It was a successful weekend of home matches for Stanford tennis as the No. 4 ranked men’s team (17-2, 4-1 Pac-12) and the No. 23 ranked women’s team (12-3, 6-0 Pac-12) each came up with a victory at Taube Family Tennis Center. The men’s team swept No. 32 ranked Utah (19-4, 2-2) with a 4-0 score on Saturday afternoon while the women took down No. 26 ranked Oregon (12-8, 3-5) on Sunday, 6-1.
Stanford men’s tennis has only lost to Utah once in the history of the program: they sit atop a 36-1 lifetime record. Saturday was a simple victory for the Cardinal as the singles matches wrapped up soon after a hotly contested doubles point. The No. 23 ranked pairing of senior Tom Fawcett and freshman Axel Geller were upset early by the Ute duo of Russell Benkaim and Randy Cory with a game score of 3-6. Stanford’s third doubles team, senior David Wilczynski and freshman Timothy Sah, responded with a 6-2 set win. The point was claimed by Stanford after the No. 66 ranked pairing of juniors Michael Genender and Sameer Kumar won their set 6-4, putting the Cardinal up 1-0.
The rest of the match was almost a formality, as the Cardinal singles players smashed their opponents in straight sets, ending the match early and taking down the Utes. Geller, the freshman sensation currently ranked No. 56 in the country, won the second singles match 6-0, 6-1. The No. 78 ranked Kumar finished his games second with set scores of 6-4 and 6-1. And before any singles match could make it to the third set, Wilczynski ended the match by finishing his opponent 6-1, 6-2. He clinched the match, putting the Cardinal up 4-0 and ending the contest before Fawcett, Sah and Genender could complete their games.
The men’s team remains undefeated at home this season, and they have three more regular season home matches remaining in the coming weeks. If they win all three, they will reach the 20-win threshold, something the team has not accomplished in six years. Regardless of how many wins they finish with, the group will be in an excellent position to excel in the postseason.
The women’s team came into their match against Oregon riding a hot streak. They have not lost since their 4-3 defeat at the hands of Florida on Feb. 24 and extended their winning ways to an eight-game streak by taking down the Ducks.
The women’s victory wasn’t a quick 4-0 sweep like the men, but it was equally dominant, if not as fast. Despite Stanford being up 4-0 and clinching the match at one point, the teams decided to play out the remaining contests to completion.
The Cardinal women claimed the doubles point by winning the second and third seeded matches with relative ease. Juniors Kimberly Yee and Caroline Lampl took down their opponents 6-2 while junior Melissa Lord and freshman Janice Shin won their set 6-3, putting Stanford at a 1-0 advantage.
The score was rolled up quickly, as the No. 64 ranked Lord (6-3, 6-1) and sophomore Emma Higuchi (6-2, 6-3) both won their matches in straight sets and set the Cardinal up 3-0. The performance which provided a secured victory belonged to the No. 40 ranked sophomore Emily Arbuthnott, who clinched the match with set scores of 6-4 and 6-2. Shin, the next to finish, won her sets 7-5, 6-4, giving the team a 5-0 lead against the Ducks.
The only Cardinal loss came from the first seeded singles, where the No. 10 nationally ranked freshman Michaela Gordon was upset by Oregon’s No. 94 ranked Alyssa Tobita. Tobita went the distance against Stanford’s freshman phenom, outlasting her after dropping the first set 4-6, and coming back to win two consecutive sets 6-3 and 6-1.
To close the day’s action, Lampl claimed a victory in the third singles spot, taking down her opponent 7-5, 7-6 to make the final score 6-1 with a Stanford victory.
The women’s team travels to the Pacific Northwest for their next matches, challenging Washington State on Friday, April 13th. The men’s team will host Cal on the same day on their home courts at Taube.
Contact Bobby Pragada at bpragada “at” stanford.edu