No. 9 Stanford Cardinal (4-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
at
No. 2 Ohio State (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Saturday, Feb. 2 • 9:00 a.m. • Columbus, Ohio
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STANFORD, Calif. – No. 9 Stanford leaves the 70-degree temperatures of Northern California for the single digits of the Midwest this weekend, traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for a matchup with No. 2 Ohio State.
Saturday's match begins a challenging road stretch for the Cardinal of six consecutive top-20 opponents over the next month. After facing the Buckeye's in Columbus, the Cardinal will return to California for pivotal matchups with No. 5 USC and No. 7 UCLA in Los Angeles next week. Stanford then returns to the Midwest two weeks later to compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago Feb. 15-18. Stanford is one of 16 of the top programs in the nation to compete in the prestigious event in mid-February. The Cardinal is guaranteed to play three matches at the event.
Stanford is 4-0 during the dual season, having surrendered just one point all year. After blanking Saint Mary's (7-0) and Santa Clara (5-0), the Cardinal posted wins over UCF (4-1) and Oregon (4-0) during ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
Sophomore Axel Geller, checking in at No. 20 in the latest ITA rankings, has won all four of his matches in dual play. He provided the clincher for the Cardinal in an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 5 Thomas Laurent of Oregon on Sunday.
No. 2 Ohio State is 5-0 on the season, having also surrendered just one point in dual play. The Buckeyes defeated VCU (4-0) and Arkansas (4-1) during ITA Kick-Off Weekend, also earning a 4-0 win over Toledo over the weekend. Three Ohio State players are ranked in the top-50 of the ITA poll in No. 3 JJ Wolf, No. 13 Kyle Seelig and No. 36 John McNally.
The early-season challenging slate is similar to last season, when the Cardinal faced seven-consecutive ranked teams with six wins during the stretch. Stanford also traveled to a Big Ten opponent during that stretch last season, defeating No. 10 Illinois (4-2) on Feb. 10, 2018.
Stanford is 1-1 in two matches against Ohio State, having last faced the Buckeyes in 2007.