Cardinal ladies’s tennis advances in NCAA Event
No. 7 Stanford ladies’s tennis (23-2, 10-0 Pac-12) superior to the third spherical of the NCAA Event with wins over Weber State (12-9, 6-2 Large Sky) and Oklahoma State (16-8, 7-2 Large 12) on Friday and Saturday at Taube Household Tennis Middle. The Cardinal improved their nation’s-best win streak to twenty and stays impregnable at house, the place they’ve gained 102 of their final 108 matches courting again to 2010.
On Friday, Stanford met little resistance from an overmatched Weber State crew showing in its first NCAA event since 2000. All through the afternoon, the Cardinal placed on a show of shot-making, energy, precision and doubles teamwork, showcasing what makes this group so formidable.
Stanford gained the doubles level shortly. On court docket one, the No. 16-ranked crew of senior Angelica Blake and freshman Alexis Blokhina cruised to a 6-1 win, their sixteenth dual-match victory of the season. Quickly thereafter, on court docket two, sophomore Alexandra Yepifanova and freshman Emma Solar closed out their Wildcat opponents 6-1, securing the doubles level. On court docket three, the sophomore tandem of Connie Ma and Valencia Xu have been on the cusp of a straight set victory as properly when the doubles level was clinched.
The singles went equally. Graduate scholar Sara Choy completed first on court docket six, dismantling her opponent 6-1, 6-1 and bettering her document to 17-3 in twin matches this spring. Subsequent, No. 84 Blokhina dominated with a 6-0, 6-2 win on court docket 4. No. 29 Yepifanova on court docket one closed out the crew victory 6-2, 6-4, rallying from being down 0-4 within the second set. On courts two, three and 5, No. 18 Ma, No. 44 Blake and Xu additionally gave the impression to be headed to straight-set victories when the match ended.
Saturday’s matches unfolded in a different way. No. 17 Oklahoma State gave Stanford a extra rigorous take a look at, notably within the singles, however in the end the Cardinal emerged victorious 4-1, a rating not indicative of the match’s closeness.
The Cardinal seized an early lead within the match by successful the doubles. Ma and Xu, their teamwork on full show, gained their match 6-1, their tenth straight on court docket three. On court docket two, Choy and Yepifanova broke serve to go forward 4-3 and by no means relinquished the lead, successful the set 6-4 and securing the doubles level. Over on court docket one, Blake and Blokhina have been locked in a decent battle at 4-4 when the doubles concluded.
Singles play was carefully contested from the outset. Stanford and Oklahoma State every gained three first units. The Cowgirls evened the competition at 1-1 when, on court docket one, highly effective OSU participant Kristina Novak defeated Yepifanova 6-4, 7-6, with the windy situations showing to adversely have an effect on Yepifanova’s serve. It was her first dropped singles match since February.
A number of minutes later, Xu managed the baseline on court docket 5 and gained her singles match 6-3, 6-4, regaining the Cardinal lead. The remaining matches all went to 3 units. Blokhina employed her energy sport and charged again from a one-set deficit to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. With the Cardinal 1 level from victory, Ma, Blake and Choy have been all engaged in shut encounters. Blake, who had gained the primary set however dropped the second, relied on her shot selection and persistence to win 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, gaining the successful level.
Within the meantime, on court docket two, Ma was staging her personal comeback. Having fallen behind 0-4 within the first set, she gained 5 of the following six video games to tie the set at 5-5 however fell brief, shedding it 7-5. Within the second set, she rallied to a 6-1 win and was forward 4-3 within the third earlier than the match was referred to as. Choy was battling on court docket six, coming again to win the primary set in a tiebreaker, dropping the second set and forging a 3-2 lead within the third earlier than the match ended.
Afterwards, Blake and Xu spoke concerning the keys to their matches. Blake famous her opponent’s consistency and quickness and the match’s lengthy rallies, and mentioned her technique centered on “staying affected person, hanging in there and having to regulate and adapt… and to maintain combating.” Xu mentioned her objective was to “play an aggressive model of tennis” and “to remain up on the baseline as a lot as I may.”
Each commented on the significance of staying centered on their very own match and never getting distracted by watching the scoreboard. Blake additionally highlighted the crew’s depth and mentioned that “everybody’s an awesome participant,” and that “all of us think about one another and belief in one another, and that if somebody’s not having their greatest day, then a few of us have gotten it.” Xu famous the crew’s glorious general document and mentioned that the crew felt snug on its house court docket, with “family and friends within the stands and quite a bit to play for.”
The Cardinal will probably be again at Taube Household Tennis Middle for the NCAA Event’s tremendous regional spherical, internet hosting No. 10 Ohio State (22-7, 10-1 Large Ten) on Friday at 1 p.m. PT.
