This Week in Sports activities: Girls’s water polo repeats as NCAA Champion
Welcome to This Week in Sports activities. We’re The Every day’s sports activities editors, Madeline Grabb and Ells Boone, and we’ll be strolling you thru the most important video games, occasions and tales from the previous week, in addition to offering a short preview of what’s developing this week.
No. 1 ladies’s water polo efficiently defended its NCAA crown on Sunday, beating No. 2 USC for the second consecutive yr to seize Stanford’s ninth nationwide championship in program historical past. The Cardinal dominated Biola within the quarterfinals 23-0, however confronted barely extra resistance from No. 3 UCLA within the semis earlier than prevailing 14-9. After Stanford took an early lead within the championship match, the Trojans fought again and saved the rating shut. However the Cardinal ultimately closed it out for an 11-9 victory, and they’re going to return to the Farm with Stanford’s second NCAA title of the tutorial yr so far.
No. 1 ladies’s golf obtained one step nearer to defending its nationwide title with a commanding victory on the NCAA Pullman Regional this week to ebook Stanford’s thirteenth consecutive NCAA Championship look. The Cardinal led all through the competitors and completed 50-under to tie the present program report. Sophomore Rose Zhang additionally shot 19-under to assert the person crown, whereas her teammate junior Sadie Englemann took second place with 15-under. The Grayhawk Golf Membership in Scottsdale, Ariz. will play host to the NCAA Championships, the place the Cardinal will start their NCAA marketing campaign in earnest on Friday.
No. 7 ladies’s tennis hosted the NCAA Tremendous Regionals, dispatching No. 10 Ohio State on Friday at Taube Household Tennis Middle. The Cardinal clinched the doubles level, after which victories within the first, third and fifth slots gave them the win, 4-1. A formidable opponent in No. 2 Texas A&M awaits Stanford within the quarterfinals, to be performed on Wednesday in Orlando, Fla.
Sunday additionally noticed No. 4 ladies’s rowing win its second straight Pac-12 title, outpacing convention rivals to safe the championship and assure the Cardinal an automated bid to the upcoming NCAA regatta. Stanford bested Washington by 3.5 factors, because the Huskies completed second and Cal rounded out the highest three. The Cardinal, who completed NCAA runner-up in 2021 and 2022 to Texas, will shut out their season at this yr’s nationwide championships in Camden County, N.J. starting Could 26.
No. 7 softball opened the inaugural Pac-12 Match with a resilient victory over No. 17 Oregon on Thursday. Discovering themselves trailing, the Cardinal registered all 4 of their runs through the remaining two innings to attain a 4-3 win and progress to the subsequent spherical. However Stanford couldn’t pull off an upset the next day towards No. 2 UCLA, and the Bruins gained 1-0. The Cardinal will host the NCAA Regionals because the ninth seed, and start match play towards Lengthy Seaside State on Friday.
No. 4 baseball began a packed week with a 20-17 victory on the highway over Santa Clara on Tuesday. Stanford then returned house and captured the Pac-12 title with a sequence win over Arizona. After a pair of wins on Friday and Saturday, the Cardinal fell in a high-scoring thriller on Sunday, with the Wildcats popping out on prime 21-20. Nevertheless, Stanford’s pair of victories nonetheless secured the Cardinal their second straight Pac-12 title. Subsequent week, the Cardinal have three away matchups towards Washington State to shut out convention play.
Unseeded No. 21 males’s tennis fell in a detailed twin match to No. 4 Kentucky in its NCAA Tremendous Regionals. Although Stanford earned the doubles level, the following singles play was extremely contested. It got here right down to a three-set battle within the sixth slot, which Kentucky gained to outlive and advance to the subsequent spherical. Athletes now look to the approaching NCAA singles and doubles tournaments, that are set to happen on the finish of the month.
No. 8 males’s rowing joined the ladies’s workforce in Oregon for its personal Pac-12 Championships. The Cardinal additionally defended their putting from a yr in the past, ending fourth. Cal gained the day by tallying 72 factors. The Bears have been joined on the rostrum by Washington and Oregon State. Stanford completed simply outdoors of the highest three with 42 factors. Subsequent up for the Cardinal are the IRA Championships starting on June 2.
Monitor & Subject additionally was profitable on the Pac-12 meet, as the lads positioned third general and the ladies completed fourth. Highlights for Stanford included freshman Alyssa Jones breaking a college report that had stood for over three many years to win the ladies’s lengthy soar, sophomore Udodi Onwuzurike topping the sphere within the males’s 200 meters, junior Kevin Yang successful the lads’s triple soar and freshman Juliette Whittaker capturing the title within the ladies’s 800 meters. Postseason motion continues for the Cardinal, with the NCAA West Prelims scheduled for Could 24-27.
