No. 20 Stanford Cardinal (14-3, 8-0 Pac-12)
vs.
No. 42 California Golden Bears (11-7, 6-3 Pac-12)
Friday, April 21 • 11 a.m. PT • Pac-12 Networks
Taube Family Tennis Stadium • Stanford, Calif.
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STANFORD, Calif. - Riding a 10-match winning streak as one of the hottest teams in the country, No. 20 Stanford continues to chase even bigger goals down the stretch.
Stanford (14-3, 8-0 Pac-12) hosts No. 42 California (11-7, 6-3 Pac-12) in the latest edition of the Big Slam on Friday, April 20, in the regular season finale for both teams. The match begins at 11 a.m. and will be televised on Pac-12 Networks, with J.B. Long (play-by-play) and Amy Jensen (analyst) on the call.
The Cardinal can secure the conference's regular-season title outright with a victory, which would also result in the No. 1 seed for next weekend's Pac-12 Championships. Stanford has held the upper hand against its Bay Area rivals, having won 13 of the last 18 meetings against California dating back to 2010.
While a conference title is certainly the short-term goal, Stanford has plenty of incentive to keep piling up wins, regardless of the opponent. The Cardinal is storming toward the finish line, trying to position itself among the nation's top-16, typically recognized as the cutline for NCAA hosting honors. Since moving to the current 64-team field in 1999, Stanford has never missed out on hosting the first two rounds of the postseason at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, where the Cardinal has won 45 of its last 48 contests dating back to 2015.
It's been somewhat of a streaky campaign for Stanford, which opened the season ranked No. 1 before dropping all the way to No. 46, unfamiliar territory for an 18-time NCAA champion and a program widely considered the sport's gold standard. But the surging Cardinal has vaulted 26 spots since the first week of March, and predictably looks every bit like a national title contender with its regular lineup fully healthy and clicking when it matters most.
Regardless, there is still work to do in order to improve its national ranking, and Stanford can play a maximum of only four more matches before the postseason gets underway. A deep run in next week's conference tournament should do the trick, coupled with the fact that Stanford's three losses have come against Vanderbilt, Texas and Florida – all of which are currently ranked in the top-10.
Stanford was tested for the first time during its 10-match winning streak last weekend, outlasting No. 37 Washington State and Washington by identical 4-2 margins on the road. The Cardinal's superior depth has been a prevailing theme throughout the season, as evidenced by freshman Janice Shin and sophomore Emma Higuchi providing clinchers on the back courts against the Cougars and Huskies, respectively.
In fact, every member of Stanford's singles lineup enters the week with a national ranking. Freshman Michaela Gordon (19-7 overall, 10-6 duals) has anchored the top spot of the lineup and is Stanford's highest-ranked player at No. 22, sophomore Emily Arbuthnott (21-7 overall, 11-2 duals) and Shin (21-4 overall, 12-3 duals) share the team lead in victories while Higuchi (20-6 overall, 12-3 duals) has won eight in a row.
That does not even include junior Melissa Lord (12-4 overall, 4-1 duals), the Cardinal's lone All-American who has quickly adjusted since returning from injury, and junior Caroline Lampl (15-7 overall, 9-4 duals), whose 70 career victories are the most of any player on the roster.
In doubles play, Stanford boasts two nationally-ranked duos, led by the third-ranked pairing of Arbuthnott and Gordon (14-3 overall, 6-2 duals). Lampl and junior Kimberly Yee (12-2 overall, 11-1 duals) have won seven in a row and check in at No. 56 this week.