Tagged with: NCAA Tournament Previews

Vanderbilt Quarter:

[1] Vanderbilt vs. [16] Miami: The top seeded Commodores enter this match riding a 13-match winning streak while the No. 16 seeded Hurricanes have won 9 of their last 10. Vanderbilt didn’t have any issues in its opening round matches against Alabama State and Clemson while Miami cruised past LIU Brooklyn 4-0 before winning a close 4-3 match over UCF.  For Miami to have any chance of pulling the upset they must find a way to win the doubles point because Vanderbilt will be favored on just about every court in singles. I’m going to take Vanderbilt in doubles and Rosca, Meyer, and Dvorak in singles to send the Dores back to the quarterfinals for the fourth year in a row. 

Notables:

• VU’s Astra Sharma has won 9 of her last 10
• VU’s Fernanda Contreras has won 4 straight and 11 of her last 12
• VU’s Summer Dvorak has won 6 straight 
• VU’s Amanda Meyer and Christina Rosca have won 11 straight in doubles (none closer than 6-3)
• VU’s Sharma and Contreras have won 5 straight at No. 1 doubles 
• UM’s Estela Perez-Somarriba has won 11 straight at No. 1 with all matches finishing in straight sets (17 sets were 6-3 or better)
• UM’s Sinead Lohan has won 8 of her last 9 at No. 2 singles
• UM’s Dominika Paterova has won 7 straight at No. 6 singles 

 

Florida State vs. Tulsa: Florida State and Tulsa both pulled off upsets to get this far with Tulsa booking its first-ever trip to the Sweet 16 after defeating LSU 4-2 and Oklahoma State 4-2 while Florida State earned its second-ever trip to the Sweet 16 after defeating North Florida 4-0 and defending national champion Florida 4-3. Florida State has Andrea Garcia listed at No. 7 on its depth chart though she played in both matches last week and she’s 19-3 on the season so you figure she’s going to be in at No. 6. 

This should be a pretty even match with a few points here or there probably deciding it. I’m going to take FSU in doubles and Hule, Das, and Garcia to give the Seminoles a close 4-2 win. 

Notables:

• FSU’s Andrea Garcia has won 10 straight matches at No. 6 
• FSU’s Nandini Das has won 6 straight 
• FSU’s Julia Mikulski has lost 5 of her last 6 matches 
• TU’s Ksenia Laskutova has won 4 straight and 7 of her last 8
• TU’s Shura Poppe has won 7 straight matches with all in finishing in straight sets

 

North Carolina Quarter:

[2] North Carolina vs. [15] Stanford: This should be the match of the day with the 18-time NCAA Champion Stanford Cardinal taking on No. 2 North Carolina. Stanford enters the contest riding a 16-match winning streak while North Carolina has won six straight and 12 of its last 13. Neither team gave up a point in the first two rounds with Stanford rolling past St. John’s and Michigan while UNC blanked Morgan State and Mississippi State. 

Notable Streaks for UNC

• Makenna Jones has won 17 matches in a row at the top lineup with 13 of those wins coming in straight sets.
• Sara Daavettila has won 8 in a row
• Chloe Ouellet-Pizer has won 5 in a row and 9 of 10. 
• Marika Akkerman and Makenna Jones have won 8 in a row at No. 3 doubles with none closer than 6-4
• Alle Sanford and Sara Daavettila have lost 4 in a row at No. 2 doubles. 

Notable Streaks for Stanford

• Emma Higuchi has won 14 in a row with 13 of those in straight sets.
• Janice Shin has won 8 in a row 
• Caroline Lampl has won 3 in a row and 9 of 10
• Emily Arbuthnott has won 5 in a row and 14 of 15
• Melissa Lord and Janice Shin are 11-1 at No. 3 doubles since pairing up on 3/28. 
• Caroline Lampl and Kimberly Yee have won 11 of 12 doubles at No. 2

Who Wins: Despite having the higher seed and ranking North Carolina is actually the underdog on paper. The doubles point is going to be big for both teams because neither wants to have to win four singles matches against the other. I’m going to take UNC in doubles and Jones, Daavettila, and Aney in singles while Stanford gets wins from Lord, Arbuthnott, and Higuchi. 

