STANFORD, Calif. - No. 14 Stanford opens conference play this weekend when it travels to Southern California for matches against No. 28 UCLA and No. 21 USC.
After playing six of its first eight matches at home, Stanford (7-1) now embarks on a stretch that features six of its next nine away from The Farm.
This week's road trip begins on Friday against No. 28 UCLA (6-4), which has lost three in a row. The swing concludes on Saturday against No. 21 USC (4-3) in a match that will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
After dropping to No. 25 in the rankings two weeks ago, the Cardinal has climbed 11 spots. Stanford remains behind the likes of No. 5 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Oklahoma State – two opponents it has already defeated. Regardless, those will serve as quality wins as Stanford looks to continue its rise back into the top-10.
Stanford's entire six-member singles lineup is ranked, led by No. 13 Melissa Lord (15-2 overall, 6-2 duals). Lord suffered only her second loss of the season and first since Oct. 23 when she was upended by Petra Granic of Texas last weekend. The Cardinal's other ranked players are No. 36 Caroline Doyle, No. 46 Emma Higuchi, No. 67 Emily Arbuthnott, No. 69 Taylor Davidson and No. 73 Caroline Lampl.
The Cardinal's lone ranked doubles team is Doyle and Lord (7-3 overall, 4-0 duals).
Head coach Lele Forood, who has guided Stanford to eight NCAA titles, is five victories away from 400 in her career.