OJAI, Calif. - No. 3 Stanford advanced to the Pac-12 Tournament championship match behind a 4-2 victory over No. 11 USC on Friday afternoon.
The win pushes Stanford's record to 21-2 overall and extends its win streak to seven matches. The Cardinal is now 18-1 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament and seeks its sixth championship in seven tries.
Stanford was a little slow out of the gate, dropping the doubles point as USC picked up victories on Courts 2 and 3. But for the first time since March 8, the Cardinal won a match after losing doubles.
The Cardinal took five of six first sets and got a quick victory from Angelica Blake on Court 1 over No. 90 Snow Han, 6-0, 6-2. No. 96 Eryn Cayetano beat Alexis Blokhina on Court 4, 6-3, 6-3, but that would be USC's last point of the afternoon.
Katherine Hui took care of McKenna Koenig on Court 5, 6-4, 6-3, and Connie Ma did the same against No. 30 Emma Charney on Court 2, 6-4, 6-0.
Alexandra Yepifanova went to a third set on Court 3, but rolled to victory in the third set, beating No. 62 Grace Piper 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. It was Yepifanova's fourth clincher of the season and moved her record in three-set matches this year to 3-3.
Stanford will face No. 10 California in tomorrow's Pac-12 Tournament final at 2 p.m. in Libbey Park in a match televised on Pac-12 Networks.
No. 3 Stanford 4, No. 11 USC 2
DOUBLES:
1. Eryn Cayetano/Lily Fairclough (USC) led #20 Connie Ma/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) 6-5 unf.
2. #69 Grace Piper/Parker Fry (USC) d. Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina (STAN) 6-3
3. Snow Han/Emma Charney (USC) d. Katherine Hui/Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3
SINGLES:
1. #34 Angelica Blake (STAN) d. #90 Snow Han (USC) 6-0, 6-2
2. #9 Connie Ma (STAN) d. #30 Emma Charney (USC) 6-4, 6-0
3. #30 Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. #62 Grace Piper (USC) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
4. #96 Eryn Cayetano (USC) d. #121 Alexis Blokhina (STAN) 6-3, 6-3
5. Katherine Hui (STAN) d. McKenna Koenig (USC) 6-4, 6-3
6. Valencia Xu (STAN) led Immi Haddad (USC) 6-0, 2-6, 3-1 unf.
Order of finish: 1, 4, 5, 2, 3