STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford produced a successful 2016-17 campaign, highlighted by both team and individual accomplishments.
The most decorated program in women's college tennis with 19 national championships (18 NCAA, 1 AIAW), Stanford produced a runner-up finish, falling 4-1 to Florida and coming up one step short in its bid to repeat as NCAA champions. The Gators were responsible for two of the Cardinal's three losses.
The Cardinal, which improved to 147-19 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, reached the national final despite being seeded No. 7 and has now won 16 of its last 19 NCAA matches when seeded lower than its opponent.
Stanford strung together a pair of 11-match winning streaks, maintained a spot among the nation's top-15 for the majority of the season and closed its campaign ranked No. 2 in the final rankings.
Among the individual highlights: Melissa Lord finished the season ranked No. 19 in the country as Stanford's lone All-American, seniors Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle closed out memorable four-year careers and Emma Higuchi won a team-best 33 matches while grinding out 22 straight victories, Stanford's longest in-season winning streak since 2012.
Made It Interesting
Defending NCAA champion Stanford fell one step short in its bid to repeat for the first time since 2004-06, dropping a 4-1 decision to No. 1 Florida.
The latest chapter of the sport's best rivalry was won by Florida, which beat Stanford for the second time this season but only for the fifth time in the last 12 meetings overall. Stanford and Florida have combined to win six of the last eight NCAA crowns.
This time around, Stanford was unable to capitalize on another postseason in which it outperformed its seeding. The No. 7 seed Cardinal knocked off No. 2 North Carolina in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Ohio State in the semifinals following victories over No. 10 Michigan, TCU and Idaho.
Stanford experienced very little drop-off from its 2016 NCAA title, emerging as a championship contender after its lineup of senior veterans, developing sophomores and talented freshmen quickly meshed.
Stanford took its fans on another unexpected postseason ride. This time, it just happened to be Florida's turn. https://t.co/S3NrdFe4QN
— StanfordWTennis (@StanfordWTennis) May 24, 2017
Lord Takes Next Step
One year after holding down the No. 6 spot, sophomore Melissa Lord accelerated her development by becoming the 60th All-American in school history.
Earning a No. 19 final national ranking, Lord finished 29-6 overall and 19-4 in duals while playing the majority of her matches at the No. 2 position. Lord was 8-2 in three-set matches, 12-4 against nationally-ranked opponents and provided three clinching points.
Lord further established her reputation as one of Stanford's most clutch players, winning four matches in NCAA team play to improve to 10-0 in her short career.
It all started back in January, when Lord knocked off No. 4-ranked Ena Shibahara of UCLA 6-3, 6-2 to claim her first career singles title at the Freeman Memorial Championships. Lord, who also defeated No. 8-ranked Luisa Stefani of Pepperdine in the round of 16, won five matches over a three-day stretch to capture the hardware.
From No. 6 to All-American. #GoStanford
A post shared by @stanfordwtennis on Jun 8, 2017 at 10:29am PDT
Senior Leaders
Members of Stanford's 2016 NCAA championship team that won it all as a No. 13 seed, Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle contributed to 84 victories on The Farm during their careers, while also guiding the Cardinal to 18 postseason wins and two Pac-12 titles.
Davidson and Doyle both contributed clutch performances throughout their careers. Ranked No. 52 in the final poll, Davidson finished 15-11 overall and 13-8 in duals, playing primarily at the No. 3 spot, while providing six clinchers. Doyle earned a final national ranking of No. 45 and finished 18-16 overall and 9-12 in duals, anchoring the No. 1 spot in the lineup.
Perhaps more importantly, both players provided leadership at key moments when the stakes were high. Davidson was responsible for three clinching points in 2016 NCAA competition, including a three-set victory to secure Stanford's 4-3 national championship win over Oklahoma State. She followed that up with a gutsy clincher against Ohio State in the 2017 NCAA semifinals. Doyle won all five of her postseason matches as a freshman, including the clincher in the Cardinal's NCAA round of 16 upset of California. During the 2016 NCAA run, Doyle's three-set comeback win lifted Stanford past Michigan in the NCAA quarterfinals.
