Led by junior Michaela Gordon and the doubles duo of senior Emily Arbuthnott and freshman Angelica Blake, Stanford’s women’s tennis soared to its second consecutive sweep of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, claiming both the singles and doubles titles Tuesday afternoon. For the 13th year in a row, Taube Family Tennis Stadium hosted the event, which began on Friday.
For Gordon, the championship was hardly unfamiliar, as her defeat of Saint Mary’s Maria Kozyreva (6-1, 7-5) was her third consecutive ITA Northwest Regional singles title. At last year’s tournament, Gordon edged past teammate Caroline Lampl (6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2) in a unique all-Cardinal final.
As if taking home the trophy wasn’t impressive enough, Gordon completed her championship run without dropping a single set. Her narrowest victory was a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Cal’s Valentina Ivanov in the semifinals. Before her match against Ivanov, none of Gordon’s opponents had managed to secure more than three games in any set against her.
Arbuthnott and Blake were also quick to make a statement with their performances in doubles play, soaring to easy victories each round. Their 8-3 victory over Washington’s Zoey Weil and Nica Zupancic was their first time competing together, though it certainly seemed meant to be as they coasted through to the title match, where they took down Sedona Gallagher and Katarina Kopcalic (6-4, 6-2), also of Washington.
Both Arbuthnott and Blake also found some success in singles play, with Arbuthnott fighting her way to the Main Draw Round of 16 before falling to the tournament’s soon-to-be runner-up, Maria Kozyreva (6-3, 7-5). Blake, who captured the singles title during her collegiate debut at the Saint Mary’s Invitational earlier this month, picked up Friday victories against Oregon’s Allison Mulville (6-0, 6-1) and Pang Jittakoat (6-3, 6-2) of Washington State before withdrawing from a third-round match on Saturday due to illness.
However, the repeat sweep was simply the icing on the cake for a Cardinal team that saw strong performances all around. Junior Janice Shin acquired four victories of her own before a narrow defeat in the quarterfinals by Kopcalic of Washington. On the doubles side, the first Cardinal victory of the tournament came from the duo of senior Sara Choy and sophomore Niluka Madurawe through an easy win against Fresno State’s Jane Ellis and Cathryn Ann-Hummel.
As the fall season draws to a close, Stanford’s final tests will be the San Diego State Fall Classic and the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Newport Beach. After earning their titles this past weekend, Gordon and Arbuthnott/Blake have secured their place in the latter tournament, which begins on Thursday, Nov. 7. Action at the San Diego State Fall Classic kicks off the following day.
Contact Savanna Stewart at savnstew ‘at’ stanford.edu.