STANFORD, Calif. - Back in action for the first time in three weeks, No. 15 Stanford easily dispatched of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-0 on Friday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Making its 35th consecutive NCAA appearance, Stanford (15-5, 9-1 Pac-12) next faces No. 19 Texas A&M (17-10, 7-6 SEC) on Saturday in the second round. The Aggies blanked Denver 4-0 earlier in the morning. The winner punches its ticket to next weekend’s round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla.
The most storied program in college tennis with 17 NCAA championships, the Cardinal has been ranked between No. 7-23 in the country throughout the season before closing strong with four straight wins and a Pac-12 title.
Friday’s match served as a postseason tune-up, as Stanford seeks another deep NCAA run. The Cardinal captured the doubles point and overwhelmed Texas A&M Corpus-Christi (24-1, 11-0 Southland) – the nation’s lone unbeaten team – in singles action.
Leading 1-0, Krista Hardebeck required only 35 minutes to breeze past Celia Rodriguez 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 4 spot. It was the fourth time in Hardebeck’s career she had not surrendered a game over two sets.
Melissa Lord then earned her 20th victory of the season, taking down Kerry Galhos 6-0, 6-2 on court six to extend Stanford’s lead to 3-0.
The clincher came on court one, where Carol Zhao delivered a 6-2, 6-2 victory in her 10th match of the season. The Cardinal is 9-1 with Zhao in the lineup since the 2015 NCAA Singles runner-up and three-time All-American returned in late March.
Stanford owns a 137-18 all-time record in the postseason since the NCAA Tournament went to its present format in 1982. Stanford must be considered a national championship contender regardless of seed, considering the Cardinal has won 10 of its last 12 NCAA Tournament matches when seeded lower than its opponent.
Three years ago in Urbana, Ill., the 12th-seeded Cardinal became the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title, knocking off No. 5 USC, No. 4 Georgia and No. 1 Florida before knocking off No. 3 Texas A&M in the final. That championship also extended Stanford's record streak of 37 years in a row with at least one NCAA title and paved the way for a 19th consecutive Directors' Cup. Three years earlier in Athens, Ga., Stanford captured the 2010 NCAA championship as a No. 8 seed, with No. 1 Baylor, No. 3 Florida and No. 6 Notre Dame serving as victims.
No. 15 Stanford 4, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 0
DOUBLES
1) No. 5 Davidson/Doyle (STAN) led Dzinic/Vives (TAMUCC) 5-3, susp.
2) No. 31 Lord/Zhao (STAN) d. Martin/Rodriguez (TAMUCC) 6-4
3) Hardebeck/Lampl (STAN) d. Belle/Boscher (TAMUCC) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 25 Carol Zhao (STAN) d. Hortense Boscher (TAMUCC) 6-2, 6-2
2) No. 46 Taylor Davidson (STAN) led Jelena Dzinic (TAMUCC) 6-3, 1-1, susp.
3) Judit Vives (TAMUCC) led No. 67 Caroline Doyle (STAN) 6-2, 1-2, susp.
4) No. 100 Krista Hardebeck (STAN) d. Celia Rodriguez (TAMUCC) 6-0, 6-0
5) Caroline Lampl (STAN) led Maider Martin (TAMUCC) 6-2, 4-4, susp.
6) Melissa Lord (STAN) d. Kerry Galhos (TAMUCC) 6-0, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 1
- - - - - - - - - - - -
No. 19 Texas A&M 4, No. 48 Denver 0
DOUBLES
1) O’Laughlin/Slattery (DEN) d. No. 35 Paalma/Pierson (TAMU) 6-2
2) No. 75 Bhosale/Mamalat (TAMU) d. Barnhill/Mok (DEN) 6-2
3) Deheza/Gavriolvska (TAMU) d. Derbyshire/Mboko (DEN) 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
1) Julia O’Loughlin (DEN) led No. 24 Saska Gavrilovska (TAMU) 7-6 (7), 1-1, susp.
2) No. 69 Rutuja Bhosale (TAMU) d. Maureen Slattery (DEN) 6-1, 6-3
3) Rachel Pierson (TAMU) vs. Bianca Mok (DEN), 6-1, 4-6, susp.
4) Ines Deheza (TAMU) d. Charlotte Derbyshire (DEN) 6-2, 6-1
5) Domenica Gonzalez (TAMU) d. Evy Van Genechten (DEN) 6-1, 6-3
6) Morgan Barnhill (DEN) vs. Anna Mamalat (TAMU) 6-3, 2-6, susp.
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 5