By Sylvie Ashford on April 16, 2018

No. 22 Stanford women’s tennis (14-3, 8-0 Pac-12) swept their Pacific Northwest tour this weekend, clinching their ninth and 10th consecutive meet wins against No. 37 Washington State (20-5, 5-4) on Friday and the University of Washington (14-10, 4-5) on Saturday. The Cardinal defeated both teams by a 4-2 margin, securing Stanford’s position as the leader of the Pac-12 conference and cementing them as a force to be reckoned with in national competition.

On Friday, Stanford’s powerful pairings quickly earned the first point of the meet with a sweep of the doubles category. While juniors Caroline Lampl and Melissa Lord’s straight set singles victories each earned the Cardinal another point, freshman Michaela Gordon and sophomore Emily Arbuthnott fell in the first and fourth spots of the lineup.

Although poor weather forced the competition inside, freshman Janice Shin was unfazed, executing a powerful 6-2, 6-0 win in the number five position and delivering her team the final point necessary for a meet victory.

On Saturday, Stanford once again secured the doubles category point, and saw another two set victory by Shin in singles. With Gordon stuck in a three set tie, Arbuthnott and Lord’s fortunes reversed. While Lord fell in a three-setter at the number two spot, Arbuthnott redeemed her Friday performance with a 6-2, 6-4 win in the fourth position.

Sophomore Emma Higuchi delivered a three-set win to clinch the team victory in the sixth spot, marking her eighth win in a row. Higuchi is now 4-0 in career during three set matches.

Following their weekend on the road, the Cardinal returns home to host unranked California (8-6, 4-2) on April 20, and will then compete in the Pac-12 championships from April 25-28 in Ojai, California.

The Cardinal will face the Golden Bears in their last regular season meet at Taube Family Tennis Stadium on Friday, beginning at 11 a.m. The meet will be televised on Pac-12 networks.

Contact Sylvie Ashford at sylviash ‘at’ stanford.edu.