STANFORD, Calif. – Yet another memorable campaign for Stanford women's tennis, the program reached the NCAA semifinals and won its 29th conference championship in 2023. Two players were named All-Americans while a host of other Cardinal student-athletes earned conference and regional honors.
CHAMPIONS AGAIN
Stanford put together a 25-3 overall campaign, including a perfect 10-0 mark in Pac-12 competition and a 14-0 mark at Taube Family Tennis Center.
Following a fall slate that included a semifinal appearance at the ITA Fall National Championships from Connie Ma, Stanford breezed past its first four opponents, including a pair of 4-0 sweeps at ITA Kickoff Weekend. Stanford won one of three contests at the ITA Indoor National Championships, with the win over Vanderbilt starting a 22-match unbeaten streak that spanned four months.
The Cardinal rolled through the Pac-12 before going an unblemished 3-0 at the Pac-12 Championships to earn both the regular season and tournament titles. In Ojai, Stanford blanked Washington and USC in the semifinals and finals, respectively, by 4-0 margins, and earned the right to host the first and second rounds, and eventually a Super Regional, of the NCAA Tournament. Alexandra Yepifanova was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year while Lele Forood was honored as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the seventh time.
Something about Stanford in May... ?#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/hi5R13yoQi
— Stanford Women's Tennis (@StanfordWTennis) May 13, 2023
Stanford downed Weber State (4-0) and Oklahoma State (4-1) to reach the Sweet 16, and picked off top-10 ranked Ohio State in the Super Regional (4-1), to advance to Orlando. The seventh-seeded Cardinal faced No. 2 Texas A&M in the quarterfinals, and earned the victory in shutout fashion, 4-0. The run for a 22nd national championship ended in the Final Four, with NC State outlasting the Cardinal at the USTA National Campus.
Winning together ??#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/ITXDh183gk
— Stanford Women's Tennis (@StanfordWTennis) May 18, 2023
CARDINAL, WHITE & BLUE
Stanford featured a pair of ITA All-Americans in singles, as senior Angelica Blake and sophomore Alexandra Yepifanova both earned national honors for the first time in their careers. Additionally, Valencia Xu was named a second team College Sports Communicators Academic All-American.
Blake constructed her strongest season yet, finishing the year 36-7 overall, including 20-2 in dual matches, with a 16-0 mark on court three. Her only dual match losses this spring were on court one, a pair of three-set defeats in Los Angeles. She featured a 15-match win streak from late March until her loss in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship.
Yepifanova, the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year, finished with a 36-8 record overall in singles play, going 21-3 in dual matches, primarily on court one. Until her loss to UCLA's Fangran Tian in the NCAA Singles Round of 16, Yepifanova had gone undefeated against Pac-12 opponents the entire season, and totaled a team-high 14 victories over ranked opponents.
Xu played the majority of the season on court five in singles, going 13-6, along with a 3-0 record on court four. Overall in singles play, Xu boasted a 26-8 record. In doubles, Xu partnered primarily with Connie Ma and saw immense success on court three, as the duo went 17-3 this spring. Xu ended her season winning six singles matches in a row and was 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
| Name | Honors |
|---|---|
| Angelica Blake | ITA All-America - Singles ITA Northwest Region Most Improved Senior All-Pac-12 First Team NCAA All-Tournament Team - No. 3 Singles Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll |
| Sara Choy | ITA Northwest Region Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award All-Pac-12 Second Team ITA Scholar-Athlete Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll |
| Ana Geller | ITA Scholar-Athlete Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll |
| India Houghton | ITA Scholar-Athlete Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll |
| Connie Ma | All-Pac-12 First Team Pac-12 Player of the Week (April 4, 2023) ITA Scholar-Athlete Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll |
| Emma Sun | ITA Scholar-Athlete |
| Valencia Xu | All-Pac-12 Second Team CSC Academic All-America Second Team ITA Scholar-Athlete Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll |
| Alexandra Yepifanova | ITA All-America - Singles Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year All-Pac-12 First Team Two-time Pac-12 Player of the Week (Jan. 31, March 28, 2023) ITA Scholar-Athlete Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll |
| Lele Forood | Pac-12 Coach of the Year ITA Northwest Region Coach of the Year |
| Frankie Brennan | ITA Northwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year |