STANFORD, Calif. - A victory in a familiar setting has put No. 14 Stanford in an even more familiar position.
Once again using Taube Family Tennis Stadium as a starting point for postseason success, Stanford advanced to the NCAA Championships round of 16 with a 4-1 win over No. 19 Pepperdine 4-1 on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinal (17-5, 7-3 Pac-12), which has lost at home only six times over the last 16 years, earned its second win in less than a month against Pepperdine (18-7, 8-1 WCC) after also defeating the Waves 6-1 at Taube on April 12.
Stanford, which has advanced to the NCAA round of 16 for the 30th consecutive season, heads to Waco, Texas, next weekend for its third matchup against rival California. The Golden Bears, seeded No. 3 in the tournament and ranked No. 3 in the polls, swept the regular-season series against Stanford and claimed the Pac-12 title.
However, the Cardinal has won nine of the last 13 meetings in the series, including a dramatic 4-3 victory in last year’s NCAA round of 16. Meanwhile, Stanford, which captured the 2013 NCAA title as a No. 12 seed and won the 2010 NCAA championship as the No. 8 seed, has incredibly won nine of its last 10 postseason matches when seeded lower than its opponent.
The third match against California became a reality with Saturday’s victory against Pepperdine. The Cardinal locked up the doubles point for a 1-0 lead, highlighted by an 8-2 victory at the top spot from Taylor Davidson and Carol Zhao.
Krista Hardebeck continued her strong recent play with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai at the No. 4 position, extending Stanford’s lead to 2-0.
After Pepperdine collected its lone point on court six, Ellen Tsay swung the momentum back to the Cardinal with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph at the No. 5 spot in her final home match.
Zhao followed with the clincher, a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lorraine Guillermo that was tougher than it looked in a battle of top-10 players at the No. 1 spot.
Stanford owns a 135-17 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.
- - - - - - - -
No. 14 Stanford 4, No. 19 Pepperdine 1
DOUBLES
1) No. 2 Davidson/Zhao (STAN) d. No. 23 Cutura/Maddox (PEPP) 8-2
2) No. 10 Doyle/Tsay (STAN) d. Guillermo/Rungerdkriangkrai (PEPP) 8-5
3) Hardebeck/Paulette Wolak (STAN) vs. Capannolo/Feneridis (PEPP) abandoned
Order of Finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 2 Carol Zhao (STAN) d. No. 9 Lorraine Guillermo (PEPP) 7-5, 6-3
2) No. 19 Taylor Davidson (STAN) vs. Laura Gulbe (PEPP) abandoned
3) No. 25 Caroline Doyle (STAN) vs. Matea Cutura (PEPP) abandoned
4) No. 92 Krista Hardebeck (STAN) d. No. 81 Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai (PEPP) 6-1, 6-4
5) No. 106 Ellen Tsay (STAN) d. Michaela Capannolo (PEPP) 6-4, 6-1
6) Christine Maddox (PEPP) d. Lindsey Kostas (STAN) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 5, 1