STANFORD, Calif. - Sophomores Melissa Lord and Caroline Lampl remained perfect in the postseason, fueling defending NCAA champion Stanford to a closer-than-it-looked 4-2 victory over TCU on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
Lord's 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2 spot pushed the Cardinal in front before Lampl's 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2 victory at the No. 4 position provided the clincher, as both players improved to 7-0 career in NCAA team competition.
Without those outcomes, Stanford (23-2) was in danger of missing the round of 16 for the first time in school history. Despite losing the doubles point, TCU (14-10) quickly won five of the six first sets and held comfortable leads in many of the second frames.
Once Stanford's top three players found their rhythm in the second sets, the momentum shifted. Seniors Caroline Doyle and Taylor Davidson bought enough time in their matches for Lord to recover and post her 25th win of the season and 50th of her career.
Stanford claimed the doubles point for a 1-0 lead, securing the point when Emily Arbuthnott and Davidson rolled to a 6-3 victory at the top spot.
TCU evened the match at 1-1 following Olaya Garrido-Rivas' 6-4, 6-2 victory over Emily Arbuthnott, who lost for only the fourth time this season in 29 matches.
The Cardinal moved in front 2-1 minutes later, when Emma Higuchi defeated Caroline Wegner 6-3, 6-2 on court six. Higuchi, who leads Stanford with 31 victories, has won 20 in row, the longest single-season winning streak by a Cardinal player since Mallory Burdette recorded 21 consecutive victories in 2012.
The Horned Frogs responded with a 7-5, 7-6 (4) triumph from Seda Arantekin over Caroline Doyle at the No. 1 spot, tightening the match at 2-2.
With Doyle fighting back in her second set and Davidson rebounding to force a third set, Lord continued her comeback. She led 5-1 in the third set before hanging on at 6-4.
Meanwhile, Lampl had already surged to a sizeable lead on court four, and improved to 13-7 career in three-setters.
Stanford, seeded No. 7 in the draw but ranked No. 6 in the nation, will next face No. 10 Michigan in the round of 16 on Friday at 6 a.m. PT in Athens, Georgia.
Stanford is 144-18 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. In 2016, Stanford became the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title at No. 15, defeating Oklahoma State in a 4-3 thriller. Four years ago, Stanford won it all as a No. 12 seed – at the time the lowest-seeded team to accomplish the feat. In 2010, the Cardinal took home the crown as a No. 8 seed.
No. 6 Stanford 4, No. 27 TCU 2
DOUBLES
1) No. 39 Arbuthnott/Davidson (STAN) d. No. 19 Bashota/Garrido-Rivas (TCU) 6-3
2) No. 46 Doyle/Lord (STAN) d. Pereira/Kadzhaya (TCU) 6-3
3) Arantekin/Wegner (TCU) d. Higuchi/Lampl (STAN) 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
1) No. 61 Seda Arantekin (TCU) d. No. 38 Caroline Doyle (STAN) 7-5, 7-6 (4)
2) No. 28 Melissa Lord (STAN) d. Sofiko Kadzhaya (TCU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
3) No. 54 Taylor Davidson (STAN) led Aleksandra Zenovka (TCU) 4-6, 7-6 (6), 3-2, abandoned
4) No. 90 Caroline Lampl (STAN) d. Donika Bashota (TCU) 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2
5) Olaya Garrido-Rivas (TCU) d. Emily Arbuthnott (STAN) 6-4, 6-2
6) No. 71 Emma Higuchi (STAN) d. Caroline Wegner (TCU) 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1, 2, 4