No. 10 Stanford women’s tennis (17-2, 9-0 Pac-12) cruised to victory in its final two home games of the season, sweeping Washington State (9-14, 0-8 Pac-12) in under two hours on Friday before beating Washington 6-1 during senior day on Saturday.
Going up against a Cougars team that had not won a dual in conference play, Stanford swept the doubles with a 6-0 win on Court 3 followed by a 6-1 rout on Court 1 to jump to an early 1-0 lead.
Freshman Emma Higuchi doubled the Cardinal lead after she posted her fourth shutout of the season, crushing Washington State’s Ege Tomey on Court 6.
Sophomore Caroline Lampl then put the Cardinal within a point of victory as she notched a 6-2, 6-2 win at the No. 4 spot. This victory marked Lampl’s 50th win in 60 matches.
Freshman Emily Arbuthnott then put the game away with a straight set victory of her own on Court 5, clinching her team-high sixth dual this season.
As action stopped on all remaining courts, all three other Cardinal were within a game of victory, having each earned a 5-2 lead in their second sets. Senior Caroline Doyle had secured three game points on her serve when the game was called.
Against Washington on Saturday, doubles team Higuchi and Lampl again cruised to a shutout in doubles on Court 3. A 6-3 win by sophomore Melissa Lord and Doyle at the No. 2 spot gave Stanford a 1-0 advantage.
Lampl and Higuchi increased the Cardinal lead by two points as they secured 6-1, 6-0 singles victories on Courts 4 and 6 respectively. The sophomore finished her game first, minutes before the freshman clinched her 17th straight win in a row.
Lord gave Stanford the victory as she beat Miki Kobayashi on Court 2 in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, and Arbuthnott added an extra point to the scoreboard with a 6-2, 6-3 success on Court 5.
Senior Taylor Davidson scored the Cardinal’s final point with a convincing 6-4, 6-4 victory at the No. 3 spot. Davidson seems to have fully recovered from her injury earlier this season. Despite coming back from a one-set deficit, Doyle eventually fell to Stacey Fung in three sets on Court 1, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 10-5.
The Cardinal’s two seniors, Doyle and Davidson, were honored prior to Saturday’s game against the Huskies. The pair was part of the 2016 National Champions team and collected a total of 75 dual wins during their time in the Farm, including 13 postseason successes.
The Cardinal look to wrap up their regular season undefeated in conference play as they travel to Cal to face the Golden Bears next weekend.
Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.