The Stanford men’s and women’s tennis teams take on top opponents this weekend after a week of preparation back on campus. The men’s team heads to Los Angeles today to play the No. 5 USC Trojans (5-0, 0-0 Pac-12) at Marks Stadium before heading across town to battle the No. 7 UCLA Bruins (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The women’s team travels to Seattle this weekend for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, having won a bid for the tournament with a sweep through ITA Kick-Off weekend last month.
The men’s team took a tough loss last weekend, falling 1-6 to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on the road in a battle of two collegiate tennis powerhouses. Junior William Genesen defeated No. 13 Kyle Seelig to take the Cardinal’s only victory on the day.
The crushing defeat dropped Stanford one spot in this week’s ITA poll, bringing the team to No. 10 in the nation. The Cardinal look to bounce back this weekend in SoCal with back-to-back matchups against two of the top teams in the country. Both USC and UCLA are undefeated so far in dual competition on the season.
The No. 1-ranked Stanford women’s team has steamrolled its competition thus far this season, having swept all three of its opponents in Saint Mary’s, Washington State and Princeton. Stanford was scheduled to host UC Davis last weekend, but the match was cancelled due to rain concerns.
Stanford will play No. 18 LSU (6-0) in the first round today at 3:30 p.m. The ITA National Team Indoor Championships tournament features 16 of the top collegiate women’s tennis teams in the nation, including each of the top 10 teams. The Cardinal last participated in the event back in 2011 when it took down Florida in the finals.
The Cardinal is led by sophomore Emily Arbuthnott (16-3 overall, 3-0 duals), the highest-ranked player on the women’s team at No. 14. Arbuthnott has won her last 10 consecutive matches, and looks to keep up her streak this weekend. The duo of seniors Kimberly Yee and Caroline Lampl lead Stanford in doubles, sitting at No. 11 on the national doubles rankings.
The women’s team returns its entire starting singles and doubles lineups from last year’s national championship team and added solid contributors in freshmen Sara Choy (11-3 overall) and Nikula Madurawe (14-2 overall).
With a stocked slate of games lined up for both the men’s and women’s tennis, this weekend may prove to be a pivotal point in each team’s season. The men’s team is looking to bounce back after a tough loss, while the women’s team hopes to silence the doubters and solidify itself as the top squad in all of collegiate tennis.
Contact Shan Reddy at rsreddy ‘at’ stanford.edu.