STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford will send three players to the NCAA Singles Championship, along with one doubles team, set to take place following the team tournament in Stillwater, Okla. next month. No. 6 seed Connie Ma, Angelica Blake and Alexandra Yepifanova will all be making return showings in the singles draw, while Ma and Yepifanova will represent the Cardinal in doubles.
Ma will be making her second appearance in singles, following a run to the final as a freshman in 2022. Ma was announced as part of last year's field as well, but withdrew prior to the start of the tournament. Blake will be making her second appearance following a debut in 2023 in which she advanced to the quarterfinals. This selection is Yepifanova's third. She advanced to the second round as a freshman in 2022 and the Round of 16 as a sophomore a year ago.
Stanford has now sent at least three players into the singles tournament 33 times in the 42 years of the event. Blake competed in last year's doubles draw with Alexis Blokhina, as Stanford has sent at least one doubles duo to the tournament in 24 straight seasons.
The No. 6 seed, Ma is the Cardinal's highest-seeded participant since Carol Zhao was the No. 2 seed in Waco in 2015. She boasts an overall record of 36-5 in singles this season, including a 19-2 mark in dual matches and 20-4 record against ranked opponents. Ma has primarily played at the No. 2 spot this season, going 15-2. She's also 4-0 at No. 1 and 1-0 at No. 3.
Yepifanova is currently ranked 30th nationally, and has been similarly strong with a 21-7 overall record in singles and an impressive 15-4 mark in dual matches. The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year has blistered through spring competition, going 1-0 at the No. 1 spot, 3-2 at No. 2 and 11-3 at No. 3.
Blake has had a standout season as a graduate student and is No. 34 in the ITA national rankings. She's played exclusively at the No. 1 spot, going 11-4 this season and 10-3 in duals. She's won six in a row, all in straight sets, with the last four over ranked opponents. She was at her best in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals and final last week in Ojai, beating USC's No. 90 Snow Han 6-0, 6-2 and California's No. 41 Hannah Viller Moeller 6-0, 6-1.
Stanford boasts 14 NCAA singles championships in program history, won by nine different players, with eight NCAA doubles championships, won by eight different pairs. Stanford last won the singles championship in 2013 (Nicole Gibbs) and doubles in 2012 (Mallory Burdette/Nicole Gibbs).