Hot off a dominant victory over the Saint Mary’s Gaels last Friday, the No. 14 Stanford women’s tennis team (2-2) will look to take on No. 23 TCU (2-1) on Saturday at home in Taube Family Tennis Center for the team’s second home match of February.
The Cardinal are trying to rebound after dropping two matches to No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Ole Miss in January, which left the team with a losing record for the first time in program history. However their 6-1 victory over Saint Mary’s brought the team back to .500.
In their victory over the Gaels, the team showed resolve and passion, cheering each other on and displaying strong focus throughout the contest. In order to keep their winning momentum, the young Cardinal team should follow the example of junior Caroline Doyle, who was one of the most vocal supporters of her teammates.
Additionally, Stanford will need to continue its strong play in doubles. Doyle and junior Taylor Davidson stand as the No. 10 doubles team in the nation and have been dominant at the No. 1 position, losing only two of 17 matches this year.
Since the start of the season, the Cardinal have been trying to tap into the talent of their five freshmen. The three who play in the starting lineup — Caroline Lampl, Melissa Lord and Kimberly Yee — have put up strong performances and are sure to improve as they gain more experience playing at the collegiate level over the course of the season.
Head coach Lele Forood sees the strength of schedule early in the season as a plus for the team.
“[It’s] really important, especially for our freshmen class, to play as many matches as possible against this level of national competition,” Forood said.
Although the Cardinal have only lost at Taube six times in the past 17 years, this weekend holds no guarantee of a victory.
The Horned Frogs have had strong results this season, taking down No. 42 Houston in the ITA Kick-Off weekend. TCU also boasts several international players from nations including Turkey, Spain, Ukraine, Germany and Russia.
The Horned Frogs also feature the No. 17 doubles team in the nation— juniors Caroline Wegner and Seda Arantekin — which may pose a major threat to the dominance of Doyle and Davidson. However, if the Stanford duo continues to play with the consistency they have maintained all year, the Cardinal should come out on top.
The match will take place at noon on Saturday, Feb. 13, and will be broadcast on streamingtennis.com/cardinal.
Contact Yousef Hindy at yhindy ‘at’ stanford.edu.