Category: Women’s College Tennis

Stanford and California Atop ITA 2016 Women’s Rankings

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The May 25th season-ending Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) women’s team rankings (http://www.itatennis.com/) saw Stanford and California at the top of the polls. Both schools are from the PAC-12.

The SEC conference had three top ten teams – Florida, Vanderbilt, and Georgia. The ACC also had two teams in the top 10, North Carolina and Miami.

Six of the top 10 teams moved up in the rankings compared to the January 5th rankings, two remained in the same position, and two teams fell in the rankings but remained in the top 10.

By the end of the season, USC, Virginia, UCLA, and Texas A&M had fallen out of the top 10 rankings (January 5th).

May 25, 2016 Ranking January 5, 2016 ranking School Conference
1 8 Stanford PAC-12
2 6 California PAC-12
3 3 University of Florida SEC
4 tie-4 North Carolina ACC
5 1 Vanderbilt University SEC
6 18 Ohio State University Big 10
7 tie-4 University of Georgia SEC
8 12 Oklahoma State University Big 12
9 19 Pepperdine WCC
10 13 University of Miami (Florida) ACC

As expected there was minimal movement in the singles rankings between January 5th and June 1st, with a couple of exceptions.

June 1, 2016 ranking January 5, 2016 Ranking Player School Conference
1 4 Danielle Collins Virginia ACC
2 6 Hayley Carter North Carolina ACC
3 14 Luisa Stefani Pepperdine WCC
4 2 Francesca Di Lorenzo Ohio State Big 10
5 12 Ellen Perez University of Georgia SEC
6 7 Sinead Lohan University of Miami (Florida) ACC
7 16 Breaunna Addison Texas Big 12
8 11 Brooke Austin Florida ACC
9 5 Maegan Manasse California PAC-12
10 9 Stephanie Wagner University of Miami (Florida) ACC

The following players fell out of the top 10 rankings over the course of the season:
• In the January 5th poll, Joana Eidukonyte, Clemson, was ranked first; she finished the season in the 30th position.
• Belinda Woolcock of Florida was ranked 3rd on January 5th, but fell to 15th by the end of the season.
• Julia Elbaba, Virginia, was ranked 8th at the start of the season and dropped to 13th.
• Finally Klara Fabikova, California, began the season ranked 10th and finished in the 16th position.

The ACC dominated the top 10 singles rankings with 5 players. Miami had two players ranked in the top 10.

The results of this year’s team and individual tournaments were interesting in the sense that the number one team in the country Stanford only had one singles player ranked in the top 25. Carol Zhao was ranked 24th.

Having strong depth is much different than having the top players in the country. Some teams have depth, some have strong players, and a few have both. That is what makes college tennis so exciting.

Midseason Women’s Division One ITA Rankings

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The January 5th ITA rankings provided a rough guide about which D1 women’s teams would be ranked at midseason. When comparing the January 5th and April 5th ITA rankings it can be seen that only 3 of the top 10 teams in January improved their rankings while 7 teams had lower rankings. In fact 5 of the original top ten teams had fallen out of the top 10. The most notable was USC which was no longer ranked.

January 5th Ranking School Conference April 5th Ranking
1 Vanderbilt SEC 5
2 USC PAC-12 NR
3 Florida SEC 6
4 North Carolina ACC 2
5 Georgia SEC 4
6 California PAC-12 1
7 Virginia ACC 15
8 Stanford PAC-12 18
9 UCLA PAC-12 23
10 Texas A&M SEC 18

The newcomers to the April 5th top 10 were Ohio State, Miami, Duke, Pepperdine, and South Carolina.

The April 5th rankings featured 4 SEC teams, 3 ACC teams, and 1 team from the WCC, Big 10, and PAC-12

April 5th Ranking School Conference January 5th Ranking
1 California PAC-12 6
2 North Carolina ACC 2
3 Ohio State University Big 10 18
4 University of Georgia SEC 4T
5 Vanderbilt University SEC 1
6 University of Florida SEC 3
7 University of Miami (Florida) ACC 13
8 Duke University ACC 16
9 Pepperdine WCC 19
10 University of South Carolina SEC 28

A similar drop off can be seen when comparing the January 5th and April 5th top 10 singles rankings. Two players dropped out of the top 10.

