On Friday afternoon, freshman Kimberly Yee found herself in the same position as she had been in two weeks earlier: having won the first set handily, before having lost the second set and facing the physical and mental challenges of being the last match on court.
Two weeks ago, Yee fell 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, the Cardinal’s only loss in their 6-1 win over St. Mary’s. On Friday, however, Yee triumphed over Fresno State’s Emma Wilson, 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (13-11) at the No. 6 spot.
Yee clinched Stanford’s second consecutive 7-0 shutout following last week’s victory over No. 23 TCU. The consecutive dominant wins by No. 13 Stanford women’s tennis are a significant source of momentum as the team prepares to host No. 3 Florida, a longtime rival, this Sunday.
“I’m happy we’re able to show what Stanford can do,” Yee said. “[To win] 7-0 twice is pretty huge.”
Stanford clinched the doubles point and fought through tightly-contested matches in the lower half of the lineup to leave Fresno State empty-handed on a chilly, windy afternoon at Taube Tennis Stadium.
Senior Krista Hardebeck and freshman Caroline Lampl won 6-1 at the No. 3 doubles spot. Junior duo Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle, the fifth-ranked doubles team in the nation, clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory at the No. 1 spot.
“I think it’s important that we keep winning the doubles point,” said head coach Lele Forood. “We’re getting an identity [for doubles]. We haven’t lost the doubles point yet.”
Hardebeck prevented any potential for drama on Court 3 as she dispatched her opponent 6-0, 6-2, for the Cardinal’s first singles victory.
Doyle followed with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 2 singles spot. Doyle’s opponent, Sophie Watts, had a dangerous ability to intercept Doyle’s topspin-heavy, looping groundstrokes on the rise and hit forceful and flat groundstrokes in return. But Doyle’s consistency prevailed, putting the Cardinal only one match away from victory.
Freshman Melissa Lord clinched the dual match for the Cardinal with a 6-4, 6-4 win on Court 4. Lord’s serve was broken to bring the second set to 4-4, but she broke back to go up 5-4. Having gained the upper edge at that critical point, Lord held her serve to secure the victory.
Davidson, ranked 30th nationally, faced No. 26 Mayar Sherif Ahmed at Taube for the second time this year. On Oct. 27, Davidson defeated Ahmed 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 in the finals of the Stanford-hosted USTA/ITA NW Regional Championships. On Friday, the junior raced ahead in the second set to go up 7-5, 5-1. Davidson countered a late rally by Ahmed to clinch the second set 6-3.
Lampl and Yee each lost tightly-contested second sets before rallying in 10-point tiebreakers, which replaced the full third set, as the match was already decided.
At the No. 4 spot, Lampl’s 10-6 win in the tiebreaker was characterized by big serves, backhand winners and occasional slices, which kept her Fresno State opponent running. After Lampl notched her final score of 6-4, 6-7 (2), 1-0 (10-6), both teams gathered courtside to watch Yee and Wilson finish their battle at the No. 6 spot.
Yee refused to let any pressure, or déjà vu, faze her after splitting sets yet again.
“I’ve always believed, don’t worry about the result,” Yee said. “You can’t control whether you win or lose, but you can control if you run every ball down, how you handle yourself on the court. You can control your attitude. So that was my mindset.”
The Cardinal return to Taube on Sunday to take on No. 3 Florida at noon.
Contact Alexa Corse at corsea ‘at’ stanford.edu.