Davidson closed her career at 93-41 overall and 61-22 in duals while Doyle finished 103-43 overall and 60-27 in duals.
Thank you, seniors. #GoStanford
A post shared by @stanfordwtennis on Apr 15, 2017 at 1:37pm PDT
Repeat Pac-12 Champs
One week after claiming the regular-season title, No. 6 Stanford made it a clean sweep of conference crowns.
The Cardinal powered its way to a 4-1 victory over No. 16 California in Ojai, California, capturing the inaugural tournament title and earning the NCAA automatic bid as Pac-12 champions. Stanford secured its 26th conference title in program history and repeated as league champions for the first time since a three-year stretch from 2010-12. The Cardinal accomplished the feat by defeating Utah, Oregon and California over consecutive days. The Cardinal has won 13 of the last 18 meetings against the Golden Bears dating back to 2010.
The tone was established early, with Stanford picking up the doubles point for a 1-0 advantage. California then evened the match at 1-1, receiving its only point when Karla Popovic defeated Melissa Lord 6-3, 6-3 on court two for the second straight week.
Taylor Davidson delivered a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Denise Starr at the No. 3 position to make it 2-1. Emily Arbuthnott's 6-1, 7-6 (1) triumph over Maya Jansen at the No. 5 spot extended Stanford's cushion to 3-1. The clincher came from the top line when Caroline Doyle outlasted Maegan Manasse 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Regular-season title. ??
— StanfordWTennis (@StanfordWTennis) April 30, 2017
Pac-12 Championships title. ??
NCAA automatic bid: ??
NCAA title defense starts at Taube in two weeks. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/XIB4S6ZrI7
Doyle's Academic Prowess
Senior Caroline Doyle enjoyed an equal amount of success in the classroom. Doyle was named to the 2016-17 CoSIDA Academic All-District Women's At-Large second team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It was the second notable academic honor for Doyle in a two-week span, as the Cardinal co-captain was also tabbed the Pac-12 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
An international relations major carrying a 3.87 cumulative GPA, Doyle is a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection, named to the first team for the second straight year after earning second-team honors as a sophomore. A two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete recipient, Doyle will remain in the Bay Area following graduation, pursuing a career in investment management.
Doyle was also named the ITA Northwest Region Senior of the Year and received the Block "S" Honors Award at the annual Stanford Athletic Board Awards ceremony.
A post shared by @stanfordwtennis on Apr 26, 2017 at 8:36am PDT
No. 400 For Lele
Head coach Lele Forood earned her 400th career victory during Stanford's 4-0 win over Hawai'i on March 26.
Completing her 17th season at the helm after serving as an assistant and associate head coach for the previous 14 years, Forood has compiled a 414-40 overall record (.911 winning percentage) during her time on The Farm. Forood has led the Cardinal to eight NCAA titles, 13 conference crowns and produced five NCAA singles champions and five NCAA doubles champions among her lengthy list of accolades.
Forood is 96 wins behind Stanford's all-time winningest coach, Frank Brennan (510-50 overall from 1980-2000).
Because when 4??0??0?? wins talks, you listen. ??#GoStanford #lele pic.twitter.com/C9L5JcGF6Z
— StanfordWTennis (@StanfordWTennis) March 27, 2017
Freshman Emily Arbuthnott
NCAA All-Tournament Team selection (No. 5 singles)
Senior Taylor Davidson
All-Pac-12 Second Team
Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
NCAA All-Tournament Team selection (No. 3 singles)
ITA Northwest Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award
Team Captain
Senior Caroline Doyle
All-Pac-12 Second Team
Pac-12 All-Academic First Team
CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large Second Team
Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year
ITA Northwest Region Senior of the Year
Block "S" Honors Award – Stanford Athletic Board Awards
Team Captain
Freshman Emma Higuchi
All-Pac-12 Second Team
Sophomore Caroline Lampl
All-Pac-12 Second Team
Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
Sophomore Melissa Lord
ITA All-American (singles)
All-Pac-12 Second Team
Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
NCAA All-Tournament Team selection (No. 2 singles)
Freeman Memorial Championships singles champion