 

[7] Georgia vs. [10] South Carolina: These two SEC rivals will meet for the second time this season with South Carolina winning the regular season meeting in Athens 4-1. Georgia posted shutouts in both of its matches last weekend against Georgia State and Wake Forest while South Carolina did the same against Quinnipiac and Virginia. 

Notables:

• SC’s #1 Ingrid Gamarra Martins hasn’t won a singles match since 3/29 going 0-2 with 5 DNFs in her last seven matches
• SC’s Paige Cline has won 9 of her last 10 
• SC’s Megan Davies has won 8 of her last 9
• SC’s Rachel Rohrabacher has only dropped one match this spring
• UGA’s Kennedy Shaffer only has one win since 3/16 (1-5 with 6 DNFs)
• UGA’s Marta Gonzalez only has finished three matches since 2/10 (2-1 with 7 DNFs)

Regular Season Meeting:

#10 South Carolina 4, #8 Georgia 1
Mar 18, 2018 at Athens, Ga. (Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #110 Ingrid Martins (SC) def. #2 Katarina Jokic (UGA) 6-3, 6-1
2. #29 Hadley Berg (SC) def. #59 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 6-1, 6-2
3. Mia Horvit (SC) def. Elena Christofi (UGA) 6-3, 6-1
4. #125 Mariana Gould (UGA) vs. Paige Cline (SC) 6-4, 4-2, unfinished
5. #93 Morgan Coppoc (UGA) vs. #121 Megan Davies (SC) 5-7, 6-0, unfinished
6. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Vivian Wolff (UGA) 7-6 (8-6), 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #10 Elena Christofi/Morgan Coppoc (UGA) vs. Paige Cline/Hadley Berg (SC) 5-6, unfinished
2. #12 Katarina Jokic/Mariana Gould (UGA) def. Ingrid Martins/Mia Horvit (SC) 6-4
3. Annette Goulak/Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. Megan Davies/Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) 6-4
Match Notes:
South Carolina 14-3, 6-0; National ranking #10
Georgia 9-3, 4-1; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,3,1,6)

 

Who Wins: Georgia’s No. 5 singles player Elena Christofi played in the first match last week but she did not play singles against Wake Forest so it’ll be interesting to see if she can play against South Carolina. Both teams play good doubles and from looking at the UTRs all the singles matchups will be between players within .50 of each other. I know the regular season meeting was almost two months ago but I see this match going along the same lines. I’ll take Georgia in doubles but South Carolina at 2, 3, 5, and 6 singles to come away with a 4-2 win.  

 

Duke’s Quarter:

[3] Duke vs. [14] Northwestern: Duke bounced back from its loss to North Carolina in the ACC Championship with a comfortable win over Furman and a closer than most expected 4-2 win over Oregon. Northwestern entered last weekend looking to put its loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Championship in its rear view mirror and that’s just what they did after rolling past Buffalo and Kansas State. 

Duke’s top singles player Samantha Harris suffered an injury in the ACC Tournament and didn’t play against Furman in the first round but she did play against Oregon with her match going unfinished (was up a set). Duke is definitely going to be favored at No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 singles with Meible Chi, Kelly Chen, and Ellyse Hamlin a combined 66-5 in dual-match play.

Both teams had good records in doubles but Northwestern was next level with the Wildcats a sharp 25-3. I think this is a match that could go 4-3 because I like Northwestern in doubles and at No. 1 and No. 3 singles.

The match at No. 6 could potentially be the decider between Duke freshman Hannah Zhao, who has lost her last two, and Northwestern junior Rheeya Doshi, who has won six straight and was a game away from winning against Kansas State before the dual got clinched. 

I’ll take Zhao to bounce back and Duke to squeeze out the W.  

 

[6] Texas vs. [11] Texas Tech: This will be the third match of the season between these Big XII rivals with Texas winning both of the previous meetings including a 4-1 win just a few weeks ago in the Big XII Tournament Final.  Texas has got it done all season at the top of its lineup with the Turati sisters, Bianca and Anna, and Petra Granic going a combined 53-6 in dual-match play. Texas Tech has played its best tennis at the bottom of its lineup with those playing the 4 through 6 slots going a combined 43-9 in dual-match play. 

