ATLANTA, Ga. – Top-seeded Stanford rolled to a 4-1 match play victory against fourth-seeded Alabama on Tuesday to advance to the championship match of the East Lake Cup at East Lake Golf Club.
For the second consecutive year, the Cardinal will take on second-seeded USC for the title on Wednesday. The Trojans downed Arizona, 4-1.
In the 2017 championship match, USC edged Stanford, 3-2.
After capturing the top seed on Monday during stroke play qualifying by 10 shots over USC, behind individual winner Albane Valenzuela, the Cardinal picked up where it left off Tuesday. Stanford won four of five matches against the Crimson Tide, the lone defeat coming in extra holes.
Junior Andrea Lee got Stanford started by posting a 7 and 5 win against Mary Mac Trammell. Lee won the first two holes and was 4-up at the turn.
Junior Ziyi Wang opened her match against Carolina Caminoli by winning eight straight holes and cruised, 8 and 6. Sophomore Mika Liu emerged with a hard-fought 1-up triumph against Jiwon Jeon, while Valenzuela continued her strong play with a 4 and 3 victory versus Angelica Moresco.
Cardinal freshman Aline Krauter slipped 3-down after six holes against Kenzie Wright but battled back to square the match. Krauter earned her first advantage with a birdie at the par-3 15th hole, but lost on the 19th.
This is the fourth year of the East Lake Cup, which showcases women's and men's semifinalists from the previous season's NCAA Championships. Stanford has participated in all four.
We're in this position every year because of the way we play in May," said Stanford head coach Anne Walker. "So we're doing something right that gets us to the right spot in May. I just give all the credit to my players."
"We're in this position every year because of the way we play in May," said Anne Walker, the Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf. "So we're doing something right that gets us to the right spot in May. I just give all the credit to my players."
In 2015, the Cardinal fell to Duke in the semifinals, but beat Baylor, 4-1, in the consolation finals. In 2016, Stanford lost to Washington, 4-1, then blitzed UCLA, 4-1, to collect the consolation crown.
USC enters Wednesday's final ranked No. 1 in the country. Play begins at 12:45 p.m. ET.
Lee, Valenzuela and Wang competed in last year's championship match.
In the men's final, Alabama meets Auburn.
Live coverage will be shown on the Golf Channel from noon-3 p.m. PT. Scoring is available at GoStanford.com.
East Lake Cup Championship Finals
12:45: Albane Valenzuela (S) vs. Jennifer Chang (USC)
1:05: Ziyi Wang (S) vs. Malia Nam (USC)
1:25: Mika Liu (S) vs. Amelia Garvey (USC)
1:45: Aline Krauter (S) vs. Alyaa Abdulghany (USC)
2:05: Andrea Lee (S) vs. Gabriela Ruffels