The defending NCAA Champion and No. 4 ranked Stanford women’s tennis (2-0) swept Sacramento State (1-5) 5-0 at home on Wednesday afternoon.
Stanford won all six singles – which were played first due to rainy conditions – in a little over an hour. All Cardinal players won the first set of their respective singles match 6-1, except freshman Emma Higuchi, who won hers 6-0.
Sophomore Caroline Lampl (No. 75) scored the Cardinal’s first point. After a dominant 6-1 first set, Lampl took the first three games of the second set. Although she allowed Andie Mouzes to break and catch up to 3-2, Lampl bounced back to take the second set 6-3.
Sophomore Melissa Lord (No. 13) finished her match after Lampl, as she rolled past Sofia Wicker 6-1, 6-1. During the game, Lord won eight straight games from 3-1 in the first set to 5-0 in the second.
After winning the opening 15 games of her match, Higuchi added a third point for the Cardinal when she won her contest 6-0, 6-1. On the other court, Senior Caroline Doyle (No.38) scored the winning fourth point of the contest thanks to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Karina Vyrlan.
Senior Taylor Davidson and freshman Emily Arbuthnott were on pace to win their matches when their opponents forfeited due to Stanford’s 4-0 lead.
After winning her first set 6-1, Davidson earned a break in the second to take command 3-1. Despite being led 0-30 on her serve at 3-2, Davidson managed to advance to 4-2 before breaking again on a blank game. Davidson’s game ended right after she earned a match point.
On the other hand, Arbuthnott was leading 6-1, 4-0 when her match was halted.
The Cardinal exhibited the same strength as they swept doubles. All three pairs (Davidson-Arbuthnott, Kimberly Yee-Doyle (No.36) and Lampl-Higuchi) won 6-1 while exhibiting great chemistry.
Stanford will look to extend their win streak as they return to action on Feb. 8 at home against San Jose State.
Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.