No. 15 Stanford Cardinal (18-3, 9-0 Pac-12)
vs.
St. John's Red Storm (17-5, 4-1 BIG EAST)
NCAA Championships First Round • Friday, May 11 • 2 p.m. PT
Taube Family Tennis Stadium • Stanford, Calif.
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STANFORD, Calif. - The postseason for Stanford begins this weekend in a familiar setting: Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Stanford (18-3, 9-0 Pac-12), which has hosted NCAA first and second round competition every year since the inception of the 64-team format in 1999, will host St. Johns (17-5, 4-1 BIG EAST) at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 11, in its postseason opener. The regional's other Friday matchup pits No. 17 Michigan (17-9, 10-1 Big Ten) against Hawai'i (12-6, 6-2 Big West) at 11 a.m.
The winners meet in the second round on Saturday at 4 p.m., with a berth in next week's NCAA Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on the line. All seats are general admission while single-day tickets are priced at $8 (adult) and $5 (student/youth/senior).
Stanford awarded the No. 15 overall seed and will host NCAA opening rounds at Taube. Cardinal opens with St. John's; Michigan and Hawai'i also coming to The Farm. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/qeXcwOcRjU
— Stanford Women's Tennis (@StanfordWTennis) May 1, 2018
Seeded No. 15 overall in the postseason draw, the Cardinal is seeking its 20th national championship (18 NCAA, 1 AIAW). Making its 37th consecutive postseason appearance, Stanford owns a 147-19 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
However, despite its profile as the most storied program in the history of the sport, Stanford has entered NCAA's seeded higher than No. 5 only once (at No. 1 in 2011) over the last 10 years.
That being said, Stanford must be considered a national championship contender regardless of seed. Since 2010, Stanford has been equally comfortable playing the role of "underdog", winning 16 of its last 19 NCAA Tournament matches when seeded lower than its opponent. In 2016, No. 15 Stanford became the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title, knocking off Florida, Michigan and Vanderbilt in a span of five days prior to reaching the final. Five years ago, the Cardinal won it all as a No. 12 seed – at the time the lowest-seeded team to accomplish the feat. In 2010, Stanford captured the crown in 2010 as a No. 8 seed.
During the same aforementioned eight-year stretch (2010-17) that has yielded three NCAA championships, the Cardinal owns a 38-5 record during the month of May. Predictably, Stanford is once again clicking when it matters most.
A post shared by @ stanfordwtennis on May 7, 2018 at 10:59am PDT
Riding a 14-match winning streak as one of the hottest teams in the country, Stanford defeated UCLA 4-2 in the Pac-12 Championships final two weeks ago, repeating as tournament champions and securing its third straight conference title overall, a feat last accomplished from 2010-12. It was also Stanford's second win over UCLA this season, having defeated the Bruins 4-3 on March 9 at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
It would have been difficult (maybe?) to envision this type of reversal when Stanford checked in at No. 46 – its lowest ranking in school history – prior to the start of conference play. But the Cardinal got healthy, maintained its focus and blitzed through Pac-12 play undefeated, skyrocketing more than 30 spots in the national rankings.
Stanford's three losses have all come against teams currently ranked eighth or higher in the national rankings – Vanderbilt, Texas and Florida. The Cardinal suffered all of those losses prior to the return of junior All-American Melissa Lord, who rejoined the club in late March following a shoulder injury that kept her sidelined since November.
Lord (14-4 overall, 6-1 duals) has provided a boost in her return, but Stanford's balanced singles lineup has contributed throughout the season. All six players are nationally ranked, led by freshman Michaela Gordon (21-8 overall, 12-7 duals), who checks in at No. 15. Emily Arbuthnott (24-7 overall, 14-2 duals) and Emma Higuchi (24-6 overall, 16-3 duals) share the team lead in victories. Caroline Lampl (17-7 overall, 11-4 duals) is battle-tested with 72 career wins while Janice Shin (21-4 overall, 12-3 duals) has been a dependable addition on the back courts.
In doubles play, Stanford boasts two nationally-ranked duos, led by the No. 3-ranked pairing of Arbuthnott and Gordon (16-4 overall, 8-3 duals). Lampl and junior Kimberly Yee (14-3 overall, 13-2 duals) crack the list at No. 84. Even if the Cardinal starts off slow, there is no panic. Since 2016, Stanford has won 12 of its last 17 matches when losing the doubles point.