Regular Season Meetings:

#6 Texas 4, #14 Texas Tech 1
Apr 29, 2018 at Austin, Texas (Texas Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #1 Bianca Turati (UT) def. #21 Gabriela Talaba (TTU) 6-4, 6-3
2. #29 Anna Turati (UT) def. Alex Valenstein (TTU) 6-2, 6-4
3. #72 Petra Granic (UT) def. #56 Felicity Maltby (TTU) 7-5, 6-2
4. Bojana Markovic (UT) vs. #97 Sabrina Federici (TTU) 6-7 (8-10), 2-1, unfinished
5. #125 Sarah Dvorak (TTU) def. Marta Perez-Mur (UT) 6-4, 6-1
6. Dani Wagland (UT) vs. #115 Katelyn Jackson (TTU) 3-6, 7-5, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #47 Petra Granic/Bojana Markovic (UT) vs. #21 Sabrina Federici/Sarah Dvorak (TTU) 3-2, unfinished
2. Marta Perez-Mur/Dani Wagland (UT) def. Felicity Maltby/Gabriela Talaba (TTU) 6-2
3. Anna Turati/Bianca Turati (UT) def. Alex Valenstein/Katelyn Jackson (TTU) 6-0
Match Notes:
Texas Tech 20-6; National ranking #14
Texas 22-4; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (5,3,1,2)
2018 Big 12 Championships – Women’s Final
T-2:20

#6 Texas 4, #15 Texas Tech 2
Apr 08, 2018 at Lubbock, Texas (McLeod Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #1 Bianca Turati (UT) def. #13 Gabriela Talaba (TTU) 6-0, 2-6, 6-0
2. Anna Turati (UT) def. #45 Felicity Maltby (TTU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
3. #67 Petra Granic (UT) def. #84 Sabrina Federici (TTU) 6-3, 7-5
4. Alex Valenstein (TTU) def. Bojana Markovic (UT) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Marta Perez-Mur (UT) def. #104 Sarah Dvorak (TTU) 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-3
6. Katelyn Jackson (TTU) vs. Katie Poluta (UT) 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-5, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #11 Sabrina Federici/Sarah Dvorak (TTU) vs. #41 Petra Granic/Bojana Markovic (UT) 5-3, unf
2. #85 Felicity Maltby/Gabriela Talaba (TTU) def. Marta Perez-Mur/Bianca Turati (UT) 6-4
3. Alex Valenstein/Katelyn Jackson (TTU) def. Anna Turati/Katie Poluta (UT) 6-1
Match Notes:
Texas 16-4, 6-0; National ranking #6
Texas Tech 14-5, 3-2; National ranking #15
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (3,4,1,2,5)
T-3:30 A-215

 

Who Wins: In the two previous meetings the team playing at home won the doubles point rather easily so this will be the rubber match. 

I think Texas Tech takes two of the bottom three in singles but I like Texas everywhere else and the Horns will advance to the Elite 8 for the first time since 2005

 

Georgia Tech’s Quarter:

[4] Georgia Tech vs. [13] Pepperdine – This will be a rematch from the ITA National Team Indoor Quarterfinals which Pepperdine won 4-2 despite playing without its top singles player Luisa Stefani. The Waves have won six straight and 18 of 19 but in their last match they were pushed pretty hard by Kansas who was playing without their top singles player. Georgia Tech wasn’t tested at all last weekend with the Jackets blowing both Eastern Kentucky and Winthrop off the court in around 90 minutes each. 

Notables:

• GT’s Paige Hourigan and Kenya Jones have won eight straight at No. 1 doubles 
• GT’s Ida Jarlskog has won 10 straight matches with 9 of them in straight sets
• GT’s Victoria Flores has won 6 of her last 7 completed matches
• PU’s Mayar Sherif has won 13 matches in a row with all of them in straight sets
• PU’s Evgeniya Levashova has won 16 matches in a row with all of them in straight sets (22 of those sets were either 6-0 or 6-1)
• PU’s Laura Gulbe has won 16 matches in a row with all of them in straight sets (26 of those sets were 6-0, 1, or 2)

 

Regular Season Meeting:

