Stanford women’s tennis (24-2) rolled past tenth-seeded Michigan (23-6) 4-1 in the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament on Friday morning. The dual saw freshman Emily Arbuthnott provide a team-high ninth clincher this season to propel the seventh-seeded Cardinal to victory.
The Cardinal outmuscled Michigan right out of the gate, booking the doubles point after victories at the No. 3 and No. 1 spots. Freshman Emma Higuchi and sophomore Caroline Lampl blanked their opponents on court 3, and senior Taylor Davidson and Arbuthnott put away the point with a 6-1 victory of their own at the top spot.
As singles started, Higuchi doubled Stanford’s lead, cruising to her 21st singles dual win this season. The freshman dominated Valeria Patiuk in two sets, 6-0, 6-2, at the No. 6 spot.
After a hard fought three-setter, Davidson was able to power through to put Stanford one point away from victory. The North Carolina native improved to a 9-1 record in the NCAA tournament after her 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 triumph on court 3.
Michigan’s only point came from the top spot in a rematch of last years quarter final dual-deciding single. Although Caroline Doyle was able to come away with the dual-clinching victory last season, Michigan’s Kate Fahey edged the Cardinal senior this time around by a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.
Arbuthnott then clinched the dual for the Cardinal, outlasting Mira Ruder-Hook on court 5, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4. With the win, Arbuthnott also stays undefeated in three setters this season, boasting a 5-0 record in such matches.
When the remaining two games where halted, the two Cardinal sophomore were leading in their respective singles. While Lampl was fighting in a second-set tiebreaker after winning her first set 7-5, Lord was ahead 4-3 in the third set of her game.
Stanford now gears up for the final stretch of the postseason, and will face No. 4 and second-seed North Carolina on Monday at 9am. Despite entering the dual as the lower seed, Stanford can be confident in its chances to win it all; over the last nine years, the team has been ranked higher than No. 5 only once, but has won it all three times over that span. In particular, Stanford earned its two last titles as 12th (2013) and 15th (2016) seed.
This year, the Cardinal are looking to bring home a 20th program championship — the most in collegiate history — and to conserve their title for the first time since 2004-2006.
Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.