Card plays three road matches in Pacific Northwest
After a successful weekend at home, the No. 11 Stanford women’s tennis team (14-1, 3-0 Pac-10) looks to continue its undefeated Pac-10 record when it travels north to
take on Washington State (9-11, 1-4), No. 25 Washington (9-4, 1-3) and Oregon (7-13, 1-5).
The women came out with high energy to defend their home winning steak, which now stands at 159 matches, making it the longest home winning streak in all Division I athletics. The last match Stanford lost was back on Feb. 27, 1999, when California pulled a 5-4 upset.
An interesting development in regard to the streak has come about because the women stopped play due to rain at 3-3 in the match against USC. Both teams decided to end the day at singles and replay the doubles later if needed. The doubles will be resumed at the Pac-10 Championships in Ojai, Calif. later this month, but only if it is needed to determine who wins the conference regular season. However, because of this dilemma, the rulebooks will need to be looked at closely for this match. Because the match was originally played on the Cardinal’s home court, it may count as a home win. This means that if USC defeats Stanford in Ojai, it will count as a home loss and break the winning streak. However, if it does not count as a home match because the remainder is played at a neutral court, then win or lose, Stanford’s streak is protected. Closer analysis will need to be done.
Between now and a potential USC rematch, the Cardinal must first take care of business on a three-game road swing. Coming first is Washington State, which has struggled facing up to its California rivals recently. The Cougars scored their biggest upset of the season when they defeated No. 39 Arizona 6-1. It was their highest upset since they beat No. 34 Washington in 2008. However, the five California schools they have faced so far have all defeated the Cougars.
Washington State has one nationally ranked player in No. 91 Liudmila Vasilieva, who plays at the No. 2 spot on the team. WSU’s top singles player, Elisabeth Fournier, recently earned her 17th victory. Those two pair up to comprise the Cougars’ top doubles team.
Their cross-state rivals, No. 25 Washington, will pose more of a challenge to Stanford. While they recently suffered two dominant losses to UCLA and USC, teams with which Stanford has proved competitive, the Huskies have proven capable of handling the teams below them. Husky sophomore Denise Dy, playing at the No. 2 spot, has proven especially effective. She is 3-0 in Pac-10 play and recently scored an upset over UCLA’s No. 49 Noelle Hickey 2-6, 6-3, 1-0. Her matchup with senior Lindsay Burdette, a player who has struggled since spring break, could pose danger for the Cardinal. Dy ranks second in Husky history with a winning percentage of 88 percent.
Finally, Stanford will travel to Oregon to take on the Ducks. Oregon recently defeated Washington State 4-3 for its first Pac-10 victory. That victory also earned the Ducks their first doubles point in Pac-10 play, a matchup that Stanford could use to its advantage. Considering the Cardinal features two nationally ranked doubles teams, it expects to have a sizable advantage in these matches. Oregon does have a streak at No. 3 doubles, though; Molly McDevitt and Julia Metzger are 3-0 since they were paired up for the first time against Montana State.
Stanford will need to use these Pac-10 matches to improve before its rematch with rival California at home, with a match against Santa Clara in between. The Cardinal comes home again to face Santa Clara on April 15 before hosting Cal, April 17.