[ColoradoTree]

Back at it today! Another win will see Xu and Blokhina join Ma and Glozman in the singles main draw, and the same goes for Xu/Glozman in joining Ma/Blokhina in the doubles main draw (all times PT):

* 9:00am: [12] Xu vs. Santa Strombacha (Houston, a grad transfer from Grand Canyon who played high in the lineup there)
* 9:30am: [4] Blokhina vs. Kallista Liu (Maryland, mostly played #3 for the Terps last year)
* 1:00pm: Xu/Glozman vs. [8] Sharabura/Nicholson (Georgia Tech)

[ColoradoTree]

Back at it today! Another win will see Xu and Blokhina join Ma and Glozman in the singles main draw, and the same goes for Xu/Glozman in joining Ma/Blokhina in the doubles main draw (all times PT):

* 9:00am: [12] Xu vs. Santa Strombacha (Houston, a grad transfer from Grand Canyon who played high in the lineup there)
* 9:30am: [4] Blokhina vs. Kallista Liu (Maryland, mostly played #3 for the Terps last year)
* 1:00pm: Xu/Glozman vs. [8] Sharabura/Nicholson (Georgia Tech)

[Lorcan]

Today's matches are here:
https://goheels.com/watch/

---

Today's matches are here:
https://goheels.com/watch/

That said, I'm having no luck finding a stream that shows Xu or Blokhina - we may not be able to see them.

[Lorcan]

Today's matches are here:
https://goheels.com/watch/

---

Today's matches are here:
https://goheels.com/watch/

That said, I'm having no luck finding a stream that shows Xu or Blokhina - we may not be able to see them.

[BobK]

I see them under in progress

[BobK]

I see them under in progress

[Lorcan]

Xu seems to have taken her foot off the pedal after winning the first 6-1, as she trails 0-3 in the second. 

Blokhina is in a fight in the first set, on serve at *5-6.

---

I see them under in progress

I see the indoor streams for UNC -- but none of them are for our players. I think our players are indoors at the other location in Cary, which doesn't appear to have a live stream. Alas.

[Lorcan]

Xu seems to have taken her foot off the pedal after winning the first 6-1, as she trails 0-3 in the second. 

Blokhina is in a fight in the first set, on serve at *5-6.

---

I see them under in progress

I see the indoor streams for UNC -- but none of them are for our players. I think our players are indoors at the other location in Cary, which doesn't appear to have a live stream. Alas.

[Lorcan]

Xu seems to have righted the ship after dropping the second, and leads 6-1 2-6 3-1.

Blokhina dropped the first, and trails 6-7(3) 4-3. She has some work to do.

[Lorcan]

Xu seems to have righted the ship after dropping the second, and leads 6-1 2-6 3-1.

Blokhina dropped the first, and trails 6-7(3) 4-3. She has some work to do.

[BobK]

Blokhina. 6-7, 6-3, 4-1

[BobK]

Blokhina. 6-7, 6-3, 4-1

[BobK]

Blokhina 6-2 for the win

[BobK]

Blokhina 6-2 for the win

[Lorcan]

Xu and Glozman also appear to be comfortably through to the Main Draw in doubles - next up....the main draw! 

Here's where we stand - I'll leave the analysis to Colorado Tree when they get around to it -- and the qualifiers are yet to be placed. 

[4] Connie Ma v. Luciana Perry Ohio State -- a familiar name lurks in the second round with Jessica Alsola of California a potential opponent. 
Valerie Glozman v. Alina Shcherbinina Oklahoma [They're on a R2 collision path with Mia Kupres (16) of Texas A&M].

Connie Ma and Alexis Blokhina got a tough draw in the first round of doubles against [8] Kenna Erickson and Anita Sahdiieva of Louisiana State

[Lorcan]

Xu and Glozman also appear to be comfortably through to the Main Draw in doubles - next up....the main draw! 

Here's where we stand - I'll leave the analysis to Colorado Tree when they get around to it -- and the qualifiers are yet to be placed. 

[4] Connie Ma v. Luciana Perry Ohio State -- a familiar name lurks in the second round with Jessica Alsola of California a potential opponent. 
Valerie Glozman v. Alina Shcherbinina Oklahoma [They're on a R2 collision path with Mia Kupres (16) of Texas A&M].

