LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 25 Stanford opened its NCAA Tournament with a 4-1, first-round victory over No. 56 FIU in Lubbock, Texas on Friday morning.
The win was the program’s 170th NCAA Tournament win all-time, as the Cardinal now owns a 170-23 postseason mark. Stanford advances to tomorrow’s second round, where it will face the winner of No. 12 Texas Tech and Boston U. at 11 a.m. PT on Saturday morning.
The Cardinal dropped doubles for the fourth consecutive dual, but the return of Alexandra Yepifanova has provided a boost to Stanford’s singles depth. The two-time All-American picked up her second win of the season at No. 5 over Dana Baidaulet, 6-3, 6-2. Yepifanova made her season debut less than a month ago on April 11, her first competitive match in nearly 11 months after undergoing offseason surgery followed by a quarter abroad.
The senior’s win came after the Cardinal’s 2025 All-Americans took care of business on the top courts. Connie Ma cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 97 Ekaterina Khairutdinova on court 1, while ACC Freshman of the Year Valerie Glozman was not far behind, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over No. 99 Oyinlomo Quadre on court 2.
The clincher came from Caroline Driscoll on court 3, a 6-4, 7-5 win against Valery Gynina. The mid-year transfer picked up her first career NCAA Tournament victory with the result, which was her team-leading fifth clincher of the season.
#25 Stanford 4, #56 FIU 1
DOUBLES
1) #27 Valerie Glozman/Connie Ma (STAN) d. Katerina Mandelikova/Oyinlomo Quadre (FIU) 6-2
2) Valery Gynina/Ekaterina Khairutdinova (FIU) d. Caroline Driscoll/Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-3
3) Dana Baidaulet/Aleksandra Simeva (FIU) d. Chidimma Okpara/Morgan Shaffer (STAN) 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
1) #12 Connie Ma (STAN) d. #97 Ekaterina Khairutdinova (FIU) 6-1, 6-2
2) #8 Valerie Glozman (STAN) d. #99 Oyinlomo Quadre (FIU) 6-3, 6-3
3) #88 Caroline Driscoll (STAN) d. Valery Gynina (FIU) 6-4, 7-5
4) Valencia Xu (STAN) led Katerina Mandelikova (FIU) 7-6 (5), 2-3 unf.
5) Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. Dana Baidaulet (FIU) 6-3, 6-2
6) Chidimma Okpara (STAN) led Aleksandra Simeva (FIU) 7-5, 3-3 unf.
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 3