[ColoradoTree]

Looking ahead to the Stanford-NC State, here are some thoughts and how the lineups project:

* This is a rematch of last year's NCAA semifinal, where NC State beat us 4-0. But that team had Diana Shnaider (now in the pros) and Alana Smith, both of whom were top 15 players when we played them last year. In that match, Shnaider crushed Yepifanova (6-1, 6-0), and Smith won a tight won over Ma (7-5, 7-5). Blokhina was a game away from beating then-#87 Abigail Rencheli in straight sets, Blake had split sets with then-#26 Amelia Rajecki at 3, and Xu had done the same with Sophie Abrams at 5. Choy lost surprisingly on Court 6, 6-3, 7-6 to Gina Dittmann.
* This year, Rajecki has held down the #1 spot, Rencheli has mostly played #2, Anna Zyryanova has mostly played #3 (she was their #7 last year), and the 4-5-6 courts have been shared between a rotation of Abrams, Dittmann, and freshman Maddy Zampardo
* But this is still a team that has beaten preseason #1 UNC twice this year, once at National Indoors and once in the regular season, though they lost 4-0 to UNC in the ACC tournament. Here's how those three matches played out:
* In the first match, UNC took the doubles point behind wins on 2 and 3, and they got straight-set wins from Rajecki over Crawley at 1, Abrams over Forbes at 4, and Rencheli over Tanguilig on 2 before they took three-set losses by Zambardo to Tran at 6 and Dittmann to Rabman at 5 before they got the winner on Court 3, with Zyryanova beating Yarlagadda in a third-set tiebreaker. (Looks like Scotty didn't play.)
* In the second match, UNC again took the doubles point, this time with wins on 1 and 3, and then went up 2-0 with Scotty crushing Rencheli on Court 2. Rajecki beat Crawley again on 1 and Dittmann beat Tanguilig on 4 in three sets to make it 2-2. Yarlagadda crushed Abrams at 5 to make it 3-2 UNC with both remaining matches in third sets. Zambardo beat Tatum Evans on 6 and Zyryanova beat Tran on 3 for another 4-3 win.
* In the third match, UNC again won doubles, getting wins on all three courts. This time, Tanguilig crushed Zyryanova on Court 3 for 2-0, Yarlagadda did the same to Zampardo on 5, and Scotty handled Rencheli on 2 for the 4-0 win. When it was clinched, Crawley was about to send it to a third set on Court 1, Dittmann had won the first set over Tran on 4 but was down a break in the second, and Abrams had won the first set over Evans in a tiebreaker but was trailing in the second. 

Based on the most recent lineups, these are the matchups I expect:

Doubles:

1. #10 Ma/Yepifanova vs. #12 Rajecki/Zampardo
2. Blake/Blokhina vs. #29 Abrams/Zyryanova
3. Hui/Xu vs. Dittmann/Rencheli

Singles:

1. #25 Blake vs. #2 Amelia Rajecki
2. #7 Ma vs. #71 Abigail Rencheli
3. #29 Yepifanova vs. #62 Anna Zyryanova
4. Blokhina vs. Dittmann
5. Hui vs. Zampardo
6. Xu vs. Abrams

That's two rematches from last year--Blake-Rajecki and Xu-Abrams. I'd favor us on courts 2-5, and NC State on Court 1. 

As for doubles, I'll go out on a limb and say that we take the doubles point behind wins on 1 and 3. Ma/Yepifanova have gone 10-4 on Court 1, the same as Rajecki/Zampardo, Blake/Blokhina have gone 4-4 on 2 while Abrams/Zyryanova have gone 12-4, and Hui/Xu have gone 17-5 on 3. A lot of transition on Court 3 for NC State this year, but Dittmann/Rencheli are 0-2 there and Broadfoot/Rencheli were just 9-7. So it'll be a tough doubles point, but if we get it, I think it's highly unlikely that NC State gets four singles wins against us.

It's matchday! Just re-upping this preview so it's in front of you fine folks on this fine day. 

As always, here's how to watch: https://gostanford.com/sports/2022/3/17/...ideo-stats

This will be a very competitive match, it'll be the last match at Taube (in its current form, at least, though I don't know exactly how differently it'll feel when it's the revamped Arrillaga Tennis Center), and if we don't play well, we can absolutely lose. Now, all things being equal, we're the better team and we should handle this match. But it's not like the last couple of rounds--we can't just drop a couple players and still expect to coast. We have to play well. 

Doubles, as usual, will tell us just how close the scoreline might end up being. If we win doubles, my confidence level shoots through the roof, and anything from 4-0 to 4-2 Stanford feels about right. If we lose doubles, I get antsy, and that's when the prospect of NC State pulling the upset starts to become more real. So, let's all hope for a strong showing in doubles that keeps us on the front foot. 

Who do you all think will be the first Stanford singles player to book a win? I was going to say Ma, but I kind of think today is when Hui ups her game and we see a little postseason beast mode against a fellow freshman in Zampardo. (On paper, I'd want to pick Blokhina, but she tends to play slower matches. She hasn't been our first singles win in a competitive match since Texas A&M early in the season, unless you count our 4-1 win over ASU.)

Of course, now that I say all that, it'll probably be Xu coming out and double-bageling her opponent just to spite me. Which--if you're reading this, Valencia--is totally what you should do. I am an awful person who deserves to be spited in precisely that manner.

