STANFORD, Calif. - Defending NCAA champion Stanford opens its fall season Tuesday with an appearance at the Riviera ITA All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, California.
Main draw singles semifinalists, main draw doubles finalists and main draw consolation champions will receive automatic entry into the 2016 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, slated for Nov. 3-6 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York.
Qualifying begins on Oct. 4, with senior Caroline Doyle featured in the singles draw. Ranked No. 52 in the country, Doyle is a two-time All-American in doubles who has compiled an 85-27 overall record and 51-15 dual match mark over her first three seasons. Doyle has split time at the Nos. 2 and 3 spot of the lineup in each of the last two years.
Main draw competition gets underway on Oct. 6, with senior Taylor Davidson earning a spot among the 24 selections. Ranked No. 22 in the nation and a two-time All-American in doubles, Davidson provided the clinching point in three NCAA matches last year, including a three-set victory to secure Stanford's NCAA title win over Oklahoma State. Davidson, who owns career marks of 78-30 overall and 48-14 in duals, reached the quarterfinals of last year's event.
Sophomore Caroline Lampl is listed as the 10th alternate for singles qualifying. Lampl enjoyed a terrific rookie season, leading the Cardinal in overall victories (30-5) and winning 13 of her 14 matches at the No. 5 position of the lineup. Lampl clinched a team-best seven matches and finished 21-2 in duals, representing the highest dual win total by a Cardinal freshman since Nicole Gibbs went 27-0 in 2011.
The Cardinal will be represented with two teams in the doubles main draw. Doyle will team up with sophomore Melissa Lord while Davidson will join freshman Emily Arbuthnott. Doyle and Lord, ranked No. 11 in the nation, played only two matches together in 2015-16. Arbuthnott and Davidson are ranked No. 21 in the country and will be playing together for the first time. Stanford was 7-2 when losing the doubles point last year, with four of those victories ironically coming during NCAA play.
Later in the week, Stanford will send a split squad contingent to the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational, which runs Oct. 7-9 in Moraga, Calif.
The most storied program in women's college tennis, Stanford (20-5, 9-1 Pac-12) captured its 19th national championship (18 NCAA, 1 AIAW) in 2016, defeating No. 12 Oklahoma State in a 4-3 thriller in Tulsa, Oklahoma. No. 15 Stanford became the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title, knocking off No. 2 Florida, No. 10 Michigan and No. 6 Vanderbilt in a span of five days prior to reaching the final. Stanford has now won 14 of its last 16 NCAA matches when seeded lower than its opponent, a streak that covers six years. That includes winning it all as a No. 12 seed three years ago – at the time the lowest-seeded team to accomplish the feat – and taking home the crown in 2010 as a No. 8 seed.