The No. 10 Stanford women’s tennis team (13-4, 6-2 Pac-12) breezed by two of its Pacific Northwest rivals this weekend at Taube Stadium in its first two contests of a four-match home front. The team earned a convincing 6-1 victory over No. 62 Oregon on Friday, before shutting out No. 51 Washington 7-0 on Saturday.
Coming into their match against the Ducks, the Cardinal was fresh off two impressive victories against the Arizona schools. The team had clinched the doubles point in both matches and relied on their deep singles lineup to coast to two 6-1 wins. Friday’s match was no different for Stanford, as Krista Hardebeck and Paulette Wolak clinched the doubles point for the Cardinal early with an 8-1 victory at the No. 3 spot. Wolak, a freshman, earned the doubles victory in her first career start at Stanford.
Stanford continued its winning ways in singles play, as Ellen Tsay and Carol Zhao cruised to straight set victories at the Nos. 5 and 1 spots to put the Cardinal up 3-0. Junior Krista Hardebeck clinched the victory with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over the Ducks’ Marlou Kluiving. Oregon earned their lone point of the match at the No. 6 spot, where the Ducks’ Sofia Hager battled past Lindsey Kostas 2-6, 7-5, 10-4.
Saturday’s match against Washington proved to be a similar story for the Cardinal. Stanford raced out to a 1-0 lead with victories at the Nos. 1 and 2 doubles spots. The Cardinal’s singles lineup was simply too much for the Huskies to handle, as Stanford won all six matches in straight sets, with no player losing more than seven games. Stanford’s No. 1 Carol Zhao was especially dominant, as the fourth-ranked player in the country defeated Washington’s Elianne Douglas-Miron 6-0, 6-0.
Senior Day success for Ellen Tsay, who clinches Stanford’s 7-0 victory over Washington: http://t.co/0aebHpCuvw pic.twitter.com/pRp6ViSeJ0
— StanfordWTennis (@StanfordWTennis) April 4, 2015
The team also celebrated Senior Day during Saturday’s match, honoring its lone senior, Ellen Tsay. During her four-year tenure at the Farm, Tsay has been a stalwart member of the Stanford team. The biology major has started for the Cardinal since her freshman year and has played at the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 spots throughout her career, compiling a cumulative 99-34 record. In addition to the consistency and depth she provides to the lineup, Tsay, the lone remaining member of Stanford’s 2013 national championship team, brings veteran experience to this year’s young roster.
The Cardinal will put their four-match winning streak on the line next weekend, when they take on Washington State and Pepperdine at Taube Stadium. The unranked Cougars aren’t expected give Stanford any problems, although the match against 15th-ranked Pepperdine will be an intriguing matchup. The Waves’ only losses this year have come against Cal, UCLA and USC, who have also given the Cardinal three of their four defeats.
Stanford will take on Washington State on Saturday at 10 a.m., and will play their last home match of the season against Pepperdine on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Contact Neel Ramachandran at neelr ‘at’ stanford.edu