By Alexa Corse on February 16, 2016

No. 14 Stanford women’s tennis (3-2) defeated a top-25 team for the first time this season, with a 7-0 shutout over No. 23 TCU (2-2) on Saturday at Taube Family Tennis Center.

The dominant victory marks Stanford’s second consecutive win at home, after an unusually slow start to the season for the storied program. The team dropped under .500 for the first time in program history two weeks ago, with a 1-2 record after two tough losses to No. 25 Ole Miss and No. 1 Vanderbilt. However, the Cardinal climbed back above .500 with gritty singles play against the Horned Frogs.

Although the singles matches were tightly contested, the Cardinal dominated in doubles. At the No. 3 doubles spot, senior Krista Hardebeck and freshman Caroline Lampl notched a 6-0 shutout for the Cardinal’s first win of the day.

Juniors Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle clinched the doubles point for Stanford with a 6-2 win at the No. 1 spot. As a testament to their 16-2 overall record, Davidson and Doyle jumped from the No. 10 to the No. 5 doubles team in the nation in rankings released on February 10.

Playing at the No. 2 singles spot, Doyle continued to dominate the match. Doyle, ranked 60th nationally in singles, was the first match off the court with a 6-0, 6-4 win.

Freshman Kimberly Yee followed with a 6-2, 6-1 win at the No. 6 spot. Yee’s victory added to the Cardinal’s momentum and represented a personal achievement, as the win ended a three-match losing streak for the freshman.

Fellow freshman Melissa Lord provided the clinching point for a Stanford victory for the second time this season, pushing the dual match tally to 4-0 with a 6-4, 6-4 win at the No. 5 singles spot. Lampl continued the stretch of underclassman dominance with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at the No. 4 spot.

Hardebeck and Davidson prevailed in three-set matches at the No. 3 and No. 1 spots, respectively. Hardebeck, ranked 66th nationally, won her second three-set matches this season (4-6, 6-2, 6-2) in three tries. Davison, ranked 30th nationally, triumphed 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (6) in the longest match of the day.

Until junior Carol Zhao returns to The Farm after spending the winter playing the professional circuit, Stanford’s primary goal is just to stay in the running for the NCAA tournament.

The team will look to extend its win streak as it hosts No. 28 Fresno State and No. 3 Florida over the next two weeks.

Stanford will host CSUF on Friday, Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Center.

Contact Alexa Corse at corsea ‘at’ stanford.edu.