OJAI, Calif. - For the fifth time in six tries, Stanford won the Pac-12 Tournament championship as the top-seeded Cardinal swept past USC 4-0 on Saturday afternoon.
The win is Stanford's 18th straight overall and punctuates a perfect season against Pac-12 competition, going 10-0 in the regular season with three more wins in tournament play. The Cardinal is now 21-2 on the year and improves to 16-1 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament.
Ranked No. 8 nationally, Stanford had to dig deep to pull out the doubles point against No. 28 USC after the two sides split courts one and three, with the Trojans winning at the top spot and Connie Ma and Valencia Xu claiming a 6-2 decision on three. All eyes descended upon Sara Choy and Alexandra Yepifanova on court two, who picked up their first ranked win of the season, staving off three break points to avoid a tiebreak and defeat No. 42 Naomi Cheong and Snow Han, 7-5.
With the early lead in hand, Stanford wasted no time in continuing its momentum in singles, winning all six first sets, including a 6-0 bagel for Choy on court six. Choy would be the first to finish for the Cardinal, adding a 6-4 second set win for her 12th victory at the six-spot this spring.
All with one-set leads, No. 24 Yepifanova and No. 83 Blokhina dropped their second frames, but it wouldn't matter, as No. 43 Angelica Blake and Valencia Xu would combine to clinch. Finishing within minutes of each other, Blake grinded out a 7-5 first set against Emma Charney before racing to the finish line, 6-0 in the second, for Stanford's third point of the day. Xu would be the clincher, a 6-4, 6-2 winner on court five over Grace Piper.
Stanford will learn its draw for the NCAA team tournament on Monday, May 2 at 3:30 p.m. PST on NCAA.com's selection show. #8 Stanford 4, #28 USC 0
DOUBLES
1. Grace Piper/Maddy Sieg (USC) d. #18 Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina (STAN) 6-3
2. Sara Choy/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. #42 Naomi Cheong/Snow Han (USC) 7-5
3. Connie Ma/Valencia Xu (STAN) d. Emma Charney/Nathalie Rodilosso (USC) 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES
1. #24 Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) vs. #11 Maddy Sieg (USC) 6-2, 3-6, 0-3 DNF
2. #18 Connie Ma (STAN) vs. Snow Han (USC) 7-5, 4-3 DNF
3. #43 Angelica Blake (STAN) d. Emma Charney (USC) 7-5, 6-0
4. #83 Alexis Blokhina (STAN) vs. Naomi Cheog (USC) 6-4, 4-6 DNF
5. Valencia Xu (STAN) d. Grace Piper (USC) 6-4, 6-2
6. Sara Choy (STAN) d. Nathalie Rodilosso (USC) 6-0, 6-4
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 5