STANFORD, Calif. - The Cardinal continues to roll and No. 2 Stanford defeated No. 32 LSU 4-0 on Saturday evening in the second round of the NCAA Championship at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Riding a 10-match winning streak that includes three consecutive sweeps, Stanford (24-2, 8-1 Pac-12) also improved to 59-8 during the month of May since 2010, a stretch that has produced five NCAA championships. Over the last five weeks, the Cardinal has beaten its 10 opponents by a combined score of 46-5.
The tone was established in doubles as the Cardinal secured a 1-0 lead behind straight forward wins from Angelica Blake and Alexis Blokhina on Court 2 (6-2) and Katherine Hui and Valencia Xu on Court 3 (6-3).
The start of singles was delayed to to rain and action was again halted a few games in, but Stanford never got out of sync. Katherine Hui extended Stanford's lead to 2-0, defeating her 15th opponent of the spring in a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Maya Tahan on Court 4.
Shortly after, the Cardinal's topped courts finished off the Tigers with simultaneous finishes from Angelica Blake and Alexandra Yepifanova. Blake ripped a running forehand down the line that Florentine Dekkers returned in the net to beat LSU's 101st-ranked player 7-5, 6-3. Just after, No. 110 Aran Teixidó Garcia double faulted and Yepifanova prevailed 6-4, 6-2 to collect her eighth consecutive win against a ranked opponent.
Stanford has won 112 of its last 119 matches at Taube Family Tennis Stadium and will host the winner of No. 15 NC State and Old Dominion for a Super Regional next Friday, May 10 at 1 p.m. PT. The winner advances to the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla., where the final eight teams will compete for the national championship May 17-19.
No. 2 Stanford 4, No. 32 LSU 0
DOUBLES
1) #10 Connie Ma/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) led #52 Kenna Erickson/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 5-4 unf.
2) Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina (STAN) d. Gaby Rivera/Maya Tahan (LSU) 6-2
3) Katherine Hui/Valencia Xu (STAN) d. Florentine Dekkers/Aran Teixidó Garcia (LSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
SINGLES
1) #25 Angelica Blake (STAN) d. #101 Florentine Dekkers (LSU) 7-5, 6-3
2) #29 Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. #110 Aran Teixidó Garcia (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
3) Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) led Alexis Blokhina (STAN) 6-4, 2-5 unf.
4) Katherine Hui (STAN) d. Maya Tahan (LSU) 6-1, 6-4
5) Valencia Xu (STAN) even with Gaby Rivera (LSU) 6-0, 4-6 unf.
6) Kenna Erickson (LSU) led India Houghton (STAN) 7-5, 5-4 unf.
Order of finish: 4, 1, 2