The No. 10 Stanford women’s tennis team (6-0) emerges from the weekend with two more victories notched under its belt. The Cardinal breezed by No. 46 Harvard but faced a steeper challenge against No. 11 Vanderbilt that looked quite different from many of their recent matches.
Stanford took on Harvard (4-3) on Saturday at Taube Tennis Center in a match that featured little suspense. The team quickly earned the doubles point following a pair of 8-2 victories by sophomores Taylor Davidson and Carol Zhao at the No. 1 spot and juniors Krista Hardebeck and Lindsey Kostas at No. 3. The Cardinal then swept through the Crimson’s singles lineup, earning straight-set victories on all five courts. Sophomore Taylor Davidson provided the clincher for the Cardinal, playing at the No. 3 singles spot for the first time this season, while classmate Caroline Doyle moved up to No. 2. The team’s 7-0 victory marked its first shutout of the season.
There was little time for the Cardinal to celebrate this accomplishment, however, as the team quickly shifted its focus toward its first major challenge of the season against No. 11 Vanderbilt (4-4). While the Commodores entered the weekend with three losses, their record was highly deceiving. All three of their defeats were to top-15 teams, including two heartbreaking 4-3 losses to No. 5 Cal and No. 12 USC. The team also had a couple of huge victories on its resume, including a 5-0 blanking against No. 23 Texas and a 4-1 upset over No. 4 Duke. With 2014 SEC Freshman of the Year and national No. 15 player Sydney Campbell leading a deep lineup that included three other top-100 players, the Commodores came into Palo Alto looking to spoil the Cardinal’s strong start.
Vandy drew first blood in doubles play, as Ashleigh Antal and Astra Sharma upset the No. 12 duo of Caroline Doyle and Ellen Tsay 8-6 on Court 2. Stanford clawed its way back at the No. 1 doubles spot with an impressive 8-7 (0) victory by Taylor Davidson and Carol Zhao, who are 5-1 as a team this season. While Krista Hardebeck and Lindsey Kostas battled on Court 3 to give the Cardinal the always-crucial doubles point, the team fell in a tight 8-6 loss, granting Vanderbilt an early 1-0 match lead.
Things looked grim for the Cardinal early in singles play, as Kostas was forced to retire in the second set of her match at the No. 6 spot due to injury, forcing Stanford into a 2-0 hole. However, the team, energized by the crowd at Taube, fought back to take a 3-2 lead following straight-set victories from Ellen Tsay, Carol Zhao and Caroline Doyle at the No. 5, No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. Vandy then evened the match, as the Commodores’ Astra Sharma defeated Stanford’s Krista Hardebeck 6-4, 6-3.
With the match even at 3-3, all eyes turned to Court 3, where Stanford’s No. 14 Taylor Davidson was locked in a dogfight against No. 89 Frances Altick. After losing the first set 5-7, Davidson rallied to take the second 6-4. With the match hanging in the balance at 5-5 in the third set, Davidson earned a huge break and served out the match to win and clinch a riveting 4-3 victory for the Cardinal. The win completed a monumental weekend for Davidson. Despite being moved down to the No. 3 spot, she provided the clincher for the Cardinal in both matches and moved to 6-0 on the season.
The No. 10 Cardinal should look to move up in the rankings this week after their big win over Vanderbilt. Stanford will next look to build on its success as it head to Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday for arguably its most challenging weekend of the season. The Cardinal will face No. 16 Duke on Saturday before taking on archrival No. 2 Florida this Sunday in what will surely be a monumental test for the team.
Contact Neel Ramachandran at neelr ‘at’ stanford.edu.