Only 3 of the athletes improved their rankings, 6 had lower rankings, and 1 athlete had the same ranking as in January.

January 5 2016 Ranking Player School April 5 2016 Ranking
1 Joana Eidukonyte Clemson 24
2 Francesca Di Lorenzo Ohio State 4
3 Belinda Woolcock Florida 9
4 Danielle Collins Virginia 3
5 Maegan Manasse California 10
6 Hayley Carter North Carolina 1
7 Sinead Lohan Miami (FL) 7
8 Julia Elbaba Virginia 17
9 Stephanie Wagner Miami (FL) 5
10 Klara Fabikova California 12

The newcomers to the April 5th top 10 ITA rankings were Luisa Stefani, Pepperdine; Ellen Perez, Georgia; and Brooke Austin, Florida.

April 5 2016 Ranking Player School January 5 2016 Ranking
1 Hayley Carter North Carolina 6
2 Luisa Stefani Pepperdine 14
3 Danielle Collins University of Virginia 4
4 Francesca Di Lorenzo Ohio State University 2
5 Stephanie Wagner University of Miami (Florida) 9
6 Ellen Perez University of Georgia 12
7 Sinead Lohan University of Miami (Florida) 7
8 Brooke Austin University of Florida 11
9 Belinda Woolcock University of Florida 3
10 Maegan Manasse California 5

Stay tuned, we’ll see what the top 10 looks like at the end of the season.

 

SEC and ACC Dominate Women’s D1 ITA Rankings

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On January 5th, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its pre-season poll for the women’s Division I NCAA tennis season. It comes as no surprise that the initial 2015-2016 rankings are only slightly different from the final 2014-2015 ITA rankings.

Only 13 conferences are represented in the top 50 teams with the SEC and ACC filling 22 of the 50 slots. The number of teams from each conference are listed in the table below.

# of Teams Conference
12 SEC
10 ACC
6 Big 10
6 Big 12
5 PAC-12
2 AAC
2 Ivy League
2 West Coast Conference
1 Big East
1 Big West
1 Colonial Athletic Association
1 C-USA
1 MVC

The January 5th ITA rankings of the top 10 singles players are  dominated by athletes from the ACC. Six of the top 10 players are from 4 schools in the  ACC, two are from the PAC 12, and one player is from the SEC and Big 10.

ITA Ranking Avg Player School Conference
1 64.91 Joana Eidukonyte Clemson ACC
2 64.81 Francesca Di Lorenzo Ohio State Big 10
3 60.17 Belinda Woolcock Florida SEC
4 56.35 Danielle Collins Virginia ACC
5 56.14 Maegan Manasse California PAC-12
6 54.31 Hayley Carter North Carolina ACC
7 53.23 Sinead Lohan Miami (FL) ACC
8 52.78 Julia Elbaba Virginia ACC
9 49.28 Stephanie Wagner Miami (FL) ACC
10 49.25 Klara Fabikova California PAC-12

While it is fun to follow the polls throughout the season, the early rankings (February and early March) may not be a good indicator of what is really happening. The rankings become more reliable once teams complete their preseason matches and are well into their conference season.