Connie Ma and Alexis Blokhina got a tough draw in the first round of doubles against [8] Kenna Erickson and Anita Sahdiieva of Louisiana State

[Lorcan]

The main draw kicks off today, and we're off to a less than stellar start as Valencia Xu is swept out by #7 Nicole Khirin of Texas A&M, 6-1 6-0. Xu did well to qualify, but that's a tough ask in that matchup to go further than she did. 

It's weird to see Eleana Yu in the main draw, and she's in a battle in her first set against Herea of Texas. It'll be interesting to keep an eye on her this year. She's nowhere close in the draw to any Stanford prospects though - so we won't get a chance to measure her against her team. 

In looking at this draw, it's amazing how loaded Texas A&M is at the top. They have three of the top 16 seeds with #1 Mary Stoiana, #7 Nicole Khirin, and #16 Mia Kupres. That's going to be tough for any team to tackle this season. I haven't looked too far at who else is loaded as of now.

[Lorcan]

The main draw kicks off today, and we're off to a less than stellar start as Valencia Xu is swept out by #7 Nicole Khirin of Texas A&M, 6-1 6-0. Xu did well to qualify, but that's a tough ask in that matchup to go further than she did. 

It's weird to see Eleana Yu in the main draw, and she's in a battle in her first set against Herea of Texas. It'll be interesting to keep an eye on her this year. She's nowhere close in the draw to any Stanford prospects though - so we won't get a chance to measure her against her team. 

In looking at this draw, it's amazing how loaded Texas A&M is at the top. They have three of the top 16 seeds with #1 Mary Stoiana, #7 Nicole Khirin, and #16 Mia Kupres. That's going to be tough for any team to tackle this season. I haven't looked too far at who else is loaded as of now.

[ColoradoTree]

Blokhina lost to Kimmi Hance, too, 6-2, 7-6. Hance is the preseason #17 player in the country and should be UCLA's #1, so it's not a terrible loss. Hopefully she and Xu can make a run in the consolation bracket and pocket some good wins. 

But Glozman knocked off Oklahoma's Alina Shcherbinina, the preseason #56 player, 6-2, 6-4, so that's a nice early sign from her! She'll get Duke's Elizabeth Coleman (#53) in the second round. 

Ma is on court now against Ohio State's Luciana Perry, the preseason #23 player, so that's a tough first round draw. After they exchanged some early breaks of service, they're back on serve now. Currently 4-4 in the first.

And yeah, A&M is crazy top-heavy. If someone is going to beat them this year, it'll be a team with some of these characteristics: great at doubles; great depth on the back courts; ability for someone in the top 3 to steal a match.

[ColoradoTree]

Blokhina lost to Kimmi Hance, too, 6-2, 7-6. Hance is the preseason #17 player in the country and should be UCLA's #1, so it's not a terrible loss. Hopefully she and Xu can make a run in the consolation bracket and pocket some good wins. 

But Glozman knocked off Oklahoma's Alina Shcherbinina, the preseason #56 player, 6-2, 6-4, so that's a nice early sign from her! She'll get Duke's Elizabeth Coleman (#53) in the second round. 

Ma is on court now against Ohio State's Luciana Perry, the preseason #23 player, so that's a tough first round draw. After they exchanged some early breaks of service, they're back on serve now. Currently 4-4 in the first.

And yeah, A&M is crazy top-heavy. If someone is going to beat them this year, it'll be a team with some of these characteristics: great at doubles; great depth on the back courts; ability for someone in the top 3 to steal a match.

[ColoradoTree]

Ma gets a timely break and then holds for a 6-4 first set win!

[ColoradoTree]

Ma gets a timely break and then holds for a 6-4 first set win!

[ColoradoTree]

Ma just cruised through the finish, winning her match 6-4, 6-0. She'll get the winner of Cal's Jessica Alsola (#30) and Penn's Sabine Rutlauka (#70), who are currently in a third set. 

FYI, Eleana Yu dropped her match, 7-6, 6-3, to Carmen Andreea Herea of Texas, a freshman from Romania who is unranked in the main rankings but is the 11th-ranked newcomer. But of note, she's only the 5th-ranked player from Texas in those newcomer rankings! Texas has a bumper crop of freshmen and the most freshmen-heavy roster I've ever seen. One senior, one junior, two sophomores, and eight freshmen! Ludicrous. Obviously some walk-ons floating around there, but that's a very strange situation.

