Tagged with: Championship Match, NCAA Tournament

Championship Tuesday has arrived!! The women’s final will start things off at 1 p.m. while the men’s final will get started no earlier than 5 p.m. Stanford will be seeking its 19th NCAA Championship while Vanderbilt attempts to win its second. In the men’s final both Wake Forest and Ohio State are seeking their first national championship with this being Wake first-ever appearance in the finals while Ohio State was there once before in 2009

The NCAA will have a live broadcast available on NCAA.com so head to this link at match time to listen to the broadcast. I believe that the regular live stream will also be available through Wake’s host site however the live scoring is usually a point ahead of the stream and frankly the stream itself isn’t the great but at least it’s something (Update: Wake does not have its regular live stream so it’s only available through the NCAA)

WOMEN’S FINAL

[1] Vanderbilt vs. [15] Stanford – 1 p.m ET – NCAA Live Stream

Vanderbilt’s Path to the Final Four

• def. Alabama State 4-0
• def. Clemson 4-0
• def. Miami FL 4-0
• def. Florida State 4-0
• def. Georgia Tech 4-2

Stanford’s Path to the Final Four

• def. St. John’s 4-0
• def. Michigan 4-0
• def. North Carolina 4-1
• def. Georgia 4-0
• def. Duke 4-2

Current Winning Streak: Stanford 19; Vanderbilt 16

NCAA Championships: Stanford has 18 (1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016); Vanderbilt has 1 (2015)

Meetings in NCAA Tournament: Stanford leads 4-0 – 2016 Semifinals (Stanford 4-2); 2007 Round of 16 (Stanford 4-0); 2004 Semifinals (Stanford 4-0); 2001 Final (Stanford)

Most Recent Meeting: 2018 – Vanderbilt won 7-0 

Regular Season Meeting

#2 Vanderbilt 7, #1 Stanford 0
Feb 03, 2018 at Nashville, Tenn. (Currey Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Astra Sharma (VANDY) def. #13 Michaela Gordon (STAN) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
2. #4 Fernanda Contreras (VANDY) def. #22 Emily Arbuthnott (STAN) 6-1, 6-4
3. #19 Christina Rosca (VANDY) def. #69 Caroline Lampl (STAN) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
4. Emma Kurtz (VANDY) def. Emma Higuchi (STAN) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
5. #96 Summer Dvorak (VANDY) def. Janice Shin (STAN) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Amanda Meyer (VANDY) def. Kimberly Yee (STAN) 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5)
Doubles competition
1. Astra Sharma/Fernanda Contreras (VANDY) def. #4 Michaela Gordon/Emily Arbuthnott (STAN) 6-3
2. #43 Emily Smith/Emma Kurtz (VANDY) vs. Kimberly Yee/Caroline Lampl (STAN) 5-5, unfinished
3. Amanda Meyer/Christina Rosca (VANDY) def. Janice Shin/Emma Higuchi (STAN) 6-1
Match Notes:
Vanderbilt 4-0; National ranking #2
Stanford 1-1; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,3,1,4,5,6)

Notables:

• VU’s Astra Sharma has won 12 of her last 13
• VU’s Fernanda Contreras has won 6 straight and 13 of her last 14
• VU’s Christina Rosca has won 7 of her last 8
• VU’s Amanda Meyer has won 8 of her last 11
• VU’s Summer Dvorak has won 8 straight 
• VU’s Amanda Meyer and Christina Rosca have won 12 of their last 13 in doubles 
• VU’s Sharma and Contreras have won 6 straight at No. 1 doubles 
• Stanford’s Emma Higuchi has won 16 in a row with 15 of those in straight sets.
• Stanford’s Janice Shin has won 10 in a row 
• Stanford’s Caroline Lampl has won 4 in a row and 10 of 11
• Stanford’s Emily Arbuthnott has won 6 in a row and 15 of 16
• Stanford’s Melissa Lord and Janice Shin are 11-3 at No. 3 doubles since pairing up on 3/28. 
• Stanford’s Caroline Lampl and Kimberly Yee have won 12 of 14 doubles matches at No. 2

Who Wins: This heavyweight matchup could go either way although I think Stanford is definitely going to be favored at 4, 5, and 6 singles so that leaves the margins pretty thin for Vanderbilt. In my opinion, the Commodores best path to a championship is at 1, 2, and 3 singles plus doubles. I think Vanderbilt does capture the doubles point and I like Astra Sharma at No. 1 but Stanford will get wins from Emily Arbuthnott, Janice Shin, and Emma Higuchi at No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6. The two matches that could go either way are at No. 2 and No. 3. I think the teams will split those two courts with Fernanda Contreras winning at No. 2 but Caroline Lampl clinches again at No. 3 to give Stanford its 19th NCAA Championship with a 4-3 win.

 

MEN’S FINAL 

[1] Wake Forest vs. [3] Ohio State – 5 p.m. ET – NCAA Live Stream

• def. Navy 4-0
• def. South Carolina 4-1
• def. Columbia 4-1
• def. Illinois 4-0
• def. Texas A&M 4-3

• def. East Tennessee State 4-0
• def. Kentucky 4-0
• def. Minnesota 4-1
• def. Mississippi State 4-3
• def. UCLA 4-1

Current Winning Streak: Ohio State 22; Wake Forest 15

NCAA Championships: 0 (Ohio State lost to USC 4-1 in the 2009 final)

All-Time Series: Ohio State leads 6-2 

Most Recent Meeting: 2017 National Team Indoor Semifinals (Ohio State won 4-3)

Notables:

• Wake’s Petros Chrysochos has won 23 straight matches with 22 of those finishing in straight sets
• Wake’s Bar Botzer has won 16 of his last 17 (streak snapped against Texas A&M)
• Wake’s Skander Mansouri has won 11 of his last 12 matches (streak snapped against Texas A&M) 
• Wake’s Borna Gojo has won 9 straight matches 
• Wake’s Botzer and Chrysochos have won 10 of their last 11 doubles matches
• OSU’s JJ Wolf has won 15 of his last 17 (12-match winning streak snapped by Mississippi State)
• OSU’s John McNally has won 9 straight and 16 of his last 17
• OSU’s Kyle Seelig has won 10 straight
• OSU’s Martin Joyce has won 17 of his last 19
• OSU’s Tim Seibert has won 6 straight (hasn’t played since second round)
• OSU’s Joyce and Wolf have won 10 of their last 12 in doubles (lost last two)
• OSU’s Torpegaard and McNally have won 15 of their last 18 doubles matches 
• OSU’s Hunter Tubert and Matt Mendez have won 13 of their last 14 in doubles 

 

Who Wins: This should be an outstanding match between two teams looking for their first national championship. You have to think the crowd is going to play a role in this one because the stands should be overflowing when the doubles point gets started at 5 p.m. I’m going to take Wake in doubles because as with their match against Texas A&M I think the crowd will help push them over the top. In singles there aren’t very many locks however I’d be surprised if either Petros Chrysochos or Christian Seraphim lost at No. 2 and No. 6. I like John McNally and Martin Joyce at No. 3 and No. 5 for Ohio State while the matches at No. 1 and No. 4 are near toss-ups. I’ll go with Mikael Torpegaard at No. 1 but I’ll take Bar Botzer at No. 4 for the clinch. Wake will win its first-ever national championship and it’ll do it on its home court.