On a sultry Saturday at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, the No. 5 Stanford women’s tennis team defeated Cal 4-3 on Senior Night to all but lock up a share of the Pac-12 championship.

Veronica Li, the lone senior on the team, was honored before the match with warm-hearted tributes from her coaches and loud ovations from the crowd. Li was praised for the consistency and ability that she demonstrated over her four years as a starter. She won a total of 78 singles matches and 73 doubles matches during her time at Stanford.

“She has meant so much to me on a personal level and also on a tennis level,” said sophomore Nicole Gibbs.

“She will be very important to us going into NCAAs, especially because she has so much experience,” added junior Mallory Burdette.

Although Li faltered in singles, losing 6-0, 6-1, her doubles victory alongside junior Natalie Dillon proved to be crucial in the team’s victory. The No. 10 Golden Bears are formidable in doubles with two duos ranked in the top 15, including the No. 5 duo on court two that handed junior Stacey Tan and freshman Ellen Tsay an 8-2 loss. Burdette and Gibbs won 8-6 on court one, despite losing four straight games after being ahead 6-2 early in the match.

The doubles point proved to be the deciding factor in a match with added importance for the Cardinal. Both teams knew the winner would have a chance at a share of the Pac-12 title along with USC, the other team in the conference with only one loss.

The only thing standing between Stanford and a share of the title is a makeup match with No. 31 Washington State on Wednesday, which the teams postponed earlier in the season because of rain. Since 1987, Stanford has won at least a share of the Pac-12 championship in every year except 2009.

The win was also important because the Cardinal is coming off its first defeat of the season, a 5-2 home loss to then-No. 1 UCLA.

“This was really big for our confidence as a team after coming off of last week’s loss,” Burdette said.

No. 5 Burdette defeated a formidable opponent in No. 11 Zsofi Susanyi 6-2, 6-4 on court two for her 17th victory in a row. She was the first player to finish her match, a sight that is becoming increasingly familiar to Stanford fans.

No. 4 Gibbs, on the other hand, had a lot to prove in her match against No. 6 Jana Juricova. Gibbs lost last weekend against UCLA, only her second loss of the season and the first since mid-February. On top of that, Juricova beat Gibbs in a third-set tiebreak in last year’s NCAA singles semifinal.

Gibbs took Saturday’s match 7-6 (2), 6-2, beating Juricova for the second time this year. Even with all of the personal implications, Gibbs stressed what her victory meant for the team.

“It was that much more important for me because it helped our team pull out the 4-3 victory,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs was not playing her best tennis early, falling behind 5-3, but she hung in to tie the match at 6-6 and win the tiebreak 7-2. After closing out the set, Gibbs gave a big fist pump to the crowd, which was concentrated in the shady section of the stands directly above court one.

“The atmosphere was awesome, just a lot of support and a lot of noise. [The crowd] absolutely helped pull me through the first set,” Gibbs said.

The sun affected everyone involved on Saturday and was responsible for uncharacteristically high temperatures. Water coolers had to be refilled several times, and a few players even went in for shade between sets.

Stanford seemed to deal with the heat somewhat better than its opponent. The Cardinal went 4-2 on second sets, although freshman Ellen Tsay did lose a tiebreak that replaced her third set after Stanford had already clinched a victory.

“We were fortunate to play a team that was just as affected as we were, instead of one of the teams from the South,” Gibbs said.

The Cardinal dropped all three points on the lower courts, as junior Natalie Dillon lost 6-4, 6-2 at court six along side Li at five and Tsay at four.

The Cardinal has a busy weekend coming up, as Wednesday’s makeup with Washington State precedes the Pac-12 championships. The matchup with the Cougars is slated to begin at 11:30 a.m. in Ojai, Calif., which will also serve as the home of the conference tournament.