Bottom line: without Gordon fully participating in her fifth year and with injuries to other players, we were a very good but not great team this year. Not a national championship threat. Our ranking of #15 for the NCAA tournament was just about right (versus other years when we won the natty ranked similarly). We were 1-4 against teams that made the NCAA super-regional (the top 16 teams); our only impressive win all year was against Texas at home early in the season. We were only the second-best team in the Pac-12, and won the conference tournament without having to play the best team in the conference (Kal, the only other Pac-12 team to make the super-regional field and who beat us handily in our only meeting). I hope CT can give us an optimistic view of the outlook for next year: we have a great freshman class this year; who's coming in, and any chance for a top graduate transfer???
Before closing out the year, let's celebrate the Stanford career of Michaela Gordon, who slogged it out for us at #1 singles and in doubles for 4 years, leading the team to two national championships, and in her 5th year showing she has her priorities straight by placing her academics and post-Stanford work career ahead of tennis, yet pitching in at the end of the season when we needed a boost. Go forth and do your thing.
Before closing out the year, let's celebrate the Stanford career of Michaela Gordon, who slogged it out for us at #1 singles and in doubles for 4 years, leading the team to two national championships, and in her 5th year showing she has her priorities straight by placing her academics and post-Stanford work career ahead of tennis, yet pitching in at the end of the season when we needed a boost. Go forth and do your thing.