---

As a reminder, to book your ticket to the NCAA singles championship (at least at this tournament), you need to make the quarterfinals or be one of the consolation finalists. So, everyone is still technically alive for that.

Ma's path: beat Alsola/Rutlauka in the second round and then she'll probably have to get past 5th-seeded Ange Oby Kajuru of Oklahoma State in the Round of 16 to book her place. (Last fall, Ma beat Kajuru 6-0, 6-3 in the semis of the Battle in the Bay Classic on her way to the title, but I'd be very surprised if the scoreline were similar this time around.) 

Glozman's path: beat #53 Coleman of Duke (who just upset Kupres in a tight 3-setter) and then she'll likely have to get past #10 Sarah Hamner of South Carolina in the R16. A tall order, but we'll see just how good our highly-touted freshman is!

Blokhina/Xu: Well, uh, win the rest of your matches! If nothing else, they'll get some tough-but-winnable matches, and whether they make a run or not, it should be helpful for the season that actually matters in the spring. 

So far, none of the top 8 seeds/presumptive quarterfinalists have lost, though Hamner was pushed to a third set in her first round match, and Kajuru needed a third-set tiebreaker to survive. The last top-8 seed is [2] Dasha Vidmanova of UGA, who won her first set 6-2 but is down 0-3 to start the second.

---

And Ma will get Rutlauka, who beat Alsola 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

[ColoradoTree]

Ma just cruised through the finish, winning her match 6-4, 6-0. She'll get the winner of Cal's Jessica Alsola (#30) and Penn's Sabine Rutlauka (#70), who are currently in a third set. 

FYI, Eleana Yu dropped her match, 7-6, 6-3, to Carmen Andreea Herea of Texas, a freshman from Romania who is unranked in the main rankings but is the 11th-ranked newcomer. But of note, she's only the 5th-ranked player from Texas in those newcomer rankings! Texas has a bumper crop of freshmen and the most freshmen-heavy roster I've ever seen. One senior, one junior, two sophomores, and eight freshmen! Ludicrous. Obviously some walk-ons floating around there, but that's a very strange situation.

---

As a reminder, to book your ticket to the NCAA singles championship (at least at this tournament), you need to make the quarterfinals or be one of the consolation finalists. So, everyone is still technically alive for that.

Ma's path: beat Alsola/Rutlauka in the second round and then she'll probably have to get past 5th-seeded Ange Oby Kajuru of Oklahoma State in the Round of 16 to book her place. (Last fall, Ma beat Kajuru 6-0, 6-3 in the semis of the Battle in the Bay Classic on her way to the title, but I'd be very surprised if the scoreline were similar this time around.) 

Glozman's path: beat #53 Coleman of Duke (who just upset Kupres in a tight 3-setter) and then she'll likely have to get past #10 Sarah Hamner of South Carolina in the R16. A tall order, but we'll see just how good our highly-touted freshman is!

Blokhina/Xu: Well, uh, win the rest of your matches! If nothing else, they'll get some tough-but-winnable matches, and whether they make a run or not, it should be helpful for the season that actually matters in the spring. 

So far, none of the top 8 seeds/presumptive quarterfinalists have lost, though Hamner was pushed to a third set in her first round match, and Kajuru needed a third-set tiebreaker to survive. The last top-8 seed is [2] Dasha Vidmanova of UGA, who won her first set 6-2 but is down 0-3 to start the second.

---

And Ma will get Rutlauka, who beat Alsola 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

[ColoradoTree]

Some doubles this afternoon, too:

* 2:30pm (but not on yet): Ma/Blokhina play [8] Erickson/Sahdiieva (LSU) 
* 3:30pm: Xu/Glozman play Vidmanova/Mert (UGA)

Vidmanova/Mert might not be a seeded doubles pair, but those are two darn good singles players....

---

The schedule may have been pushed back, but Ma/Blokhina wasted no time, winning the first 6-1; that said, the second set is on serve at 3-3.

---

Ma/Blokhina decided it was over! 6-1, 6-3, and they'll play FSU's Bissett/Parra Romero in the next round.

Xu/Glozman just getting on court now....

