[Ratmandoo]

This is great to see from the women's tennis team but it isn't the craziest run in the world. The real surprise was how poorly they did in the regular season. I haven't followed them too closely this year but it looks like they are finally healthy at the end of the year. This is the reverse of the last two years when Stanford was the favorite or co-favorite late in the season but got hit with a number of key injuries which cost them in the finals against Florida in 2011 and in the quarters against USC last year.

I watched a number of the women's matches last year when I was working at Stanford and it looks like 4 of the 6 starters from last year are healthy and playing in the NCAAs this year - Nicole Gibbs (who also happens to be the defending NCAA singles champion), Kristie Ahn, Stacey Tan and Ellen Tsay. From what I saw last year, these four were all really good players. The biggest player missing from last year is Mallory Burdette, who was the runner up to Gibbs last year in the singles tournament. But it looks like freshman Krista Hardebeck is making up for any lost production from Burdette's spot.

My only guess for the low seeding for the 2013 tournament is that the team dealt with a lot of injuries early and are just rounding into form. It's nice to see a Cardinal team get healthy at the right time of year... and let's stomp those Aggies!!

[Ratmandoo]

This is great to see from the women's tennis team but it isn't the craziest run in the world. The real surprise was how poorly they did in the regular season. I haven't followed them too closely this year but it looks like they are finally healthy at the end of the year. This is the reverse of the last two years when Stanford was the favorite or co-favorite late in the season but got hit with a number of key injuries which cost them in the finals against Florida in 2011 and in the quarters against USC last year.

I watched a number of the women's matches last year when I was working at Stanford and it looks like 4 of the 6 starters from last year are healthy and playing in the NCAAs this year - Nicole Gibbs (who also happens to be the defending NCAA singles champion), Kristie Ahn, Stacey Tan and Ellen Tsay. From what I saw last year, these four were all really good players. The biggest player missing from last year is Mallory Burdette, who was the runner up to Gibbs last year in the singles tournament. But it looks like freshman Krista Hardebeck is making up for any lost production from Burdette's spot.

My only guess for the low seeding for the 2013 tournament is that the team dealt with a lot of injuries early and are just rounding into form. It's nice to see a Cardinal team get healthy at the right time of year... and let's stomp those Aggies!!