By Alexandre Bucquet on February 1, 2018

Top-ranked Stanford women’s tennis (1-0) stays on the road this weekend and travels to Nashville for a showdown against No. 2 Vanderbilt (2-0).

In the past three years, the two teams have faced off four times, including once during the 2016 NCAA tournament. En route to a national title, Stanford had edged the Commodores by the score of 4-2. Overall, three of the past four meetings have gone to the Cardinal, with the team’s lone loss coming in Nashville two years ago.

Last season, the Commodores had visited the Cardinal in what ended up being a thrilling dual match. With no team able to clinch before the last singles match was over, the fate of Stanford rested in the hands of sophomore Emily Arbuthnott. After a long and hard-fought three-setter, the U.K. native was able to push through and earn the win for her team.

Once again this year, both programs will be strong title contenders. Therefore, this dual match will be the first of many tests for Stanford, which also has defending champion Florida and Pac-12 opponents USC, UCLA and Cal on its regular season schedule.

After losing two seniors at the end of last season, non-Cardinal women will be graduating this year. Junior Caroline Lampl has been at Stanford the longest, but freshman Michaela Gordon will probably play at the top spot for the team. Arbuthnott, sophomore Emma Higuchi, freshman Janice Shin and junior Kimberley Yee complete the lineup for Stanford.

The action starts at 10 a.m. PT in Nashville on Saturday.

Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.