02-09-2026, 07:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-09-2026, 07:52 PM by Spiny_Norman.)
Not specifically women's tennis related, but I just wanted to observe that Stanford sports has been hit by a deluge of injuries that has really affected teams and their season results.
men's basketball - Chisom Okpara
women's basketball - Nunu Agara, Talana Lepolo plus Kennedy Umeh
women's tennis - Valerie Glozman, Alexis Blokhina
men's tennis - Samir Banerjee (playing but injured), Kyle Kang, Nico Godsick (playing doubles but not singles yet) - all returning from last year's national semifinalist team
wrestling - Hunter Garvin (returning All American), Lorenzo Norman (ranked as high as #4) - both out for the year
That's 5 sports losing their best player/leader. Each team has talented freshmen who have been asked to step up which they have done with varying success.
The top 6 for this team should be:
Valerie Glozman (sophomore)
Alexis Blokhina (senior)
Katherine Hui (junior)
Eleana Yu (junior)
plus 2 of the frosh (probably Ekstrand and Ahn)
This was the formula during the Forood years. Experienced players at the top. Talented frosh play at 5 and 6 then work their way up the lineup as their college careers advance.
But Glozman is injured. Blokhina left Stanford then returned but is injured. Hui was injured last year then turned pro. Yu transferred.
Stanford has replaced these players with freshmen (who are doing just fine, but cannot carry the team) and transfers from Denver U and Cal State Fullerton.
I would say that the decline has been a combination of bad luck and failure to fill the pipeline with equivalent veteran talent. Coaching? I don't know enough about college tennis to say how good Frankie Brennan is. But there certainly is a parallel to women's basketball. He was a long time assistant promoted to replace a legendary coach, probably without much of a search outside of the Stanford campus.
men's basketball - Chisom Okpara
women's basketball - Nunu Agara, Talana Lepolo plus Kennedy Umeh
women's tennis - Valerie Glozman, Alexis Blokhina
men's tennis - Samir Banerjee (playing but injured), Kyle Kang, Nico Godsick (playing doubles but not singles yet) - all returning from last year's national semifinalist team
wrestling - Hunter Garvin (returning All American), Lorenzo Norman (ranked as high as #4) - both out for the year
That's 5 sports losing their best player/leader. Each team has talented freshmen who have been asked to step up which they have done with varying success.
(02-09-2026, 07:09 PM)2006alum Wrote: Apart from Lele retiring, to what would we attribute this slide? Recruiting? Move to the ACC? NIL? There haven't been many transfers out and I had thought we were continuing to recruit "blue chip" recruits, so I'd be curious to hear whether there are parallels to WBB's decline or if it's due to something unique?
The top 6 for this team should be:
Valerie Glozman (sophomore)
Alexis Blokhina (senior)
Katherine Hui (junior)
Eleana Yu (junior)
plus 2 of the frosh (probably Ekstrand and Ahn)
This was the formula during the Forood years. Experienced players at the top. Talented frosh play at 5 and 6 then work their way up the lineup as their college careers advance.
But Glozman is injured. Blokhina left Stanford then returned but is injured. Hui was injured last year then turned pro. Yu transferred.
Stanford has replaced these players with freshmen (who are doing just fine, but cannot carry the team) and transfers from Denver U and Cal State Fullerton.
I would say that the decline has been a combination of bad luck and failure to fill the pipeline with equivalent veteran talent. Coaching? I don't know enough about college tennis to say how good Frankie Brennan is. But there certainly is a parallel to women's basketball. He was a long time assistant promoted to replace a legendary coach, probably without much of a search outside of the Stanford campus.
"We have an unwritten rule around here not to do anything stupid."
-Casey Jacobsen, Feb 3, 2000