Wednesday three of the top four singles players met at Burnsville. #1 Phlower Vang of Highland won two of those matches, but the second win was an injury forfeit win because #4 Jasmine Tran of Burnsville went down with what appeared to be a knee injury after the first point of the second set. Tran won the first set. Just looking at sets the records were
Vang 2-1
Tsephel 2-2
Tran 1-2
Add in the margin and
Vang +4, +8, -6 overall +6
Tran -4, -4, +6 overall -2
Tsephel +4, +4, -4, -8 overall -4
Only in the first match of the day were both players fresh. Fatigue and a drop in production affected both Tsephel and Vang. Tsephel’s production in winners were 14-15-11-6 while Vang’s winners also declined 15-12-10. Tran, who had some time to recover between the first and third match was the only player to see an increase (or at least stabilization) in winners as the day went on 7-11-11.
Some other points of emphasis: Vang’s side out % against Tsephel in the first set of their match was .700, the best of the day. The only other side out % above .600 was Tsephel’s against Tran in the first set of their match .667.
MATCH 1: TSEPHEL V TRAN
Tsephel built up a huge lead in set one at 14-4 with runs on service two and four, but Tran bounced back quickly with a day’s best (tied) run of eight to get to 14-12. Hitting errors were the main fuel in that run for Tran including three straight two stroke errors. Tsephel ended up with six net errors, mostly on the soft drives that failed to go the distance. On Tsephel’s eighth service she added a run of three. Tran got to within one three times prior to that. Tran mistakenly thought the match was over at 20-17 and had to return to action.The drive was the winner of choice for Tsephel with six in the first set.
Tsephel had another quick start to the second set getting off to a 7-1 lead thanks to a run of five on service number two which was initiated with three straight smashes. Tran was able to squeeze points off of service four straight times to close the gap to 11-10 with her only run coming on service four. Six straight side outs kept the margins between two and one. A missed serve opened up a last three-point run coming on Tsephel’s eleventh service which put her at the brink. Tsephel utilized six smashes for winners in this set.
| Category | TSEPHEL | TRAN |
| Side out | 12/20-.600 | 9/19-.474 |
| Longest side out string | 3 | 4 |
| 3+ Runs | 5 | 1 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 8 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 2 | 1 |
| First point | 1, 2 | |
| Service points | 21 | 15 |
| Serving % | 41/41-1.000 | 33/35-.943 |
| Point generated off serve | .500 | .441 |
| POINTS | 21, 21-42 | 17, 17-34 |
| Points after 11 | 20 | 22 |
| Points after own errors | 10 | 8 |
| Winners after own errors | 6 | 8 |
| STROKES | 177 | 149 |
| Strokes per point | 4.214 | 4.382 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 13 | 10 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 11 | 10 |
| WINNERS | 14, 15-29 | 7, 11-18 |
| Aces | 1 | 0 |
| Blocks | 3 | 0 |
| Clears | 6 | 6 |
| Drives | 7 | 3 |
| Drops | 1 | 0 |
| Soft drives | 3 | 1 |
| Smashes | 8 | 8 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 13 | 15 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 6 | 6 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 16 | 3 |
| ERRORS | 10, 6-16 | 6, 6-12 |
| Deep | 0 | 1 |
| Net | 11 | 5 |
| Wide | 5 | 4 |
| Serve | 0 | 2 |
| Even stroke errors | 13 | 5 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 4 | 2 |
| Odd stroke errors | 3 | 7 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 10 | 8 |
| Right | 19 | 10 |
| Largest Lead | 10, 6 | 0, 0 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.813 | 1.500 |
| Margin | 4.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/4-.500 | |
| Time | 17:06 |
MATCH TWO: VANG V TSEPHEL
Tsephel opened with the first run on service two for a 4-1 lead. Vang then burst out with a day’s high run of eight (tied) to take a 9-4 lead. Tsephel tied the set right back at nine with her last run of five. The match was at a stalemate until Vang broke free on service nine after being held scoreless on four straight serves with a run of three to make it 18-15. Vang’s favorite winner in this set was the soft drive for five points.