#6 Pepperdine University 4, #7 Georgia Tech 2
Feb 10, 2018 at Madison, Wis. (Nielsen Tennis Stadium)
Singles competition
1. #27 Lahey, Ashley (PEP) def. #24 Hourigan, Paige (GTU) 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
2. #20 Sherif, Mayar (PEP) def. Renaud, Johnnise (GTU) 6-2, 6-3
3. #75 Gulbe, Laura (PEP) vs. #58 Jarlskog, Ida (GTU) 6-2, 4-6, 4-5, unfinished
4. Levashova, Evgeniya (PEP) def. Flores, Viktoria (GTU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Otsuka, Nami (GTU) def. #82 Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) 6-3, 6-3
6. Jones, Kenya (GTU) def. Lekaj, Adrijana (PEP) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Lahey, Ashley/Sherif, Mayar (PEP) def. #3 Hourigan, Paige/Jones, Kenya (GTU) 6-4
2. Levashova, Evgeniya/Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) def. #52 Jarlskog, Ida/Renaud, Johnnise (GTU) 7-6 (10-8)
3. Flores, Viktoria/Otsuka, Nami (GTU) def. Lekaj, Adrijana/Gulbe, Laura (PEP) 6-1
Match Notes
Georgia Tech 4-1; National ranking #7
Pepperdine University 5-0; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,2,6,1)
ITA National Team Indoor Championships Quarterfinals

 

Who Wins: Georgia Tech might be the higher ranked team but all signs point towards a Pepperdine “upset” in this one. I’ll take Pepperdine in doubles and Lahey, Sherif, and Gulbe in singles to give the Waves a shutout win. 

 

[5] Ole Miss vs. [12] UCLA – As with the other match in this quarter this one will also be a rematch from the ITA National Team Indoors. Ole Miss won that meeting, which took place in the consolation draw, 4-3 with Tea Jandric winning the decider 6-2 in the third. Jandric didn’t play in either of Ole Miss’s wins last week, singles or doubles, so you have to wonder if she’ll suit up on Thursday against UCLA. If she can’t that’d force changes to both the singles and doubles lineups. 

The Rebels have won 11 of their last 12 but they definitely got a scare last Saturday in a 4-2 win over Wichita State. UCLA posted shutout wins in both its matches last week against Fresno State and Baylor and the Bruins enter this one having won 13 of its last 14 matches. 

Notables:

• UCLA’s Ena Shibahara has won 8 matches in a row at No. 1 
• UCLA’s Terri Fleming hasn’t won a match since 4/8 (0-3 with 6 DNFs)
• UCLA’s Alaina Miller has won 13 of her last 14 matches 
• Alaina Miller and Ena Shibahara have won 17 matches in a row at No. 3 doubles
• OM’s Arianne Hartono has won 11 matches in a row at No. 1 with 11 of them in straight sets
• OM’s Natalie Suk has lost 8 in a row with her last win coming on 3/8.
• OM’s Allie Sanford won her first dual-match of the year against Wichita State
• Natalie Suk and Anna Vrbenska have won 10 of their last 11 doubles matches (most at No. 3)  

 

Regular Season Meeting:

#12 Ole Miss 4, #13 UCLA 3
Feb 10, 2018 at Madison, Wis. (Neilsen Tennis Stadium)
Singles competition
1. #25 Arianne Hartono (OM) def. #12 Ena Shibahara (UCLA) 6-1, 6-4
2. #57 Jada Hart (UCLA) def. Natalie Suk (OM) 6-2, 6-2
3. Sabina Machalova (OM) def. #74 Terri Fleming (UCLA) 6-3, 6-2
4. Tea Jandric (OM) def. #94 Ayan Broomfield (UCLA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
5. #31 Abi Altick (UCLA) def. Alexa Bortles (OM) 6-1, 6-4
6. Anna Vrbenska (OM) def. #93 Alaina Miller (UCLA) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Jada Hart/Terri Fleming (UCLA) def. Arianne Hartono/Alexa Bortles (OM) 6-3
2. Ayan Broomfield/Gabby Andrews (UCLA) def. Natalie Suk/Sabina Machalova (OM) 6-2
3. Ena Shibahara/Alaina Miller (UCLA) vs. Tea Jandric/Tereza Janatova (OM) 5-3, unfinished
Match Notes
Ole Miss 5-1; National ranking #12
UCLA 4-2; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,1,3,6,5,4)
ITA National Team Indoor Championships – Consolation Match

 

Who Wins: I’m leaning towards Ole Miss at 1, 2, and 3 singles but I like UCLA in doubles and at 4, 5, and 6 in singles – Bruins get it done to set up a meeting with Pepperdine in the quarters.