ITA Ranking School 2014-15 Final Rank Conference
1 Vanderbilt 1 SEC
2 USC 2 PAC-12
3 Florida 6 SEC
4 North Carolina 4 ACC
4 Georgia 5 SEC
6 California 7 PAC-12
7 Virginia 9 ACC
8 Stanford 11 PAC-12
9 UCLA 3 PAC-12
10 Texas A&M 10 SEC
11 Baylor 8 Big 12
12 Oklahoma State 12 Big 12
13 Miami 15 ACC
14 Michigan 13 Big 10
15 Alabama 14 SEC
16 Duke 19 ACC
17 Texas Tech 16 Big 12
18 Ohio State 21 Big 10
19 Pepperdine 22 West Coast Conference
20 Clemson 18 ACC
21 LSU 23 SEC
22 TCU 17 Big 12
23 Georgia Tech 20 ACC
24 Kentucky 25 SEC
25 Mississippi 24 SEC
26 Northwestern 26 Big 10
27 Arizona State 27 PAC-12
28 South Carolina 29 SEC
29 Mississippi State 32 SEC
30 Virginia Tech 30 ACC
31 Rice 28 C-USA
32 Dartmouth 31 Ivy League
33 Notre Dame 36 ACC
34 DePaul 33 Big East
35 Oklahoma 35 Big 12
36 Arkansas 38 SEC
37 Florida State 39 ACC
38 Houston 34 AAC
39 Wichita State 41 MVC
40 Long Beach State 40 Big West
41 Texas 37 Big 12
42 Auburn 46 SEC
43 Princeton 42 Ivy League
44 Purdue 43 Big 10
45 Saint Mary's (CA) 44 West Coast Conference
46 William & Mary 49 Colonial Athletic Association
47 Tulsa 51 AAC
47 Penn State 47 Big 10
49 Boston College 50 ACC
50 Indiana 48 Big 10

It will be interesting to see if Vanderbilt ends the season in the top spot and if Joana Eidukonyte captures the D1 singles title.

Lady Buff Nuria Ormeño Ruiz Qualifies for NIIC

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University of Colorado junior Nuria Ormeño Ruiz won the USTA/ITA Mountain Region Championship on Sunday (October 18). She is the first Lady Buff to capture the regional singles title.

After losing the first set, Ormeño Ruiz rebounded to defeat the University of Denver’s Julia O’Loughlin by a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The cubuffs.com website reported that the match began outdoors and was moved inside for the final set because of inclement weather.

With the win, Ormeño Ruiz automatically qualified for the USTA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in New York City on Nov. 12-15. This marks the first time the Buffs have had a singles player competing in the NIIC.  Last season Julyette Steur and Kyra Wojcik were the first Lady Buffs doubles team to qualify for the tournament.

Ormeño Ruiz was born in Madrid, Spain and graduated from the Emilio Sanchez International School in Barcelona. The cubuffs.com website indicates she entered the fall season with 38 singles and 25 doubles career victories as a Lady Buff.

The Lady Buffs have had a strong fall season and will begin the spring season on January 17 in Boulder against Air Force. Make plans now to support the Lady Buffs during their PAC-12 play.

Nuria Ormeño Ruiz

Lady Buffs Tennis Playing Stronger in PAC-12 Competition

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It is an understatement to say that the move to the PAC-12 has been a challenge for the CU Lady Buffs Tennis team. The PAC-12 is arguably the toughest tennis conference in the U.S.

This past season the Lady Buffs defeated only Washington State, but lost 4-3 heart breakers to Oregon and Utah. With a little luck and a healthy team, CU would have won both matches.

In the Championship Draw of the PAC-12 tournament the Lady Buffs played competitive matches:
• (First Round) Julyette Steur lost a tough match to Krista Hardebeck of Stanford 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
• (First Round) Tina Bokhua fell to Zoe Scandalis of USC in the first round, 6-3, 7-5. Scandalis made it to the semifinals.
• (First Round Doubles) Julyette Steur and Ashley Tiefel bowed out to Giuliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis of USC 8-3.

Lady Buffs Tennis
Lady Buffs Tennis – Alex Aiello

In the Invitational Singles Bracket the Lady Buffs got on the scoreboard:
• (First round)Ashley Tiefel was soundly defeated Elena Najera-Salas, Utah, 6-3, 6-1.
• (First round) Kyra Wojcik Colorado was edged by Zoe Katz, USC, 6-3, 7-5.
• (First round) Alex Aiello upset 8th seed Kristin Wiley, UCLA, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
• (Second round) Aiello defeated Alexia Petrovic, Utah, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
• (Quarterfinals) Aiello lost decisively to #2 seed, Meredith Xepoleas, USC, 6-0, 6-2. Xepoleas went on to win the tournament.
In this bracket the Lady Buffs won a total of two matches, while losing three.

