STANFORD, Calif. – For the third consecutive season, Connie Ma has started off her fall season on top. The junior from Dublin, Calif. breezed through the field at the Battle in the Bay Classic in San Francisco, securing the singles title with a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory over 45th-ranked Amelia Honer of UC Santa Barbara on Sunday afternoon.
Ma, seeded second and ranked No. 26 nationally, was tested little prior to the first-set tiebreak in Sunday's final. She dropped just nine games in the four matches to advance her to Sunday, including a 6-0, 6-3 win over No. 40 Ange Oby Kajuru of Oklahoma State in the semifinals, and a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Georgia's Aysegul Mert in the quarters. A freshman, Mert is No. 6 on the ITA's newcomer rankings.
As a freshman, Ma was triumphant in her first appearance for Stanford, winning the ITA Northwest Regional Championships title in 2021. Last season, she was victorious in the blue draw of the Cal Fall Invite in Berkeley.
Ma teamed up with graduate student Angelica Blake in doubles and the third-seeded pair finished as runners-up to Savannah Broadus (Pepperdine) and Lucia Peyre (Oklahoma State), losing 8-5 in the final on Sunday morning. Broadus is part of the nation's No. 1 doubles pair along with teammate Janice Tjen.
Senior India Houghton joined the field in San Francisco and dropped her first match to No. 93 Ayumi Miyamoto of Oklahoma State in the Round of 32, before advancing to the consolation quarters with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-3 win over the Dons' Katerina Filip.
Across the country, sophomore Alexis Blokhina and junior Valencia Xu took to the court in the east draw of the Milwaukee Tennis Classic. Seeded third and ranked 54th nationally, Blokhina advanced to the semifinals with a trio of wins, 6-4, 6-3 over Drew Morris of SMU, 7-5, 6-3 over Selma Cadar of Maryland, and 6-2, 6-2 over Theadora Rabman of North Carolina. Blokhina bowed out to No. 89 Xinyu Cai of Wisconsin, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
Xu, seeded fifth ranked ranked No. 118 nationally, beat Maryland's Mary Brumfield (7-6 (3), 6-2) and Wisconsin's Taylor Cataldi (6-3, 6-2), before falling to No. 76 Reilly Tran out of North Carolina in the quarters (6-3, 6-3). Thurs, Sept. 21 - Battle in the Bay Classic
Singles Round of 32
No. 26 Connie Ma (STAN) d. Anna Campana (PEPP) 6-1, 6-0
No. 93 Ayumi Miyamoto (OKST) d. India Houghton (STAN) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Doubles Round of 16
Angelica Blake/Connie Ma (STAN) d. Destinne Martins/Isabel Pascual (TCU) 8-3Fri., Sept. 22 - Battle in the Bay Classic
Singles Round of 16
No. 26 Connie Ma (STAN) d. Isabel Pascual (TCU) 6-0, 6-4
Singles Quarterfinals
No. 26 Connie Ma (STAN) d. Aysegul Mert (UGA) 6-0, 6-1
Singles Consolation Round of 16 Qualifier
India Houghton (STAN) d. Katerina Filip (USF) 6-4, 3-6, 10-3
Doubles Quarterfinals
Angelica Blake/Connie Ma (STAN) d. Katerina Filip/Erin Richardson (USF) 8-0
Fri., Sept. 22 - Milwaukee Tennis Classic
Singles Round of 32 - East Draw
No. 54 Alexis Blokhina (STAN) d. Drew Morris (SMU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 118 Valencia Xu (STAN) d. Mary Brumfield (UMD) 7-6 (3), 6-2
Singles Round of 16 - East Draw
No. 54 Alexis Blokhina (STAN) d. Selma Cadar (UMD) 7-5, 6-3
No. 118 Valencia Xu (STAN) d. Taylor Cataldi (WISC) 6-3, 6-2Sat., Sept. 23 - Battle in the Bay Classic
Singles Semifinals
No. 26 Connie Ma (STAN) d. No .40 Ange Oby Kajuru (OKST) 6-0, 6-3
Singles Consolation Quarterfinals
Yelizaveta Karlova (VCU) d. India Houghton (STAN) 1-6, 7-6 (4), 10-3
Doubles Semifinals
Angelica Blake/Connie Ma (STAN) d. Anna Campana/Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) 8-2
Sat., Sept. 23 - Milwaukee Tennis Classic
Singles Quarterfinals - East Draw
No. 54 Alexis Blokhina (STAN) d. Theadora Rabman (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
No. 76 Reilly Tran (UNC) d. No. 118 Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-3, 6-3
Singles Semifinals - East Draw
No. 89 Xinyu Cai (WISC) d. No. 54 Alexis Blokhina (STAN) 6-4, 7-6 (6)Sun., Sept. 24 - Battle in the Bay Classic
Singles Final
No. 26 Connie Ma (STAN) d. Amelia Honer (UCSB) 7-6 (5), 6-1
Doubles Final
Savannah Broadus (PEPP)/Lucia Peyre (OKST) d. Angelica Blake/Connie Ma (STAN) 8-5