[ColoradoTree]

Some doubles this afternoon, too:

* 2:30pm (but not on yet): Ma/Blokhina play [8] Erickson/Sahdiieva (LSU) 
* 3:30pm: Xu/Glozman play Vidmanova/Mert (UGA)

Vidmanova/Mert might not be a seeded doubles pair, but those are two darn good singles players....

---

The schedule may have been pushed back, but Ma/Blokhina wasted no time, winning the first 6-1; that said, the second set is on serve at 3-3.

---

Ma/Blokhina decided it was over! 6-1, 6-3, and they'll play FSU's Bissett/Parra Romero in the next round.

Xu/Glozman just getting on court now....

[ColoradoTree]

Xu/Glozman lost 6-2, 6-4, so it's the consolation bracket for them. 

This morning, we've got three players going early:

* 7:00am: Ma vs. #70 Sabine Rutlauka (Penn)
* 7:00am: Glozman vs. #53 Elizabeth Coleman (Duke)
* 7:00am: Blokhina vs. Leonie Moeller (Memphis) (consolation)
* 11:30am: Xu vs. Kylie Bilchev (Georgia Tech)
* 12:00pm: Ma/Blokhina vs. Bissett/Parra Romero (FSU)
* 2:30pm: Xu/Glozman vs. Perry/Ratliff (Ohio State) (consolation)

---

Blokhina lost her first set 6-0 and then retired due to injury--I didn't watch, but we'll get a sense of how serious it is when it's time for her to play doubles with Connie.

In the other two matches, Ma and Glozman both took their respective first sets by 6-4 scorelines; Ma is just starting her second while Glozman is at 1-1 in hers.

---

Glozman just served out her match, 6-4, 6-4, needing to win on deciding point to do it! Meanwhile, Ma went down an early break but fought back and just broke for a 5-4 lead in the second, so she's hoping to match Glozman now.

---

And she holds for a 6-4, 6-4 win! Both Ma and Glozman now one win away from booking a place in the NCAA singles championship later this fall.

[ColoradoTree]

Xu/Glozman lost 6-2, 6-4, so it's the consolation bracket for them. 

This morning, we've got three players going early:

* 7:00am: Ma vs. #70 Sabine Rutlauka (Penn)
* 7:00am: Glozman vs. #53 Elizabeth Coleman (Duke)
* 7:00am: Blokhina vs. Leonie Moeller (Memphis) (consolation)
* 11:30am: Xu vs. Kylie Bilchev (Georgia Tech)
* 12:00pm: Ma/Blokhina vs. Bissett/Parra Romero (FSU)
* 2:30pm: Xu/Glozman vs. Perry/Ratliff (Ohio State) (consolation)

---

Blokhina lost her first set 6-0 and then retired due to injury--I didn't watch, but we'll get a sense of how serious it is when it's time for her to play doubles with Connie.

In the other two matches, Ma and Glozman both took their respective first sets by 6-4 scorelines; Ma is just starting her second while Glozman is at 1-1 in hers.

---

Glozman just served out her match, 6-4, 6-4, needing to win on deciding point to do it! Meanwhile, Ma went down an early break but fought back and just broke for a 5-4 lead in the second, so she's hoping to match Glozman now.

---

And she holds for a 6-4, 6-4 win! Both Ma and Glozman now one win away from booking a place in the NCAA singles championship later this fall.

[ColoradoTree]

Ugh, sorry, I made a mistake earlier in the thread when I said Ma would have to beat 5th-seeded Kajuru of Oklahoma State to book her place at the NCAA singles championship later this fall, but that's not true--just making it to that match will be enough, as it would be a quarterfinal. 

For Ma to book her place, she'll need to beat the winner of UNC's Tatum Evans (unranked sophomore, but was a top recruit coming into last year and played on the 4-6 lines for the Heels last year) and #49 Katie Codd of Duke.

---

And FWIW, Eleana Yu dropped her first round consolation match, 6-0, 6-4 to #63 Esha Velaga of Penn. I would imagine Yu came into this tournament hoping to make a splash and show that she was unfairly treated while at Stanford and she's exactly the player you would expect one of the top couple of US-based recruits in her class. She did not make such a splash. Looking at our current roster, I'd pencil her in as our #7 if Yepifanova participates or our #6 (above Houghton) if she doesn't, though most of you know my thoughts that I would have had her playing above Xu, so perhaps this would've been the year that Yu broke through. (Always tough to drop a senior from the lineup, though.) Entirely possible that she doesn't end up playing above #6 at Duke.

