STANFORD, Calif. - Returning to the court for the first time in three weeks, No. 14 Stanford wasted little time in kick-starting its postseason run.
Making its 34th consecutive NCAA appearance, Stanford blanked Stony Brook 4-0 on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Up next is Saturday’s second-round matchup against No. 19 Pepperdine (18-6, 8-1 WCC), which defeated Auburn 4-2 in an earlier match that took nearly four hours to complete. Stanford and Pepperdine will be meeting for the second time in less than a month, with the Cardinal notching a 6-1 home victory on April 12.
The most storied program in college tennis with 17 NCAA championships, Stanford (16-5, 7-3 Pac-12) finished fourth in conference play while being ranked between No. 7-14 in the country throughout the season. But the Cardinal, seeded No. 14 in the NCAA Tournament, had not played a match since falling 5-2 to California in Berkeley three weeks ago.
Friday’s match served as a positive first step, as Stanford seeks another deep postseason run. The Cardinal captured the doubles point and overwhelmed Stony Brook (15-2, 5-0 America East) in singles action.
Leading 1-0, Krista Hardebeck breezed to a 6-0, 6-0 victory at the No. 4 spot over Adey Osabuohien. It was the third time in Hardebeck’s career she had not surrendered a game and first since March 2013 as a freshman.
Ellen Tsay followed with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph on court five before Carol Zhao provided the clincher at the No. 1 position with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Lindsey Kostas, one of three active players from Stanford’s 2013 NCAA championship team, and freshman Paulette Wolak, one of four walk-ons, made their postseason debuts.
Stanford owns a 134-17 all-time record in the postseason since the NCAA Tournament went to its present format in 1982. Stanford must be considered a national championship contender regardless of seed. Two years ago, the 12th-seeded Cardinal became the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title, knocking off No. 5 USC, No. 4 Georgia and No. 1 Florida before knocking off No. 3 Texas A&M in the final. That championship also extended Stanford's record streak of 37 years in a row with at least one NCAA title and paved the way for a 19th consecutive Directors' Cup.
Incredibly, Stanford, which also captured the 2010 NCAA championship as a No. 8 seed, has won nine of its last 10 NCAA Tournament matches when seeded lower than its opponent.
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No. 14 Stanford 4, Stony Brook 0
DOUBLES
1) No. 2 Davidson/Zhao (STAN) d. Badoche/Smergut (SB) 8-1
2) No. 10 Doyle/Tsay (STAN) d. Movchan/Yana Nikolaeva (SB) 8-5
3) Hardebeck/Paulette Wolak (STAN) vs. No. 83 Tsvetkov/Vozniak (SB) abandoned
Order of Finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 2 Carol Zhao (STAN) d. Polina Movchan (SB) 6-2, 6-1
2) No. 19 Taylor Davidson (STAN) vs. Kristina Vozniak (SB) abandoned
3) No. 25 Caroline Doyle (STAN) vs. Nadia Smergut (SB) abandoned
4) No. 92 Krista Hardebeck (STAN) d. Adey Osabuohien (SB) 6-0, 6-0
5) No. 106 Ellen Tsay (STAN) d. Elizabeth Tsvetkov (SB) 6-1, 6-1
6) Lindsey Kostas (STAN) vs. Louise Badoche (SB) abandoned
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1
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No. 19 Pepperdine 4, No. 43 Auburn 2
DOUBLES
1) No. 8 Burgmans/Flickinger (AUB) d. No. 23 Cutura/Maddox (PEPP) 8-3
2) Guillermo/Rungerdkriangkrai (PEPP) d. de Man/Kucharova (AUB) 8-5
3) Muller/Pfiefler (AUB) d. Capannolo/Feneridis (PEPP) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
1) No. 71 Pleun Burgmans (AUB) vs. No. 9 Lorraine Guillermo (PEPP) abandoned
2) Laura Gulbay (PEPP) d. Emily Flickinger (AUB) 6-4, 6-2
3) Andie Dikoslavjevic (AUB) d. Matea Cutura (PEPP) 6-2, 6-3
4) No. 81 Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai (PEPP) d. Reka Muller (AUB) 6-2, 6-2
5) Michaela Capannolo (PEPP) d. Paula de Man (AUB) 7-5, 0-6, 6-1
6) Christine Maddox (PEPP) d. Jennifer Pfeifler (AUB) 6-4, 6-1
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 3, 2, 5