Five Top 15 teams from the latest ITA Rankings – USC, Virginia, Stanford, Texas A&M and Michigan, fell this weekend in losses. USC was the highest ranked team to fall this weekend, facing SoCal rival Pepperdine. A huge factor in the Virginia match was the suspension of five players due to a snowball fight during a winter storm. Virginia and Stanford fell in tight 4-3 losses, while Ohio State upset Michigan for the first time since 2003 and Texas A&M lost to UNC in a Top 10 battle before the ITA Indoors kicks off this weekend.
#18 Pepperdine 4, #4 Southern California 3
USC struggled in their season, scraping by UC Santa Barbara 4-3 and although they have a strong lineup, it’s a huge loss to lose 3 stars (Sabrina Santamaria, Zoe Scandalis and Gabrielle DeSimone) who contributed significantly in both singles and doubles. Pepperdine’s doubles is by far their greatest strength on top of freshman Luisa Stefani. Dzina Milovanovic had the one upset of the day over Jessica Failla, who actually bageled and was on the verge of defeating WTA #96 Magda Linette last week in the Maui Challenger. The lone three-setter came down to the final match, where Stefani outlasted Guiliana Olmos on court 1. With Stanford, UCLA and USC in down years, is the Pac-12 a bit of a downgrade this year? Cal looks in great condition to snatch the conference title should their lineup remain healthy.
Doubles
1. #18 Cutura/Maddox (Pepp.) def. #4 Olmos/Smith (USC) – 7-5
2. #49 Runglerdkriangkrai/Stefani (Pepp.) def. Failla/Katz (USC) – 6-2
3. Valdes/Westby (USC) def. #45 Gulbe/Milovanovic (Pepp.) – 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
1. #14 Luisa Stefani (PEPP, 11.61 UTR) def. #42 Giuliana Olmos (USC, 11.44 UTR) – 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. #49 Madison Westby (USC, 10.35 UTR) def. #102 Laura Gulbe (PEPP, 10.90 UTR) – 6-4, 6-2
3. Gabby Smith (USC, 11.12 UTR) def. Matea Cutura (PEPP, 10.40 UTR) – 6-3, 6-3
4. #96 Dzina Milovanovic (PEPP, 10.32 UTR) def. #76 Jessica Failla (USC, 10.86 UTR) – 6-2, 7-6(1)
5. Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai (PEPP, 10.23 UTR) def. Zo Katz (USC, 10.80 UTR) – 7-5, 6-1
6. #48 Rianna Valdes (USC, 11.12 UTR) def. Christine Maddox (PEPP, 10.12 UTR) – 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 5, 2, 3, 4, 1*
#5 North Carolina 4, #9 Texas A&M 0
There’s usually some sort of Top 10 battle the week before the National Team Indoor kicks off and 2016 was no different. UNC looked in incredible form by knocking out TAMU, without dropping a set. Nice win for Whitney Kay over Pierson, who could take out almost anyone when her game is on. There’s a good chance these two teams could meet again in Madison and while the Aggies can push UNC, the Tar Heels are a bit too deep to be knocked out. UNC has some of the strongest doubles in all of the ITA Women and with Hayley Carter playing solid, they really only need 2/5 other wins throughout the lineup. While their lineup is lackluster compared to 2015, UNC could make some deep runs this year.
Doubles
1. #2 Carter/Kay (UNC) def. Pierson/Paalma (TA&M) 6-0
2. #16 Aney/Vialle (UNC) vs. Bhosale/Mamalat (TA&M) 4-3, unfinished
3. Dai/Ouellet-Pizer (UNC) def. Gonzalez/Gavrilovska (TA&M) 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 3*
Singles
1. #6 Hayley Carter (UNC, 11.69 UTR) vs. #53 Saska Gavrilovska (TA&M, 11.12 UTR) 6-4, 4-1 unf
2. #88 Whitney Kay (UNC, 10.74 UTR) def. #58 Rachel Pierson (TA&M, 10.81 UTR) 6-3, 6-1
3. Kate Vialle (UNC, 10.41 UTR) vs. #106 Rutuja Bhosale (TA&M, 10.72 UTR) 6-3, 3-3, unf
4. #68 Jessie Aney (UNC, 11.19 UTR) vs. Eva Paalma (TA&M, 10.07 UTR) 7-6 (7-2), unf
5. Marika Akkerman (UNC, 10.63 UTR) def. Domenica Gonzalez (TA&M, 10.69 UTR) 6-3, 6-1
6. #112 Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (UNC, 10.53 UTR) def. Ines Deheza (TA&M, 10.65 UTR) 6-1, 6-1
#28 South Carolina 4, #7 Virginia 3As mentioned before, UVA coach Mark Guilbeau suspended five players, who also made up half of all three doubles teams. The Cavaliers kept it a tight match against the Gamecocks with 3 of their Top 4 players being eligible for play and winning their matches. Unfortunately, walk-on and former UVA Club Tennis player Taylor Wingo couldn’t survive Hadley Berg and freshman Erica Susi put up a brave fight against a Top 60 opponent before dropping the final 12 games of her match. If Virginia wants to be considered a contender at the National Indoors this weekend, they’ll need to have Skylar Morton, Meghan Kelley and Victoria Olivarez back ASAP.
