STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 5 Cardinal (4-1) is on the road this weekend, taking on No. 3 Penn (6-1) on Thursday and No. 4 Princeton (-) on Friday. After the pair of top-four matchups, the Card heads to the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference Championships on Saturday.
Stanford is looking to defend last season's MASC Championship, with a pair of group stage bouts with No. 21 Franklin and Marshall, then No. 10 Drexel. Should the Card advance from group one, the team will face either No. 19 Dickinson, No. 15 Georgetown or No. 6 Virginia on Sunday for the MASC crown.
Last season, the Cardinal took down Virginia in the final. Last month, Stanford took down the Cavaliers 6-3.
FIFTH-RANKED CARD » Stanford opened the season at No. 5 in the CSA Women's Varsity rankings, fresh off last year's fifth-place national finish.
RETURNING WITH HARDWARE » The Cardinal ended last season with an MASC crown, as well as the CSA Most Improved Team award and the Chaffee award for sportsmanship.
ALL-AMERICAN MADISON HO » Sohomore Madison Ho is back for year two after a dominant freshman season. The Cambridge, Mass. native earned First Team All-American and All-MASC honors, as well as being named MASC Freshman of the Year.
NEW FACES » Stanford's freshmen class of Valerie Huang, Amelie Haworth, Riya Navani and Tiana Parasrampuria have all showed out in their first collegiate competitions, combining to go 13-3 to start the year.
HOT START TO THE YEAR » The Card is 4-1 to start the season, including a trio of top-10 wins. Stanford's beaten No. 8 Cornell, No. 9 Columbia and No. 6 Virginia already.
INDIVIDUAL NATIONALS RECAP » Six members of the Cardinal competed at the CSA Individual National Championships: Riya Navani, Madison Ho, Mariana Narvaez Dardon, Amelie Haworth, Yuvna Gupta and Miriam Cheng. Navani finished second in the country after going 4-1 on the weekend.