It may have been just its second match of the year, but the Stanford women’s tennis team was in midseason form against the Oregon Ducks on Saturday.
The No. 2 Cardinal (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) had little trouble dusting off the Ducks (3-2, 0-1) in Eugene, cruising to a 6-1 victory in its first Pac-12 conference matchup of the season. The Stanford victory was punctuated by especially strong performances from sophomore Nicole Gibbs, junior Stacey Tan and senior Veronica Li.
The Cardinal won all three doubles matches to take the early lead, and Gibbs, who paired with junior Mallory Burdette for the doubles matchup, authored a particularly dominant 8-1 victory over the Duck duo of Sofia Hager and Patricia Skowronski.
Stanford’s dominant play carried over into the singles matchups, as the Cardinal had little trouble in any of its first five matches. Tan was the first off the courts with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Hager, followed closely by compatriot Li, who also recorded a 6-0, 6-0 win over Haley Driver.
Gibbs was next off the courts with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Julia Metzger in the number one spot, putting a bow on the Cardinal victory as early as possible.
With the win already in tow, freshman Ellen Tsay cleaned up a victory by taking down Trudie DuToit, 6-4, 6-1, followed by Burdette, who managed her second victory of the day against Skowronski, 6-3, 6-3. The only blemish on the Cardinal’s score came from junior Natalie Dillon, who split the first two sets, 6-3, 3-6, before falling 10-8 in a third set tiebreaker.
After hitting the road to Eugene for its first conference matchup, the Cardinal now returns home for five consecutive matches at the Taube Family Tennis Center. The biggest matchup of the five is undoubtedly a showdown with No. 1 Florida on Sunday, Feb. 12.
Not only is the match a huge showdown between the top two teams in the country, but the Cardinal will also be seeking revenge against the same Gator team that took home the national championship last season by beating the Cardinal on its home court with a 4-3 comeback victory.
But before Stanford gets its show at revenge on Sunday, the Cardinal must go through Pepperdine, which comes to the Farm on Saturday. The Waves and Cardinal face off on Saturday at noon.