HARDING 6, CENTRAL 1
It was a good Knight for Harding as they topped Central 6-1 in an early (four o’clock) start in St. Paul action on Thursday. The Minutemen’s only victory came at third singles, and that came in three sets, one of two matches that went the distance today. Even with that doubles win, the margins were actually closer (slightly) in the singles department. Fourth singles also went the distance and Harding’s Gaohli Vang had to rally after losing the first set. The final set in that contest went to extra points, the only one of the day. The trend lines showed that Harding gained strength at singles as the match went on, while Central improved their scores at doubles.
This marks the last two teams I needed to chart in the St. Paul conference. It also was the third straight day of charting two fresh teams, and the third straight day of completing a conference—starting with Minneapolis on Tuesday, and the Tri-Metro (only two teams) on Wednesday.
SINGLES
1. Kanlaya Thao, H def Zadie H 21-13, 21-8
2. Kimberly Tobar, H def Mayson Y 21-10, 21-8
3. Ana Xiong, H def Lennon F 21-18, 21-11
4. Gaohli Vang, H def Lucy D 17-21, 21-19, 23-21
DOUBLES
1. Shia Lee / Christina Chang, H def Clara/ Maggie 21-7, 21-3
2. Lilian Reiter / August Say, H def Lile / Susanna 21-15, 21-8
3. Red / Mai Shia, C def Melody Yang / Kasey Yang 13-21, 21-11, 21-19
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Harding 4-0 1.000
Games: Harding 8-1 .889
points: Harding 187-129 .592
Set 1 points: Harding 80-62 .563
Set 2 points: Harding 84-46 .646
Set 3 points: Harding 23-21 .522
decided by 10+: Harding 4-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Harding 3-0 1.000
margin: Harding 6.444
DOUBLES
Matches: Harding 2-1 .667
Games: Harding 5-2 .714
points: Harding 135-88 .605
Set 1 points: Harding 63-35 .643
Set 2 points: Harding 53-32 .624
Set 3 points: Central 21-19 .525
decided by 10+: Harding 3-1 .750
decided by 3-: Central 1-0 1.000
margin: Harding 6.714
FIRST SINGLES
KANLAYA THAO 2, ZADIE H 0
(22-12, 21-8)
Harding’s Kanlaya Thao, who has been the number one ranked singles player all year, showed why she holds that spot with a two set win over Central’s Zadie. The typical winner advantages held sway today with side outs close to 70% for Thao and a plus thirteen advantage in winners. The light and shadow of the winners was evident in favorite shots with soft drives scoring six times in set one and smashes going for four in set two. Thao did not score a smash in set one. Clears were consistent throughout. One thing stood out from recent matches I charted—-rally lengths. Rallies lasting longer than five strokes bet the “quick” points 25-18. For example, Monday it was flipped 23-36, Tuesday even more severe 10-34, and Wednesday 6-16. This indicates the level of play was higher.
Set one started with Zadie scoring the first run and the first three points. This didn’t seem to phase Thao, who took control on her third service with her first run (seven points). After a side out she continued to ring up the points with another run, this time nine points. My count at this point was 20-6. For some reason both players were off. I had the first set over at 21-8—-oddly enough the same score as set two. Zadie held off set point four times before a six stroke clear ended set one.
It set two the tone was established right away with a marathon 17 stroke soft drive won by Thao. That got the ball (or bird) rolling with the first five points going in Thao’s column, the last three on clears. Zadie did not help her cause with two straight missed serves on her first two attempts in the second set. Thao added a run on her third serve and fifth while Zadie was shut out. In fact the only point scored on serve came on Zadie’s seventh serve.
| Category | THAO | ZADIE |
| Side out | 9/13-.692 | 4/13-.308 |
| Longest side out string | 6 | 1 |
| 3+ Runs | 6 | 2 |
| Longest point string | 9 | 4 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 2 | 1 |
| First point | 2 | 1 |
| Service points | 30 | 8 |
| Serving % | 41/42-.976 | 19/21-.905 |
| Point generated off serve | .698 | .400 |
| POINTS | 43 | 20 |
| Points after 11 | 21 | 11 |
| Points after own errors | 6 | 5 |
| Winners after own errors | 3 | 3 |
| STROKES | 192 | 91 |
| Strokes per point | 4.465 | 4.55 |
| 5+ rallies | 15 | 10 |
| 2- rallies | 13 | 5 |
| WINNERS | 24 | 9 |
| Aces | 0 | 1 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 9 | 5 |
| Drives | 1 | 1 |
| Drops | 2 | 0 |
| Soft drives | 8 | 1 |
| Smashes | 4 | 1 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 7 | 5 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 2 | 1 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 17 | 4 |
| ERRORS | 11 | 19 |
| Deep | 4 | 4 |
| Net | 2 | 6 |
| Wide | 4 | 7 |
| Serve | 1 | 2 |
| Even stroke errors | 6 | 13 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 2 | 7 |
| Odd stroke errors | 5 | 6 |
| Largest Lead | 13, 13 | 3, 0 |
| W:E Ratio | 2.182 | .474 |
| Margin | 11.50 | |
| Set Point % | 2/5-.400 | |
| Time | 14:08 |