in a third-set tiebreaker. A great comeback fell short because Ma--who has been one of our most consistent performers--couldn't close the deal at home against a lesser player. Frustrating.
* Of course, we wouldn't have been in that position had Blokhina not laid an egg, or had Blake not failed to show up for her match. But Ma can't be losing to Hance, she just can't. Ultimately, however, it's not crushing to our hopes, and UCLA has been playing very well. We should expect to see them climb the rankings a bit. But it's still a match we should've won. And that's what rankles.
Moving onto today, we get a Pepperdine team that is ranked third with an 11-3 record, with those two losses coming at now-#1 Oklahoma State, vs. now-#4 UVA, and at now-#2 Michigan. That's a pretty good trio of losses if you have to take them. They have one of the most aggressive non-conference schedules in the country (a necessity given their weak conference schedule), and that has resulted in two wins over #9 USC, two wins over #10 Cal, and wins over #16 Auburn, #13 Florida, and #12 Ohio State (with that last one coming on the road).
In singles, they boast #8 Savannah Broadus, #10 Lisa Zaar, #52 Janice Tjen, #90 Anna Campana, and #95 Nikki Redelijk. So here are the expected matchups:
1. Blake vs. #10 Zaar
2. #9 Ma vs. #8 Broadus
3. Yepifanova vs. #52 Tjen
4. Blokhina vs. #90 Campana
5. Hui vs. #95 Redelijk
6. Xu vs. Jasmine Conway
In doubles, Broadus/Tjen are Pepperdine's only ranked pair, but they're dominant--#2 in the country and undefeated in dual play on Court 1. Zaar/Conway have been excellent on Court 3, but the Waves have struggled on Court 2. So we'll see whether we can pull off the doubles point with wins on the lower two courts, because if we play in singles like we did against UCLA, we'll darn well need it.
Here's how to watch: https://gostanford.com/sports/2022/3/17/...ideo-stats