STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford closed out a five-match homestand with a 4-1 loss to No. 16 Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Tianmei Wang picked up the lone points for the Cardinal at No. 4 singles, beating Chantal Sauvant 7-5, 6-4.
Another freshman, Monika Ekstrand nearly picked up her fourth consecutive win over a ranked opponent on the top court, but her match did not finish. She was tied 5-5 in a second-set tiebreak with No. 43 Ziva Falkner after taking the first set 7-6 (4).
Pepperdine clinched it on court five with Alexia Harmon beating Sein Myoung 6-2, 7-5.
Courts two and three had first-set tiebreaks, but those were won by Pepperdine. Sonja Zhiyenbayeva beat Caroline Driscoll on court three 7-6 (5), 6-3. Anastasiia Grechkina was leading Alyssa Ahn 7-6 (3), 5-5 when their match was abandoned after the court five clincher.
Stanford will have next weekend off before starting an extended road trip at Syracuse on Friday, March 20 at noon PT. The Cardinal will also face Boston College on Sunday, March 22 and then stay out East for ACC duals at Notre Dame and Louisville the following weekend.
No. 16 Pepperdine 4, No. 24 Stanford 1
DOUBLES
1) #26 Ziva Falkner/Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) d. #72 Caroline Driscoll/Monika Ekstrand (STAN) 6-3
2) Anastasiia Grechkina/Chantal Sauvant (PEPP) d. Alyssa Ahn/Tianmei Wang (STAN) 6-3
3) Sein Myoung/Morgan Shaffer (STAN) led Shihomi Leong/Duru Soke (PEPP) 4-3 unf.
Order of Finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
1) #46 Monika Ekstrand (STAN) led #43 Ziva Falkner (PEPP) 7-6 (4), 6-6 unf.
2) #10 Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) led #32 Alyssa Ahn (STAN) 7-6 (3), 5-5 unf.
3) #122 Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) d. Caroline Driscoll (STAN) 7-6 (5), 6-3
4) Tianmei Wang (STAN) d. Chantal Sauvant (PEPP) 7-5, 6-4
5) Alexia Harmon (PEPP) d. Sein Myoung (STAN) 6-2, 7-5
6) Duru Soke (PEPP) d. Morgan Shaffer (STAN) 6-0, 6-2
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 4, 5