STANFORD, Calif. – Beating rival No. 9 California for the fifth consecutive meeting, and 12th time in the last 13 matchups, No. 8 Stanford men’s tennis closed the season with a 4-2 victory at Arrillaga Tennis Center-Taube Pavilion. The Cardinal improves to 19-5 this season and finishes 10-3 in the ACC.
Stanford trailed early after Cal won the doubles point. The duo of Samir Banerjee and Alex Razeghi led on court three, but the Golden Bears scored wins on courts one and two to earn the advantage in the match.
Banerjee tied the match, 1-1, with a win over the ITA’s 13th-ranked player on court one. His ninth ranked win of the season, and seventh against top-25 players, Banerjee won by a score of 6-0, 6-4. Nico Godsick briefly gave Stanford the lead with 6-2, 6-2 win on court five, his 14th of the year and 11th in dual play, but Cal tied the match, 2-2 with a win on court three.
Clinching the match with a pair of wins in rapid succession, Razeghi made it 3-2 with a 7-5, 6-3 win on court six, giving him a team-best 13 dual wins on the year, while Henry von der Schulenburg closed the match on court four with a 7-5, 6-1 victory for his team-high 16th overall singles win of the year. The clinching point was the fourth of the season for von der Schulenburg.
Stanford earned a double bye and the No. 3 seed at the ACC Championships. The Cardinal will advance straight through to the quarterfinals on Friday, April 18, where it will face sixth-seeded Florida State, 11th-seeded Georgia Tech or 14th-seeded Louisville.
No. 8 Stanford 4, No. 9 California 2
DOUBLES
1. No. 29 Dean/Overbeck (CAL) d. Kang/von der Schulenburg (STAN), 6-2
2. Chang/Chen (CAL) d. Godsick/Rivera (STAN), 6-4
3. No. 50 Banerjee/Razeghi (STAN) led Lechno-Wasiutynski/Wright (CAL), 6-5 uf
Order of Finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
1. No. 12 Samir Banerjee (STAN) d. No. 13 Carl Emil Overbeck (CAL), 6-0, 6-4
2. No. 71 Alex Chang (CAL) led No. 86 Max Basing (STAN), 6-4, 4-5 uf
3. No. 47 Theo Dean (CAL) d. Kyle Kang (STAN), 6-2, 6-4
4. No. 75 Henry von der Schulenburg (STAN) d. Timofey Stepanov (CAL), 7-5, 6-1
5. Nico Godsick (STAN) d. Derrick Chen (CAL), 6-2, 6-2
6. Alex Razeghi (STAN) d. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski (CAL), 7-5, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 3, 6, 4