[ColoradoTree]

Ugh, sorry, I made a mistake earlier in the thread when I said Ma would have to beat 5th-seeded Kajuru of Oklahoma State to book her place at the NCAA singles championship later this fall, but that's not true--just making it to that match will be enough, as it would be a quarterfinal. 

For Ma to book her place, she'll need to beat the winner of UNC's Tatum Evans (unranked sophomore, but was a top recruit coming into last year and played on the 4-6 lines for the Heels last year) and #49 Katie Codd of Duke.

---

And FWIW, Eleana Yu dropped her first round consolation match, 6-0, 6-4 to #63 Esha Velaga of Penn. I would imagine Yu came into this tournament hoping to make a splash and show that she was unfairly treated while at Stanford and she's exactly the player you would expect one of the top couple of US-based recruits in her class. She did not make such a splash. Looking at our current roster, I'd pencil her in as our #7 if Yepifanova participates or our #6 (above Houghton) if she doesn't, though most of you know my thoughts that I would have had her playing above Xu, so perhaps this would've been the year that Yu broke through. (Always tough to drop a senior from the lineup, though.) Entirely possible that she doesn't end up playing above #6 at Duke.

[Lorcan]

It's fun to watch the upsets that are brewing in Cary this week with #3 Celia Belle Mohr of Vanderbilt being bundled out by Elsa Tomase of Tennessee. There's a veritable storm brewing with #1 Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M) dropping the first set) and #2 Vidmanova (Georgia) currently on serve in a third set. It's worth keeping an eye on how those play out. 

In a more immediate interest for Stanford, #8 Sarah Hamner of South Carolina is being pushed the distance by Bianca Fernandez of UCLA -- as they battle late into the third. The winner takes on Glozman in the next round.

---

It also looks like the rain has started in Cary - so it might be a while before we have a conclusion to the excitement today.

---

It looks like it was just a brief sprinkle, and just enough for Sarah Hamner to right ship to close out Fernandez 6-4 in the third. Glozman with a good test in the next round!

[Lorcan]

It's fun to watch the upsets that are brewing in Cary this week with #3 Celia Belle Mohr of Vanderbilt being bundled out by Elsa Tomase of Tennessee. There's a veritable storm brewing with #1 Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M) dropping the first set) and #2 Vidmanova (Georgia) currently on serve in a third set. It's worth keeping an eye on how those play out. 

In a more immediate interest for Stanford, #8 Sarah Hamner of South Carolina is being pushed the distance by Bianca Fernandez of UCLA -- as they battle late into the third. The winner takes on Glozman in the next round.

---

It also looks like the rain has started in Cary - so it might be a while before we have a conclusion to the excitement today.

---

It looks like it was just a brief sprinkle, and just enough for Sarah Hamner to right ship to close out Fernandez 6-4 in the third. Glozman with a good test in the next round!

[Lorcan]

It's wild to see how much of a disaster this tournament has been for Texas A&M. #1 Mary Stoiana just fell to #44 Maria Sholokhova of Wisconsin in straight sets. Stoiana follows #7 Nicole Khirin (def. by #32 DJ Bennet of Auburn - but she did sweep aside Valencia Xu in R1), and #16 Mia Kupres (def. by #53 Elizabeth Coleman). The highly vaunted three headed monster for the Aggies is all gone before the round of 16. 

To add to those upsets, Theadora Rabman (UNC) completed her three set win over #2 Dasha Vidmanova leaving our #4 Connie Ma as the highest seeded player remaining. North Carolina has had a decent showing so far - as they have two of the last 16 players remaining and keep in mind they're doing this without the #6 ranked player Reese Brantmeier in attendance. They're going to be a tough out in the ACC - I'd mark your calendars for Friday, April 4th for a fabulous matchup against North Carolina at Stanford.

[Lorcan]

It's wild to see how much of a disaster this tournament has been for Texas A&M. #1 Mary Stoiana just fell to #44 Maria Sholokhova of Wisconsin in straight sets. Stoiana follows #7 Nicole Khirin (def. by #32 DJ Bennet of Auburn - but she did sweep aside Valencia Xu in R1), and #16 Mia Kupres (def. by #53 Elizabeth Coleman). The highly vaunted three headed monster for the Aggies is all gone before the round of 16. 