[ColoradoTree]

Looking ahead to the Stanford-NC State, here are some thoughts and how the lineups project:

* This is a rematch of last year's NCAA semifinal, where NC State beat us 4-0. But that team had Diana Shnaider (now in the pros) and Alana Smith, both of whom were top 15 players when we played them last year. In that match, Shnaider crushed Yepifanova (6-1, 6-0), and Smith won a tight won over Ma (7-5, 7-5). Blokhina was a game away from beating then-#87 Abigail Rencheli in straight sets, Blake had split sets with then-#26 Amelia Rajecki at 3, and Xu had done the same with Sophie Abrams at 5. Choy lost surprisingly on Court 6, 6-3, 7-6 to Gina Dittmann.
* This year, Rajecki has held down the #1 spot, Rencheli has mostly played #2, Anna Zyryanova has mostly played #3 (she was their #7 last year), and the 4-5-6 courts have been shared between a rotation of Abrams, Dittmann, and freshman Maddy Zampardo
* But this is still a team that has beaten preseason #1 UNC twice this year, once at National Indoors and once in the regular season, though they lost 4-0 to UNC in the ACC tournament. Here's how those three matches played out:
* In the first match, UNC took the doubles point behind wins on 2 and 3, and they got straight-set wins from Rajecki over Crawley at 1, Abrams over Forbes at 4, and Rencheli over Tanguilig on 2 before they took three-set losses by Zambardo to Tran at 6 and Dittmann to Rabman at 5 before they got the winner on Court 3, with Zyryanova beating Yarlagadda in a third-set tiebreaker. (Looks like Scotty didn't play.)
* In the second match, UNC again took the doubles point, this time with wins on 1 and 3, and then went up 2-0 with Scotty crushing Rencheli on Court 2. Rajecki beat Crawley again on 1 and Dittmann beat Tanguilig on 4 in three sets to make it 2-2. Yarlagadda crushed Abrams at 5 to make it 3-2 UNC with both remaining matches in third sets. Zambardo beat Tatum Evans on 6 and Zyryanova beat Tran on 3 for another 4-3 win.
* In the third match, UNC again won doubles, getting wins on all three courts. This time, Tanguilig crushed Zyryanova on Court 3 for 2-0, Yarlagadda did the same to Zampardo on 5, and Scotty handled Rencheli on 2 for the 4-0 win. When it was clinched, Crawley was about to send it to a third set on Court 1, Dittmann had won the first set over Tran on 4 but was down a break in the second, and Abrams had won the first set over Evans in a tiebreaker but was trailing in the second. 

Based on the most recent lineups, these are the matchups I expect:

Doubles:

1. #10 Ma/Yepifanova vs. #12 Rajecki/Zampardo
2. Blake/Blokhina vs. #29 Abrams/Zyryanova
3. Hui/Xu vs. Dittmann/Rencheli

Singles:

1. #25 Blake vs. #2 Amelia Rajecki
2. #7 Ma vs. #71 Abigail Rencheli
3. #29 Yepifanova vs. #62 Anna Zyryanova
4. Blokhina vs. Dittmann
5. Hui vs. Zampardo
6. Xu vs. Abrams

That's two rematches from last year--Blake-Rajecki and Xu-Abrams. I'd favor us on courts 2-5, and NC State on Court 1. 

As for doubles, I'll go out on a limb and say that we take the doubles point behind wins on 1 and 3. Ma/Yepifanova have gone 10-4 on Court 1, the same as Rajecki/Zampardo, Blake/Blokhina have gone 4-4 on 2 while Abrams/Zyryanova have gone 12-4, and Hui/Xu have gone 17-5 on 3. A lot of transition on Court 3 for NC State this year, but Dittmann/Rencheli are 0-2 there and Broadfoot/Rencheli were just 9-7. So it'll be a tough doubles point, but if we get it, I think it's highly unlikely that NC State gets four singles wins against us.

It's matchday! Just re-upping this preview so it's in front of you fine folks on this fine day. 

As always, here's how to watch: https://gostanford.com/sports/2022/3/17/...ideo-stats

This will be a very competitive match, it'll be the last match at Taube (in its current form, at least, though I don't know exactly how differently it'll feel when it's the revamped Arrillaga Tennis Center), and if we don't play well, we can absolutely lose. Now, all things being equal, we're the better team and we should handle this match. But it's not like the last couple of rounds--we can't just drop a couple players and still expect to coast. We have to play well. 

Doubles, as usual, will tell us just how close the scoreline might end up being. If we win doubles, my confidence level shoots through the roof, and anything from 4-0 to 4-2 Stanford feels about right. If we lose doubles, I get antsy, and that's when the prospect of NC State pulling the upset starts to become more real. So, let's all hope for a strong showing in doubles that keeps us on the front foot. 

Who do you all think will be the first Stanford singles player to book a win? I was going to say Ma, but I kind of think today is when Hui ups her game and we see a little postseason beast mode against a fellow freshman in Zampardo. (On paper, I'd want to pick Blokhina, but she tends to play slower matches. She hasn't been our first singles win in a competitive match since Texas A&M early in the season, unless you count our 4-1 win over ASU.)

Of course, now that I say all that, it'll probably be Xu coming out and double-bageling her opponent just to spite me. Which--if you're reading this, Valencia--is totally what you should do. I am an awful person who deserves to be spited in precisely that manner.