04-25-2022, 12:41 PM
TheFarm07, great questions.
As for whether Lele would swap Ma and Yepifanova in the lineup, it's something we see more often from other teams than from Stanford. While you're allowed to shift a player by one line per match, you are also obligated to put your players out there from best to worst, and I don't think Ma's dip in form changes Lele's mind that Yepifanova is now a better player than Ma.
Sometimes players really are a coin flip as to who's better, but I don't think that's the case here. Lele would be justified in switching if she wanted to, and if she thought that would light a fire under Ma, she might do it. But she tweaks less than most coaches I've seen.
And as far as keys for a deep run, I'll throw these out there:
1. Doubles. As our depth isn't as solid as it often is in singles, needing to go out there and take four out of six singles matches against top teams is such a tall order.
2. We need Yepifanova to be a force at 2 and Choy to be the same at 6. Any NCAA wins out of the #4 line are gravy, and given that Ma will be in battles with elite players most matches, we're in very dangerous territory if we're counting on her to win. But
3. Blake and Xu have been good, but those are our next most likely wins, and to have a shot, we need them in top form. Blake seems like she's been on a good run of form lately, and for her to double bagel Gallagher to get revenge for a loss last time around is just great to see. Xu's 16-2 dual record is great, but she also has a handful of concerningly close matches in those 16 wins, so we need her to step up and be the sort of NCAA freshman we've had in years past, like Lampl and Lord at 5 and 6 their freshman year.
4. We need to finish matches. Momentum is absolutely a real thing in college tennis, and when you have a team on the ropes, you simply cannot let them get their breath back. There are no safe leads against top teams. There are only wins and losses, and you need to take maximum advantage of a team while they're reeling.
We'll see soon enough! The NCAA tries to avoid regular-season rematches in the first couple of rounds, so usually that means regional pods don't have intra-conference battles. If that holds true this year, expect a team like Michigan, Tennessee, UCF, or Baylor to be the #2 seed in our regional, as we'll be in line for one of the teams that just misses out on hosting themselves.
As for whether Lele would swap Ma and Yepifanova in the lineup, it's something we see more often from other teams than from Stanford. While you're allowed to shift a player by one line per match, you are also obligated to put your players out there from best to worst, and I don't think Ma's dip in form changes Lele's mind that Yepifanova is now a better player than Ma.
Sometimes players really are a coin flip as to who's better, but I don't think that's the case here. Lele would be justified in switching if she wanted to, and if she thought that would light a fire under Ma, she might do it. But she tweaks less than most coaches I've seen.
And as far as keys for a deep run, I'll throw these out there:
1. Doubles. As our depth isn't as solid as it often is in singles, needing to go out there and take four out of six singles matches against top teams is such a tall order.
2. We need Yepifanova to be a force at 2 and Choy to be the same at 6. Any NCAA wins out of the #4 line are gravy, and given that Ma will be in battles with elite players most matches, we're in very dangerous territory if we're counting on her to win. But
3. Blake and Xu have been good, but those are our next most likely wins, and to have a shot, we need them in top form. Blake seems like she's been on a good run of form lately, and for her to double bagel Gallagher to get revenge for a loss last time around is just great to see. Xu's 16-2 dual record is great, but she also has a handful of concerningly close matches in those 16 wins, so we need her to step up and be the sort of NCAA freshman we've had in years past, like Lampl and Lord at 5 and 6 their freshman year.
4. We need to finish matches. Momentum is absolutely a real thing in college tennis, and when you have a team on the ropes, you simply cannot let them get their breath back. There are no safe leads against top teams. There are only wins and losses, and you need to take maximum advantage of a team while they're reeling.
We'll see soon enough! The NCAA tries to avoid regular-season rematches in the first couple of rounds, so usually that means regional pods don't have intra-conference battles. If that holds true this year, expect a team like Michigan, Tennessee, UCF, or Baylor to be the #2 seed in our regional, as we'll be in line for one of the teams that just misses out on hosting themselves.