Third-ranked Vanderbilt, playing without its top player Astra Sharma (rib injury), captured its second straight SEC regular season championship in dramatic fashion on the road in Gainesville. The Commodores fell behind No. 10 Florida 3-1 and were trailing on each of the three remaining courts. Vandy junior Emily Smith trimmed the deficit to 3-2 by coming back from a break down in both the second and third sets to defeat Katie Kubicz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6. Vandy sophomore Christina Rosca tied it at 3-3 after coming back from 2-0 down in the third to defeat Josie Kuhlman 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 at No. 2. In the deciding match at No. 5, Vandy junior Summer Dvorak came back from a double-break 4-1 third-set deficit to defeat Peggy Porter 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. The Commodores are the top seed in this week’s SEC Tournament in Knoxville.
Texas Tech, ranked No. 13, improved to 16-5 after going on the road and sweeping No. 51 Oklahoma and No. 11 Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders rolled over the higher-ranked OSU Cowgirls 4-1 on Sunday after getting a scare from OU on Friday. Against OU, Tech squeezed out the doubles point by winning tiebreaks at No. 1 and No. 2 and then extended the lead to 3-0 with wins at No. 4 and No. 6. OU swept the top three singles spots to tie it at 3-3 but Tech’s Sarah Dvorak held on to win the decider 7-6(4) in the third. Texas Tech, which closes out the regular season with road matches at Iowa State and West Virginia, should all but be a lock to host a regional.
UCLA, ranked No. 15, upped its winning streak to seven after posting shutout wins over No. 33 Arizona State and Arizona. The red-hot Bruins, which have won six of those seven matches via shutout, have a couple of big tilts coming up this week against LA-rivals No. 10 Pepperdine and No. 47 USC. Regardless of what happens this week the Bruins have already secured the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Kansas, ranked No. 17, kept alive its hopes of hosting a regional by defeating in-state rival No. 36 Kansas State 4-1. After Kansas jumped out to 3-1 lead, K-State appeared to be moments away from picking up wins at No. 5 and No. 6 but before they could close those out KU’s Maria Toran Ribes clinched the match by winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 at No. 4. KU closes out the regular season this weekend with both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State coming to Lawrence. If KU can win both they’d be in great shape to host a regional.
Stanford, ranked No. 22, ran its winning streak to 10 after grinding out a pair of road wins at Washington and No. 37 Washington State. The Cardinal is a perfect 8-0 in Pac-12 play and can make it 9-0 with a win at home on Friday in the Big Slam against No. 42 Cal. Stanford, which has hosted a NCAA regional every time since the field was expanded in 1999, is still probably a long shot to host due to only having one top 30 win on its resume.
Arizona State, ranked No. 33, sealed its bid to the tournament with a 4-3 road win at USC. The Sun Devils hadn’t won at SC since 2002 but when Nicole Fossa Huergo won the decider at No. 3 that streak came to an end. ASU closes out the regular season this weekend in Tucson against state-rival Arizona.
Wichita State, ranked No. 34, put itself in great position to secure an at-large bid after defeating No. 36 Kansas State 4-1. The Shockers now head to the AAC Tournament in Dallas as the No. 3 seed with a quarterfinal match on Friday against the winner of the Houston/UConn match. A win in that match would lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio State, ranked No. 35, locked up its bid to the tournament with a weekend sweep over Indiana and Purdue. The 12-6 Buckeyes close out the regular season this weekend with visits from a pair of top 15 teams, No. 12 Northwestern and No. 15 Illinois.
NC State, ranked No. 38, won three of four over the weekend with the biggest win coming against No. 26 Wake Forest. The Wolfpack is expected to rise into the high 30s and can wrap its bid this weekend with a win against Pitt or Syracuse.
Florida International, ranked No. 40, moved a little further off the bubble and into the safety zone after picking up a pair of shutout wins over South Florida and Florida Atlantic. The Panthers are the top seed in the Conference USA Tournament, which is being held at Old Dominion, and as long as they make the finals, which they should, they should be in win or lose.
Alabama State won the SWAC Tournament, and a NCAA automatic bid, for the second year in a row after shutting out the No. 5 seed Alcorn State 4-0. The Hornets had a bye into the semifinals and then dispatched Jackson State 4-1.
Losers:
Kansas State, ranked No. 36, dropped a pair of 4-1 decisions to No. 34 Wichita State and No. 16 Kansas. The Wildcats will have a chance to improve their stock this weekend when they host No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 50 Oklahoma.
Washington State, ranked No. 37, fought hard in both of its matches against No. 20 Stanford and No. 42 Cal but they came up short falling 4-2 and 4-3. Washington State hits the road this Saturday to face cross-state rival Washington in a match that the Cougars really need if they want to extend their season into May.
USC, ranked No. 41, split matches last weekend against Arizona and Arizona State. The loss to ASU means the Trojans will have to either upset No. 15 UCLA this weekend or pick up a win over a top 25 opponent during the Pac-12 Tournament.
Latest Comments