CARY, N.C. – Alexandra Yepifanova had a heroic third-set comeback at No. 5, Valerie Glozman clinched at No. 2 and Stanford triumphed in a four-hour marathon over Miami in the third round at the ACC Championship on Thursday, 4-3.
Yepifanova, who returned to play her first competitive match in 11 months last weekend, seemed primed to collect her first win of the season against Maria Paula Vargas. The two-time All-American won a first-set tiebreak and was up 5-1 in the second before Vargas stormed back to force and ultimately win another tiebreak.
But Stanford’s senior showed her mettle in the third and completely flipped the script. Down 5-1, Yepifanova fought off six match points to force yet a third tiebreak, in which she prevailed 7-5.
Mere moments after evening the dual at 3-3, freshman Valerie Glozman clinched for the Cardinal on court 2 to send Stanford into tomorrow’s quarterfinals against No. 8 North Carolina at 9:30 a.m. PT.
Glozman dropped the first set in an epic tiebreak, 13-11, won a second-set tiebreak 7-2 and powered through Jaquelyn Ogunwale in the third, 6-2.
After dropping doubles, Connie Ma snagged Stanford’s first point with a 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 14 Alexa Noel on the top court. Valencia Xu followed suit on court 4 with her fourth three-set win of the season, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.
#26 Stanford 4, #56 Miami 3
DOUBLES
1) #48 Raquel Gonzalez/Alexa Noel (MIA) d. #20 Valerie Glozman/Connie Ma (STAN) 6-1
2) Aely Arai/Jaquelyn Ogunwale (MIA) d. #86 Caroline Driscoll/Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-3
3) Maria Paula Vargas/Daria Volosova (MIA) d. Chidimma Okpara/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES
1) #11 Connie Ma (STAN) d. #14 Alexa Noel (MIA) 6-4, 7-5
2) #6 Valerie Glozman (STAN) d. Jaquelyn Ogunwale (MIA) 6-7 (11), 7-6 (2), 6-2
3) #107 Raquel Gonzalez (MIA) d. #84 Caroline Driscoll (STAN) 6-3, 7-5
4) Valencia Xu (STAN) d. Aely Arai (MIA) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
5) Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. Maria Paula Vargas (MIA) 7-6 (2), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5)
6) Daria Volosova (MIA) d. Chidimma Okpara (STAN) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 4, 6, 5, 2