To add to those upsets, Theadora Rabman (UNC) completed her three set win over #2 Dasha Vidmanova leaving our #4 Connie Ma as the highest seeded player remaining. North Carolina has had a decent showing so far - as they have two of the last 16 players remaining and keep in mind they're doing this without the #6 ranked player Reese Brantmeier in attendance. They're going to be a tough out in the ACC - I'd mark your calendars for Friday, April 4th for a fabulous matchup against North Carolina at Stanford.

[Jamesy]

And FWIW, Eleana Yu dropped her first round consolation match, 6-0, 6-4 to #63 Esha Velaga of Penn. I would imagine Yu came into this tournament hoping to make a splash and show that she was unfairly treated while at Stanford and she's exactly the player you would expect one of the top couple of US-based recruits in her class. She did not make such a splash. Looking at our current roster, I'd pencil her in as our #7 if Yepifanova participates or our #6 (above Houghton) if she doesn't, though most of you know my thoughts that I would have had her playing above Xu, so perhaps this would've been the year that Yu broke through. (Always tough to drop a senior from the lineup, though.) Entirely possible that she doesn't end up playing above #6 at Duke.

Seems at least based on Yu's performance at the tourney that there's no indication she would have broken through this year.

[Jamesy]

And FWIW, Eleana Yu dropped her first round consolation match, 6-0, 6-4 to #63 Esha Velaga of Penn. I would imagine Yu came into this tournament hoping to make a splash and show that she was unfairly treated while at Stanford and she's exactly the player you would expect one of the top couple of US-based recruits in her class. She did not make such a splash. Looking at our current roster, I'd pencil her in as our #7 if Yepifanova participates or our #6 (above Houghton) if she doesn't, though most of you know my thoughts that I would have had her playing above Xu, so perhaps this would've been the year that Yu broke through. (Always tough to drop a senior from the lineup, though.) Entirely possible that she doesn't end up playing above #6 at Duke.

Seems at least based on Yu's performance at the tourney that there's no indication she would have broken through this year.

[Lorcan]

Blokhina appears to have taken the court indoors for the doubles - now we'll see if they pull this out or how injured she is.

[Lorcan]

Blokhina appears to have taken the court indoors for the doubles - now we'll see if they pull this out or how injured she is.

[ColoradoTree]

This whole concept of earning your way into the NCAA singles championships by performance in a specific tournament rather than looking at your whole body of work (including team dual matches) sure does make for some drama. There will be some surprise entrants (at least in terms of preseason ranking). That said, Stoiana, Vidmanova, Mohr, and the rest of the seeded players who lost today will still have a crack at that prize in this tournament, as the second-round losers are placed in the consolation draw to play the winner of two first-round losers. 

Here are the R16 matchups purely by preseason ranking just to show how this is playing out, with the winner of each matchup qualifying for NCAAs:

#44 vs. #55
#8 vs. #37
#4 vs. NR
#5 vs. #81
#10 vs. #69
#36 vs. #62
#32 vs. #89
#12 vs. #43

As we looked at earlier, there are still plenty of other opportunities to win your way into NCAAs, so it may well shake out that all the top preseason players make it in the end, but the first eight that qualify will include some surprises.

[ColoradoTree]

This whole concept of earning your way into the NCAA singles championships by performance in a specific tournament rather than looking at your whole body of work (including team dual matches) sure does make for some drama. There will be some surprise entrants (at least in terms of preseason ranking). That said, Stoiana, Vidmanova, Mohr, and the rest of the seeded players who lost today will still have a crack at that prize in this tournament, as the second-round losers are placed in the consolation draw to play the winner of two first-round losers. 

Here are the R16 matchups purely by preseason ranking just to show how this is playing out, with the winner of each matchup qualifying for NCAAs:

#44 vs. #55
#8 vs. #37
#4 vs. NR
#5 vs. #81
#10 vs. #69
#36 vs. #62
#32 vs. #89
#12 vs. #43

As we looked at earlier, there are still plenty of other opportunities to win your way into NCAAs, so it may well shake out that all the top preseason players make it in the end, but the first eight that qualify will include some surprises.