The No. 19 Stanford women’s tennis team (10-5, 5-1 Pac-12) will need key road victories this weekend over No. 47 Washington (12-8, 3-4) and No. 57 Washington State (17-6, 2-5) if it wants to be one of the 16 seeded teams in the NCAA Championships.

Stanford had won three straight matches (all in Pac-12 play), sweeping a trio of teams by a combined 21-0, before losing at California this past Sunday. With three matches left to play, Stanford finishes the season at home against California a week from Sunday.

The Cardinal sit at fifth place in the Pac-12 standings and need these wins to raise a few spots higher in the national rankings as the NCAA Tournament approaches; the top 16 teams host first and second round matches in the NCAA Championships.

Stanford has struggled away from home, going 1-3 away from The Farm with its lone win coming at Arizona. To beat their road blues, the Cardinal will look to senior Krista Hardebeck, who has won 12 straight matches and leads the team with 18 overall victories, to continue her consistency as of late.

The team will also have the services of junior Carol Zhao, who missed the beginning of the season while playing tournaments on the professional circuit before coming back and playing the last few matches for Stanford.

The match against Washington will take place on Friday at noon, while the Cardinal will take on Washington State Saturday at 10 a.m.

 

Contact Elliott Lapin at elapin ‘at’ stanford.edu.