STANFORD, Calif. - No. 4 Stanford opens spring competition this weekend at a pair of tournaments, with a split squad participating at the NCTC Classic in Indian Wells, Calif., and the Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas, Nev.
Emma Higuchi (9-2), Caroline Lampl (4-1), Naomie Rosenberg (3-2) and Kimberly Yee (1-2) will be competing at the NCTC Classic. The event is available via live stream at www.flotennis.com.
Emily Arbuthnott (3-1), Taylor Davidson (0-1), Caroline Doyle (6-2), Melissa Lord (4-1), Paulette Wolak (0-2) and Elizabeth Yao (1-2) are headed to the Freeman Memorial Championships.
In 2016, Davidson and Doyle captured the NCTC Classic doubles crown while Doyle also reached the semifinals in singles. Meanwhile, Lampl won the consolation singles title at last year's Freeman Memorial Championships.
Stanford boasts two nationally-ranked singles players in Higuchi (67) and Doyle (71). Higuchi led the Cardinal with nine victories in the fall, highlighted by runner-up finishes at the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational and ITA Northwest Regional Championships. Doyle won six of her eight fall matches, falling to Higuchi in the quarterfinals of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
The Cardinal's most productive doubles team in the fall was Lampl and Yee, compiling a 4-1 record with a runner-up finish at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
The most storied program in women's college tennis, Stanford (20-5, 9-1 Pac-12) captured its 19th national championship (18 NCAA, 1 AIAW) in 2016, defeating No. 12 Oklahoma State in a 4-3 thriller in Tulsa, Oklahoma. No. 15 Stanford became the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title, knocking off No. 2 Florida, No. 10 Michigan and No. 6 Vanderbilt in a span of five days prior to reaching the final. Stanford has now won 14 of its last 16 NCAA matches when seeded lower than its opponent, a streak that covers six years. That includes winning it all as a No. 12 seed three years ago – at the time the lowest-seeded team to accomplish the feat – and taking home the crown in 2010 as a No. 8 seed.