WACO, Texas - Enough with its reputation as the gold standard in college tennis. Stanford also enjoys playing the role of underdog.
Not that Stanford is looking to completely cast aside its 18 national championships and 937 program victories. It’s just that the Cardinal is equally comfortable winning matches in any situation.
Swept by No. 3 California in the regular season, No. 14 Stanford picked up a victory when it mattered most by defeating the Golden Bears 4-3 on Friday evening in the NCAA Championships round of 16.
Stanford (18-5, 7-3 Pac-12) has now won 10 of its last 11 NCAA Tournament matches when seeded lower than its opponent. Believe it or not, the Cardinal has entered NCAA’s seeded higher than fifth only once (No. 1 in 2011) over the last seven years. Stanford won the 2010 NCAA championship as the No. 8 seed and two years ago became the lowest-seeded team at No. 12 to win an NCAA title.
One of those lower-seeded postseason upsets came exactly one year ago against California, when the Cardinal prevailed 4-3 in a round of 16 match that was shifted from Athens to Atlanta due to weather.
Friday’s match started the same way, sans a venue change. Scheduled to begin outdoors at noon local time, the contest was moved indoors after a 3.5-hour delay caused by rain and slow-moving play.
When it was all said and done, Carol Zhao had clinched her third match of the postseason and team-leading sixth of the year with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory over Maegan Manasse in a battle of top-five players at the No. 1 spot.
“In the third set, the team really pulled me through,” said Zhao. “After a tough second set where I had some chances to pull ahead, I really just regrouped in the third by putting the team first and that gave me a lot of energy.”
California (22-4, 9-1 Pac-12) entered the latest chapter of the rivalry with all the momentum. Boasting five top-50 singles players and two top-10 doubles teams, the Golden Bears had won 10 in a row, swept the regular season series and placed second in the rugged Pac-12.
Instead, it was Stanford beating California for the 10th time in the last 14 meetings, and reminding everyone that it must be considered an NCAA title contender regardless of seed.
Stanford captured the doubles point for a 1-0 lead. The Cardinal, which has won doubles in 18 of its 23 matches this season, secured the point when Taylor Davidson and Zhao beat Manasse and Denise Starr 8-6 at the top spot.
California moved in front 2-1 following a pair of straight-set victories from Karla Popovic on court six and Zsofi Susanyi on court four.
Davidson and Caroline Doyle then put Stanford ahead 3-2 despite both players having to shake off slow starts. Trailing 4-1 to Fabikova in the first set, Davidson ripped off 11 consecutive games to win 6-4, 6-0. Doyle faced deficits of 4-1 (first set) and 4-3 (second set) before settling down for a 6-4, 6-4 triumph.
Lynn Chi’s 6-7 (2), 6-0, 6-1 win over Ellen Tsay on court five knotted the match at 3-3.
After splitting sets, Zhao jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the deciding frame and eventually won it 6-1.
Stanford will next face Georgia (23-6, 13-3 SEC) in Sunday’s quarterfinals at 10 a.m. PT. The Bulldogs are seeded No. 6 in the field but ranked No. 7 in the poll.
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NOTES: After not meeting in the NCAA Tournament since 2003, Stanford and California have hooked up in the round of 16 in back-to-back seasons … Stanford improved to 136-17 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … The sophomore trio of Taylor Davidson, Caroline Doyle and Carol Zhao is now 19-8 combined career against California … Carol Zhao, who notched her 30th overall win and extended her winning streak to 10, is now 8-1 in three-set matches this season and 10-1 in her career.
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Stanford Head Coach Lele Forood
“I have to go back to saying that it was good that we won the doubles point. That was pivotal for us. Against a team like Cal, you absolutely have to win the doubles point, and we were really sharp at 1 and 2. So, that got us started. Then I think we all knew that if we win the doubles point, then we were going to be right in there.”
“We rode some momentum and they were very tough. Maegan (Manasse) played some unreal tennis when she was down in that second set to force the third. It was just an unbelievable performance, really, especially from the top of our lineup."
Stanford Sophomore Carol Zhao
“In the third set, the team really pulled me through. After a tough second set where I had some chances to pull ahead, I really just regrouped in the third by putting the team first and that gave me a lot of energy. The match was up to me and I just tried to keep a good attitude. In the end, that was most important.”
California Head Coach Amanda Augustus
"Stanford came out really aggressive in the doubles, and I think we had a good match up on court three. At courts one and two, especially at one, that doubles match was fantastic. It was really high-quality doubles that could've gone either way, but Stanford was a little more aggressive than we needed to be.”
"We fought really hard in the singles, and on a couple courts I thought we could've done a little better job, but credit to Carol [Zhao] really stepping it up in that third set. I feel like her and Maegan [Manasse] have battled a lot, and they played to win. They're from our conference, so we respect them and wish them the best of luck the rest of the tournament. Wish it could've been us, but I think we learned a lot from this match, and we'll keep working."
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No. 14 Stanford 4, No. 3 California 3
DOUBLES
1) No. 2 Davidson/Zhao (STAN) d. No. 7 Manasse/Starr (CAL) 8-6
2) No. 10 Doyle/Tsay (STAN) d. No. 5 Fabikova/Susanyi (CAL) 8-4
3) Chi/Popovic (CAL) d. Hardebeck/Kostas (STAN) 8-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
1) No. 2 Carol Zhao (STAN) d. No. 4 Maegan Manasse (CAL) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
2) No. 19 Taylor Davidson (STAN) d. No. 18 Klara Fabikova (CAL) 6-4, 6-0
3) No. 25 Caroline Doyle (STAN) d. No. 44 Denise Starr (CAL) 6-4, 6-4
4) No. 43 Zsofi Susanyi (CAL) d. No. 92 Krista Hardebeck (STAN) 6-1, 6-1
5) No. 50 Lynn Chi (CAL) d. No. 106 Ellen Tsay (STAN) 6-7 (2), 6-0, 6-1
6) No. 103 Karla Popovic (CAL) d. Lindsey Kostas (STAN) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 2, 3, 5, 1