Vang got runs on the first three services on the way to a big 10-2 lead. Tsephel responded with her only run of that set with four to get to 10-6. Vang blew the game open with a run of seven on her seventh service to get to the cusp at 20-11. In this set the drop was Vang’s favorite shot with five winners. Vang closed this match with a 8-2 finish.
| Category | VANG | TSEPHEL |
| Side out | 10/17-.588 | 9/17-.529 |
| Longest side out string | 5 | 4 |
| 3+ Runs | 6 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 8 | 5 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | |
| First point | 2 | 1 |
| Service points | 25 | 13 |
| Serving % | 42/42-1.000 | 29/30-.967 |
| Point generated off serve | .595 | .433 |
| POINTS | 21, 21-42 | 17, 13-30 |
| Points after 11 | 20 | 15 |
| Points after own errors | 7 | 9 |
| Winners after own errors | 73 | 3 |
| STROKES | 148 | 138 |
| Strokes per point | 3.524 | 4.600 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 10 | 14 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 14 | 2 |
| WINNERS | 15, 12-27 | 11, 6-17 |
| Aces | 2 | 0 |
| Blocks | 1 | 0 |
| Clears | 4 | 7 |
| Drives | 1 | 1 |
| Drops | 8 | 1 |
| Soft drives | 7 | 4 |
| Smashes | 4 | 4 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 8 | 8 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 6 | 2 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 19 | 9 |
| ERRORS | 6, 7-13 | 6, 9-15 |
| Deep | 1 | 1 |
| Net | 8 | 6 |
| Wide | 4 | 67 |
| Serve | 0 | 1 |
| Even stroke errors | 4 | 7 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 0 | 4 |
| Odd stroke errors | 9 | 8 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 9 | 8 |
| Right | 18 | 9 |
| Largest Lead | 5, 9 | 3, 0 |
| W:E Ratio | 2.077 | 1.133 |
| Margin | 6.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/5-.400 | |
| Time | 18:39 |
GAME 3: VANG v TRAN
This match was abbreviated due to Tran’s injury on the first point of the second set. She went back to clear the bird and landed awkwardly on one leg. The bird sailed deep for Vang’s point.
In set one Tran got the jump with a run of five on her first service establishing a 5-1 lead. Vang added three, but then Tran tacked on another run of six to hold an 11-4 advantage. Vang had a last run of four on her seventh service closing the gap to 17-13. Tran’s smash game was evident with eight winners, six coming on side outs to Vang’s service, with four coming on the two stroke.
| Category | TRAN | VANG |
| Side out | 5/9-.556 | 4/9-.444 |
| Longest side out string | 3 | 1 |
| 3+ Runs | 2 | 2 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 4 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 2 | 1 |
| First point | 1, 2 | |
| Service points | 12 | 7 |
| Serving % | 21/21-1.000 | 14/16-.875 |
| Point generated off serve | .571 | .438 |
| POINTS | 21 | 16 |
| Points after 11 | 10 | 11 |
| Points after own errors | 3 | 4 |
| Winners after own errors | 2 | 2 |
| STROKES | 72 | 62 |
| Strokes per point | 3.429 | 3.875 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 6 | 4 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 12 | 3 |
| WINNERS | 11 | 10 |
| Aces | 0 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 3 | 3 |
| Drives | 0 | 2 |
| Drops | 0 | 2 |
| Soft drives | 0 | 1 |
| Smashes | 8 | 2 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 6 | 6 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 4 | 1 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 5 | 4 |
| ERRORS | 6 | 10 |
| Deep | 4 | 0 |
| Net | 0 | 7 |
| Wide | 2 | 1 |
| Serve | 0 | 2 |
| Even stroke errors | 2 | 7 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 2 | 6 |
| Odd stroke errors | 4 | 3 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 6 | 4 |
| Right | 5 | 6 |
| Largest Lead | 8, 0 | 1, 1 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.833 | 1.000 |
| Margin | 2.50 | |
| Set Point % | ½-.500 | |
| Time | 9:15 |
The first doubles recaps will probably come out on Friday at the earliest. I have to digest and tabulate the information.