1. Berg/Cline (USC) def. Elbaba/Nauta (UVA), 6-2
2. Collins/Susi (UVA) vs. Dailey/Martins (USC), 3-3, unfinished
3. USC by forfeit
Singles
1. #4 Danielle Collins (UVA, 12.07 UTR) def. #43 Paige Cline (USC, 10.98 UTR), 6-0, 6-1
2. #8 Julia Elbaba (UVA, 11.80 UTR) def. Caroline Dailey (USC, 10.24 UTR), 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. #30 Stephanie Nauta (UVA, 10.93 UTR) def. Brigit Folland (USC, 10.30 UTR), 6-1, 6-1
4. #54 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (USC, 10.49 UTR) def. Erica Susi (UVA, 10.13 UTR), 3-6, 6-0, 6-0
5. Hadley Berg (USC, 10.34 UTR) def. Taylor Wingo (UVA, 8.16 UTR), 6-1, 6-3
6. USC by forfeit
#25 Ole Miss 4, #8 Stanford 3
Stanford fell to Ole Miss with the final match coming down to freshman Kimberly Yee, who’s junior career has been plagued by injuries. Senior Maija Milutinovic took the court last and survived the tension and pressure of 3-3. It’s worth noting that the one straight-set match was captured by Krista Hardebeck, who hasn’t had the most-standout career many thought she’d have. I’ve read that she’s been working hard and to expect a solid season from the Senior this year. Natalie Suk will also be a ranked player this year, using the serve and aggressive game passed down from her father, Cyril. Fantastic win for the sophomore over Caroline Doyle.
This result is a bit of a preview of the season Stanford will have to endure in a “rebuilding” year. On Saturday, they lost to #1 Vanderbilt 4-1, marking their win-loss percentage to under .500 for the first time in program history. Carol Zhao is taking the quarter off to play pro events and Fed Cup for Canada and will be playing the final half of the season before leaving the Cardinal and becoming a full-time professional. Stanford has a lineup to contend for a deep run at a National title when complete and healthy. With a hard Pac-12 schedule, some upsets will have to occur for Stanford to earn a top seeding at NCAAs.
Doubles
1. #47 El Kamash/Hartono (OM) def. #10 Davidson/Doyle (STAN) 6-4
2. Lord/Yee (STAN) def. Sanford/Suk (OM) 6-4
3. Hardebeck/Lampl (STAN) def. Khairudinova/Jandric (OM) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*
1. #84 Arianne Hartono (OM10.72 UTR) def. #20 Taylor Davidson (STAN 11.34 UTR) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
2. Natalie Suk (OM, 10.57 UTR) def. #39 Caroline Doyle (STAN, 11.26 UTR) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
3. Krista Hardebeck (STAN, 10.89 UTR) def. #55 Mai El Kamash (OM, 10.23 UTR) 6-2, 6-4
4. #44 Tea Jandric (OM, 10.42 UTR) def. Melissa Lord (STAN, 10.60 UTR) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
5. Caroline Lampl (STAN, 10.95 UTR) def. Zalina Khairudinova (OM, 10.15 UTR) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. Marija Milutinovic (OM, 9.54 UTR) def. Kimberly Yee (STAN, 10.20 UTR) 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 5, 2, 4, 6*
Doubles
1. Brienne Minor/Mira Ruder-Hook (UM) vs. #6 Anna Sanford/Miho Kowase (OSU) 5-5, unfinished
2. Gabriella De Santis/Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU) def. Ronit Yurovsky/Alex Najarian (UM) 6-2
3. Olivia Sneed/Francesca Di Lorenzo (OSU) def. Kate Fahey/Sara Remynse (UM) 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3*
Singles competition
1. #2 Francesca Di Lorenzo (OSU 12.02 UTR) def. #17 Ronit Yurovsky (UM 11.23 UTR) 7-6(7), 6-4
2. #19 Brienne Minor (UM, 11.36 UTR) def. Gabriella De Santis (OSU, 10.31 UTR) 6-2, 7-5
3. #107 Kate Fahey (UM, 10.95 UTR) def. Anna Sanford (OSU, 10.52 UTR) 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2)
4. Miho Kowase (OSU, 10.33 UTR) def. Mira Ruder-Hook (UM, 10.04 UTR) 7-5, 6-4
5. Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU, 10.48 UTR) vs. Alex Najarian (UM, 10.41 UTR) 6-3, 5-7, 3-2, unf
6. Olivia Sneed (OSU, 9.75 UTR) def. Sara Remynse (UM, 9.92 UTR) 6-3, 6-1
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