Tennis gears up for NCAA tournament action

No. 24 sophomore Michaela Gordon (above) is the women's teams highest-ranked singles player, and is riding a six-game winning streak. Gordon was an All-Pac-12 First-Team selection last season, as well as the ITA National Rookie of the year. (LYNDSAY RADNEDGE/isiphotos.com)
No. 24 sophomore Michaela Gordon (above) is the women's teams highest-ranked singles player, and is riding a six-game winning streak. Gordon was an All-Pac-12 First-Team selection last season, as well as the ITA National Rookie of the year. (LYNDSAY RADNEDGE/isiphotos.com)
By Savanna Stewart
May 3, 2019, 12:02 a.m.

With a 17-game winning streak and their fourth consecutive Pac-12 championship under their belt, No. 3 Stanford women’s tennis (22-1, 10-0 Pac-12) now prepares to face New Mexico State (15-9, 3-2 WAC) in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Stadium will host the match, which will take place at noon PST on Saturday, with the winner moving on to the second round of the tournament.

No. 12 Stanford’s men’s tennis (17-6, 5-3 Pac-12) will make its 12th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance on Friday with a first-round match against Fresno State (18-10, 5-2 MWC). The men enter the game after falling 4-2 to USC in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Championships last weekend. Also at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, the battle between the Cardinal and the Bulldogs is set to start at 2:00 p.m. PST.

Looking back, the Cardinal men’s team has dominated in 19 previous showdowns against its Friday foe, maintaining an 18-1 record against the Bulldogs. The most recent of these matchups took place in April 2015 when Stanford secured a 4-1 victory and avenged the defeat Fresno State delivered in their previous meeting in February 2012. Against more frequently faced opponents this season — Arizona, Santa Clara State and San Francisco — Stanford boasts the better record with 4-0, 5-0 and 7-0 victories over the three teams, respectively. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs defeated San Francisco 4-1, but fell to both Santa Clara and Arizona in 3-4 and 1-6 decisions.

On the women’s side of this weekend’s tennis action, Saturday is an opportunity for the Cardinal women to pick up their 60th win at Taube out of the last 63 home matches. Seniors No. 66 Caroline Lampl and No. 29 Melissa Lord are also looking to add to their impressive collections of singles victories after Lampl secured her 20th consecutive win and Lord claimed her 10th straight by handing defeat to UCLA’s Ayan Broomfield (6-2, 6-1) and Elysia Bolton (7-5, 6-3), respectively, during the Pac-12 Championship last weekend.

Also at Taube Family Tennis Stadium will be first-round matches between Syracuse (13-12, 5-9 ACC) and Wisconsin (18-5, 9-2 Big 10) in the women’s bracket as well as Texas Tech (15-11, 2-3 Big 12) and UC Santa Barbara (16-6, 5-0 Big West) in the men’s bracket. Triumph over the New Mexico State Aggies would place Stanford women’s tennis in a second-round match against the winner of Syracuse/Wisconsin, to be played at noon PST on Sunday. With a victory over Fresno State, Stanford men’s team would secure a spot in a second-round match against the victor of Texas Tech/UC Santa Barbara, which would take place Saturday at 3:00 p.m. PST.


Contact Savanna Stewart at savnstew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Savanna Stewart is a managing editor in the Sports section. She is a junior from Twin Bridges, Montana studying Political Science and Communication and enjoys running and playing basketball. Contact her at sstewart 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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