Success came in bunches for senior Kristie Ahn and freshman Carol Zhao at the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships on Thursday, with both winning their singles matches before pairing up to advance to the second round of the doubles tournament later in the afternoon.
After an easy victory over Virginia’s Stephanie Nauta in the first round, Ahn kept the ball rolling with another 6-4, 6-2 straight-set victory, this time over No. 38 Kyle Phillips of UCLA. In addition, the 21st-ranked Zhao pulled off a stunner with a straight-set victory over the nation’s sixth-ranked player in Lauren Herring, who was playing on her home court and entered the match with a 30-5 record. By winning, Ahn and Zhao guaranteed themselves All-America honors.
Ranked No. 10 in the nation in doubles, Ahn and Zhao faltered briefly in the first set before roaring back for a three-set win over Louisville’s Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine in the first round of the doubles bracket.
The remaining members of Stanford’s team that had advanced past the first round of the singles draw—freshmen Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle and sophomore Krista Hardebeck—did not have as easy of a time on Thursday, with all three taking losses to higher-ranked opponents to drop out of the tournament.
Ahn will now advance to take on No. 23 Zsofi Susanyi of California, while Zhao will match up against No. 13 Chanelle Van Nguyen of UCLA. As a doubles pair, the duo will face No. 8 Monique Albuquerque and Clementina Riobueno of Miami (FL) in the next round.