No. 26 Stanford women’s tennis (13-3, 8-2 Pac-12) ended its regular season on a high note, defeating archrival No. 22 Cal (14-6, 7-3 Pac-12) in the Big Slam 4-3 on Friday at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Sophomore Angelica Blake continued to perform as the second player in the lineup. After overcoming some frustrations with Cal’s smashes at the net in her doubles match, Blake went on to defeat Cal’s Valentina Ivanov 6-0, 6-2. Her doubles partner, fifth-year Emily Arbuthnott, had the opposite fortune in singles play and fell in straight sets 6-0, 6-2.
Senior Michaela Gordon, like Blake, dominated at the top of the lineup. On court one, she defeated Cal sophomore Haley Giavara in two straight 6-1 sets. Gordon was the first player to finish after Stanford clinched the doubles super set win.
With the score 3-1 in favor of the Cardinal, the attention turned to the back-half of the order, where junior Sarah Choy would provide the clincher on court five. Facing the Golden Bears’ Hannah Viller Moeller, Choy took care of business, painting the sidelines and finishing with a strong 6-2, 6-3 win.
But before Choy’s match finished, freshman Ana Geller lost on the court next door, falling to Cal’s Jada Bui, 6-4, 6-2. Fifth-year Emma Higuchi occupied the No. 6 spot in the lineup and fell in three sets.
The Cardinal now sets its sights on the conference championship in San Diego. The win puts Stanford in a comfortable second place in the Pac-12 standings behind UCLA, meaning it will be seeded directly into the quarterfinals. The hunt for its fifth-straight conference title continues on Saturday, April 24.