STANFORD, Calif. - No. 16 Stanford will open play Thursday at the Pac-12 Championships, attempting to pull off a sweep of conference titles for the second consecutive year.
Stanford (15-3, 9-0 Pac-12) is halfway there following its 4-0 victory over California last Friday. The Cardinal, which has now won 14 of the last 19 meetings against the Golden Bears dating back to 2010, put the finishing touches on an undefeated conference season and captured the Pac-12 regular-season crown.
As a result, Stanford earned the No. 1 seed for this week's Pac-12 Championships and will square off against the winner of No. 8 seed Washington or No. 9 seed Colorado. The Cardinal would have to win three matches in successive days to repeat as champions in the second year of the league's new dual-match format. The winner of the tournament is recognized as the Pac-12 champion and earns the conference's automatic NCAA bid.
Stanford is also seeking a third straight conference title overall, a milestone the Cardinal last accomplished in 2010-12.
While a conference title is certainly the immediate goal, Stanford has plenty of incentive to simply keep piling up wins. One of the nation's hottest teams with 11 straight victories, the Cardinal continues to storm toward the finish line, trying to position itself among the nation's top-16, typically recognized as the cutline for NCAA hosting honors.
The latest national rankings have Stanford checking in at No. 16, which represents a 30-spot surge since the first week of March. Another deep postseason run this week would likely do the trick for the Cardinal, which has never missed out on hosting the first two rounds of the postseason since the NCAA shifted to its current 64-team field in 1999. How important would it be to host? Stanford has won 46 of its last 49 contests at Taube Family Tennis Stadium dating back to 2015.
The Pac-12 Championships draw sets up a possible rematch against UCLA, ranked No. 13 in the nation but seeded No. 2 in the field. The Cardinal's signature win of the season was a 4-3 home victory over the Bruins on March 9, in which Stanford rallied despite losing the doubles point and was playing without junior All-American Melissa Lord, who returned from injury one month ago.
For the second consecutive week, every member of Stanford's singles lineup owns a national ranking, showcasing its balance and depth. Emily Arbuthnott (22-7 overall, 12-2 duals) leads a group of four players with 20+ wins, Michaela Gordon (20-7 overall, 11-6 duals) is Stanford's highest-ranked player at No. 16 and Emma Higuchi (21-6 overall, 13-3 duals) has won nine in a row at the No. 6 position.
In doubles play, Stanford boasts two nationally-ranked duos, led by the No. 2-ranked pairing of Arbuthnott and Gordon (15-3 overall, 7-2 duals). Lampl and junior Kimberly Yee (12-3 overall, 11-2 duals) make the list at No. 78.