Lady Buffs Tennis - Tina Bokhua
Lady Buffs Tennis – Tina Bokhua

The Lady Buffs also fared well in the Invitational Doubles Bracket:

• (First Round) Alex Aiello and Nuria Ormeno-Ruiz edged Krista Hardebeck and Paulette Wolak, Stanford, 8-6.
• (First Round) Tina Bokhua and Kyra Wojcik beat Gussie O’Sullivan and Ebony Panoho, ASU, 8-4.
• (Quarterfinals) Aiello and Ormeno-Ruiz beat Alexandra Osborne and Leighann Sahagun, ASU, 8-5.
• (Quarterfinals) Bokhua and Wojcik lost to Jena Cheng and Sarah Richter, Utah, 8-5.
• (Semifinals) Aiello and Ormeno-Ruiz lost to Capucine Gregoire and Riko Shimizu, Washington, 8-6.
In this bracket the Lady Buffs won a total of three matches, while losing two.

Hopefully this is a sign of more wins for Lady Buffs Tennis in the upcoming seasons.

Best College Tennis Players in Country Go Unnoticed in Boulder

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The best college tennis players in the country recently went unnoticed in Boulder. The  city has a poor track record of supporting (watching) great sports performances.  Boulderites would rather play than watch – which isn’t all bad.

Over a 10 day period (March 14th to March 24th) Colorado tennis fans had an opportunity to see the future of American women’s professional tennis in Boulder as the 74th-ranked Lady Buffs tennis team played USC (12th), Cal (16th), UCLA (2), and Stanford (4). Eleven of the PAC-12 visiting opponents are currently in the top 30 of the ITA singles rankings.

Zoe Scandalis, #1 Player USC, against CU Buffs. Scandalis is one of the top college tennis players in the country.
Zoe Scandalis, #1 Player, University of Southern California, in match against CU Lady Buffs.

The USC powerhouse is led by #1 player Zoe Scandalis (see photo) and includes a group of 9 elite junior players from California and 1 player from Mississippi. All were highly-ranked junior players who participated in a variety of USTA programs.

On the other hand Cal’s team is comprised of a mix of accomplished American and International players. For example, Hungarian Zsofi Susanyi, #3 singles player, advanced to the singles finals at the 2009 Junior Wimbledon.

The Stanford team includes 5 Californians, two East Coast players, and a Canadian. Three of the six players (Krista Hardebeck, Carol Zhao, and Carolyn Doyle) played in various junior Grand Slams and Kristie Ahn, #1 player, played in the main draw of the U.S. Open.

UCLA is coached by Stella Sampras, older sister of Pete Sampras. All six Bruin players (Robin Anderson, Jennifer Brady, Catherine Harrison, Chanelle Van Nguyen, Kyle McPhillips, and Courtney Dolehide) played in multiple junior Grand Slam events. In addition, one player played in the main draw of the U.S. Open. All of the players except Dolehide are currently in the top 50 of the singles ITA rankings.

It is disappointing that there weren’t more people in attendance to watch some great college tennis by the Buffs and their opponents. (Average estimated attendance for the four matches was less than 200 people.)

It is an even greater travesty that the Colorado tennis community doesn’t give the Lady Buffs the ongoing support the team deserves!

 

 

Are Women’s College Coaches Looking for Mercenaries to Fill Their Tennis Rosters?

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Right or wrong, PAC 12 women’s tennis coaches are looking outside their state to fill their tennis rosters.

The short report “Gender of Coaches and Residence of Players – PAC 12 Tennis 2013” looked at the rosters of PAC schools during the month of April 2013 and found that 32.7% of the players were in-state. Of the 101 players, 26.7% were out-of-state and the remaining 40.6% were foreign players.

A majority of the USC and Stanford players were in-state (8 of 11 and 7 of 8). Four schools did not have any in-state players, including both Washington schools, Arizona, and Oregon. ASU only had 1 in-state player.

Stanford had no foreign players and USC only had one player from out of the country.  More than half the players on the Arizona, Oregon, California, Washington, and WSU teams were from foreign countries.

For a similar analysis on men’s tennis go to the post “Are There Too Many Hired Guns in Men’s College Tennis?“