[oldalum]

 last year, we lost three matches before February was out, including getting *blanked* by Vanderbilt, and we came back to beat them in the NCAA final.  Three years ago, we lost to Ole Miss, Vandy, Arizona State, Pepperdine, and Cal, and we won the whole darn thing, avenging a loss to Vandy in the tournament, too. 

true, BUT, we were missing our #1 or #2 player for all of the above losses, which has a brobdingnagian effect, while we are at full strength now. However, I agree with your conclusion that we'll be OK; we will improve a lot and everyone's losses will help motivate them. In particular, I'm very encouraged by our doubles wins against good teams. They've been rare in the past few years, but not now. Gordon/Arbuthnott played #1 doubles last year and this year are #2 to Lampl/Yee, and Lampl/Yee have been delivering the wins. And even when they lose, I would expect our #2 and #3 teams will often pull out the doubles point for us.

After Higuchi's two surprise blow-out losses, I wonder if Madurawe will get a shot at replacing her.

We will clearly have some tough competition in the NCAA tourney. The championship match (tomorrow?) will be interesting.

[oldalum]

 last year, we lost three matches before February was out, including getting *blanked* by Vanderbilt, and we came back to beat them in the NCAA final.  Three years ago, we lost to Ole Miss, Vandy, Arizona State, Pepperdine, and Cal, and we won the whole darn thing, avenging a loss to Vandy in the tournament, too. 

true, BUT, we were missing our #1 or #2 player for all of the above losses, which has a brobdingnagian effect, while we are at full strength now. However, I agree with your conclusion that we'll be OK; we will improve a lot and everyone's losses will help motivate them. In particular, I'm very encouraged by our doubles wins against good teams. They've been rare in the past few years, but not now. Gordon/Arbuthnott played #1 doubles last year and this year are #2 to Lampl/Yee, and Lampl/Yee have been delivering the wins. And even when they lose, I would expect our #2 and #3 teams will often pull out the doubles point for us.

After Higuchi's two surprise blow-out losses, I wonder if Madurawe will get a shot at replacing her.

We will clearly have some tough competition in the NCAA tourney. The championship match (tomorrow?) will be interesting.