02-02-2023, 09:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-02-2023, 09:11 AM by ColoradoTree.)
All, the new rankings dropped yesterday, so this Saturday, it'll be the #6 Stanford Cardinal hosting the #8 Pepperdine Waves in what should be the best dual match in all of women's college tennis so far.
Pepperdine in a nutshell:
#8 Pepperdine is 2-0, with their only matches so far coming on their home courts at ITA Kick-Off Weekend against Clemson and Memphis, two teams that finished outside the top 50 last year. But while we don't know that much about how they're playing as a team yet, we know they have a ton of individual talent: #12 Janice Tjen and #21 Savannah Broadus are ranked now in singles, and together they make up the 4th-ranked doubles pair. But look to the preseason rankings to get a better sense of the tennis world's view of their talent, as some players miss aspects of the fall season to play pro events or are ensuring they're healthy for spring, and you'll see six Waves: #11 Lisa Zaar, #32 Carolyn Campana, #36 Bunyami Thamchaiwat, #44 Tjen, #49 Broadus, and #84 Nikki Redelijk.
Expected Lineups:
Assuming that our lineup looks like it did against Kansas State, because that's what confirms my priors, and Pepperdine goes with the same lineup as the last two matchups, here's how they'll likely match up:
Doubles:
1. Blake/Blokhina vs. Broadus/Tjen
2. Yepifanova/Xu vs. C. Campana/A. Campana
3. Choy/Ma vs. Redelijk/Zaar
Singles:
1. #11 Ma vs. #12 Tjen
2. #38 Yepifanova vs. Zaar (preseason #11)
3. #44 Blokhina vs. #21 Broadus
4. #45 Blake vs. Redelijk (preseason #84, so about 20 spots ahead of Blake's preseason ranking)
5. Xu vs. Carolyn Campana (preseason #32, a grad transfer from Wake Forest (playing #1 there) who previously played at Vanderbilt)
6. Choy vs. Anna Campana (a grad transfer from Wake like her sister; she mostly played #2 singles there)
Analysis
It'll be an absolute heavyweight bout. Sure, we're ranked a couple of spots higher, but that's not super meaningful, and in the individual matchups you might actually prefer Pepperdine on paper. But the match is at our place. This year, both Blokhina and Yepifanova played Zaar at the Freeman Memorial, with Blokhina losing in three competitive sets and Yepifanova losing more handily. At the same tournament, Xu beat Thamchaiwat in a third set tiebreaker, but it's unclear if Thamchaiwat is good to go. Last year in Malibu, Pepperdine rolled 4-1, with Zaar beating Yepifanova in straight sets, Tjen beating Blake at 3, and Iamachkine easily beating Choy at 6--Ma's 6-2, 6-2 win over the since-graduated Pachkaleva on Court 1 was the lone bright spot. A couple of years ago, though, Choy and Zaar had some absolute battles on Court 5, with both matches they played going to third sets, and FWIW, Higuchi beat Redelijk 6-2, 6-2.
If this match were in Malibu, I'd pick Pepperdine. But it's here, so I won't. 4-3 Stanford, behind singles wins from Ma, Blake, and Choy, with the fourth point either coming from Blokhina or Xu.
How to watch: https://gostanford.com/sports/2022/3/17/...ideo-stats
Pepperdine in a nutshell:
#8 Pepperdine is 2-0, with their only matches so far coming on their home courts at ITA Kick-Off Weekend against Clemson and Memphis, two teams that finished outside the top 50 last year. But while we don't know that much about how they're playing as a team yet, we know they have a ton of individual talent: #12 Janice Tjen and #21 Savannah Broadus are ranked now in singles, and together they make up the 4th-ranked doubles pair. But look to the preseason rankings to get a better sense of the tennis world's view of their talent, as some players miss aspects of the fall season to play pro events or are ensuring they're healthy for spring, and you'll see six Waves: #11 Lisa Zaar, #32 Carolyn Campana, #36 Bunyami Thamchaiwat, #44 Tjen, #49 Broadus, and #84 Nikki Redelijk.
Expected Lineups:
Assuming that our lineup looks like it did against Kansas State, because that's what confirms my priors, and Pepperdine goes with the same lineup as the last two matchups, here's how they'll likely match up:
Doubles:
1. Blake/Blokhina vs. Broadus/Tjen
2. Yepifanova/Xu vs. C. Campana/A. Campana
3. Choy/Ma vs. Redelijk/Zaar
Singles:
1. #11 Ma vs. #12 Tjen
2. #38 Yepifanova vs. Zaar (preseason #11)
3. #44 Blokhina vs. #21 Broadus
4. #45 Blake vs. Redelijk (preseason #84, so about 20 spots ahead of Blake's preseason ranking)
5. Xu vs. Carolyn Campana (preseason #32, a grad transfer from Wake Forest (playing #1 there) who previously played at Vanderbilt)
6. Choy vs. Anna Campana (a grad transfer from Wake like her sister; she mostly played #2 singles there)
Analysis
It'll be an absolute heavyweight bout. Sure, we're ranked a couple of spots higher, but that's not super meaningful, and in the individual matchups you might actually prefer Pepperdine on paper. But the match is at our place. This year, both Blokhina and Yepifanova played Zaar at the Freeman Memorial, with Blokhina losing in three competitive sets and Yepifanova losing more handily. At the same tournament, Xu beat Thamchaiwat in a third set tiebreaker, but it's unclear if Thamchaiwat is good to go. Last year in Malibu, Pepperdine rolled 4-1, with Zaar beating Yepifanova in straight sets, Tjen beating Blake at 3, and Iamachkine easily beating Choy at 6--Ma's 6-2, 6-2 win over the since-graduated Pachkaleva on Court 1 was the lone bright spot. A couple of years ago, though, Choy and Zaar had some absolute battles on Court 5, with both matches they played going to third sets, and FWIW, Higuchi beat Redelijk 6-2, 6-2.
If this match were in Malibu, I'd pick Pepperdine. But it's here, so I won't. 4-3 Stanford, behind singles wins from Ma, Blake, and Choy, with the fourth point either coming from Blokhina or Xu.
How to watch: https://gostanford.com/sports/2022/3/17/...ideo-stats
