STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford was well represented in the postseason awards from the Pac-12, announced Wednesday afternoon by the league office. Connie Ma was named Freshman of the Year and, together with Angelica Blake, Doubles Team of the Year.
Additionally, Ma was named first-team All-Pac-12, while fellow rookie Alexandra Yepifanova earned a spot on the second team. Blake was an honorable mention. Stanford now boasts 124 all-conference honorees all-time.
Ma is Stanford's sixth Pac-12 Freshman of the Year all-time and first since Michaela Gordon in 2018. A freshman from Dublin, Calif., it didn't take long for Ma to make an impact for the Cardinal, winning the ITA Northwest Region championship in both singles and doubles with Blake. In the spring season, Ma has occupied the No. 1 spot in singles and doubles all season long, going 14-5 in singles and 11-3 in doubles. She owns a 9-3 record against nationally ranked opponents, including a three-set victory over then No. 4 Peyton Stearns from Texas, her only loss of the season. She featured a 12-match win streak in singles from early February to April and is currently ranked No. 26 nationally. Ma is the first freshman from Stanford to make first-team All-Pac-12 since Gordon in 2018.
The duo of Blake and Ma is Stanford's eighth Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year all-time and first since Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon in 2018. The pair is 23-5 overall on the season, with an 11-3 mark at the No. 1 spot, and went 8-1 against Pac-12 opponents. Their highest ranked win of the season came in the Pac-12 Tournament championship, defeating the No. 21 pair from Arizona State.
Not to be outshone, Yepifanova has been a stalwart for Stanford all season long at the No. 2 spot in both singles and doubles. Her overall record of 32-6 is the best on the team, as is her mark of 19-3 in dual matches. Currently on a nine match win streak in singles, Yepifanova lost just one singles match to Pac-12 opponents in the spring and is 13-3 against conference foes overall. She is tied with Ma for the most wins against nationally ranked opponents with nine. In the fall, Yepifanova notched three straight ranked victories to claim the consolation singles championship. In doubles, she's paired primarily with Valencia Xu and Sara Choy, sporting a 20-13 overall record.
This is the second straight honorable mention All-Pac-12 honor for Blake, who rounded out the top half of the singles lineup all season for Stanford at No. 3. There, she's gone 18-4, with an overall record for the season of 26-6. She enters the NCAA Tournament on a six match win streak in singles and only lost one singles match against a Pac-12 opponent in the spring. Blake is 4-2 against nationally ranked foes this season, her highest a straight-set win over No. 77 Snow Han from USC.
No. 15 Stanford begins the NCAA Tournament at home on May 6, hosting Southeast Missouri State at 1 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.
