STANFORD, Calif. - Defending NCAA champion Stanford (21-2, 10-0 Pac-12) will be making its 36th consecutive postseason appearance when first round competition gets underway at campus sites next weekend.
The Cardinal, seeded No. 7 overall in the postseason draw, hosts Idaho (16-7, 10-1 Big Sky) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, in its NCAA Tournament opener. Rice (18-5, 6-0 Conference USA) will face TCU (13-9, 5-4 Big 12) at 10 a.m. in that day's other match. The winners meet in the second round on Sunday, May 14, at 1 p.m.
Taube Family Tennis Stadium will play host to NCAA first and second round competition on May 12-14, also serving as a host site on the men's side. All seats are general admission. Single-day tickets are $8 (adult) and $5 (student/youth/senior). Tickets will go sale Wednesday, May 3, at 9 a.m. PT.
The most storied program in college tennis with 19 national championships (18 NCAA, 1 AIAW), Stanford enters the postseason riding a six-match winning streak. The Cardinal defeated California 4-1 last weekend in the Pac-12 Championships final, repeating as conference champions for the first time since a three-year stretch from 2010-12.
Stanford has experienced very little drop-off following last year's NCAA title campaign, maintaining a spot among the nation's top-15 for the majority of the season while suffering only two losses – both on the road – to Florida and Pepperdine.
Stanford owns a 142-18 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. Last year, 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 four 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.
All first and second round matches are played at campus sites. The final 16 teams square off at the NCAA Tennis Championships in Athens, Ga., beginning Friday, May 19. The national championship matches are set for Tuesday, May 23.