No. 1 Stanford Cardinal (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
vs.
Saint Mary's Gaels (0-0, 0-0 WCC)
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Saturday, Jan. 26 • 2 p.m. • 66 degrees, partly cloudy
Taube Family Tennis Stadium • Stanford, Calif.
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STANFORD, Calif. - No. 1 Stanford opens defense of its NCAA championship this weekend, as dual match play begins Saturday afternoon.
Taube Family Tennis Stadium is serving as one of 15 national host sites during ITA Kick-Off Weekend, with Stanford beginning its spring season against Saint Mary's. The neutral-site matchup pits SMU against Washington State. Both contests are slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday with the winners squaring off on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The advancing team books a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, scheduled for Feb. 8-11 in Seattle. Stanford last participated in the event in 2011, when the Cardinal defeated Florida in the final after knocking off Arkansas, Michigan and North Carolina in the previous rounds.
Should Stanford handle its business at home this weekend and qualify for the prestigious 16-team tournament, the Cardinal would receive an immediate rankings boost. It would also likely translate into a more manageable postseason path for Stanford, which has inexplicably been seeded higher than No. 5 only once (at No. 1 in 2011) over the last 10 years. Then again, it hasn't really mattered much, as the Cardinal has produced four NCAA titles during that stretch: 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018.
The most decorated program in women's college tennis, Stanford is searching for its 20th NCAA championship in 2019. The Cardinal is loaded with firepower, returning its entire singles and doubles lineups from last year's national championship team while having also added two impact freshmen.
The Cardinal enjoyed a successful fall tournament season, highlighted by multiple impressive performances. In singles play, sophomore Michaela Gordon claimed crowns at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and the USTA Collegiate Blizzard Wild Card Challege, while junior Emily Arbuthnott captured her first career title in the consolation draw of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. On the doubles side, Arbuthnott and Gordon won the consolation title at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships while freshman Niluka Madurawe and senior Kimberly Yee took home the hardware at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
Five different players have already compiled at least 10 singles wins, led by Madurawe's 14-2 overall record. The Cardinal has so much depth that a scenario exists in which Madurawe, along with fellow rookie Sara Choy (11-3 overall), might not even open the season in the starting singles lineup.
Stanford finished 24-3 overall in 2018 and duplicated its 2016 NCAA title run as the lowest-seeded team at No. 15 to win an NCAA championship. Closing the season on a 20-match win streak, the Cardinal defeated Vanderbilt 4-3 to secure its 20th national championship (19 NCAA, 1 AIAW) and has now won 19 of the possible 37 NCAA crowns. Stanford finished Pac-12 play unbeaten and captured its 27th conference title, winning three straight for the first time since 2010-12.