The fourth-ranked Stanford women’s tennis team cruised past visiting Arizona State, 4-0, on Friday at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, recording its sixth shutout of the season.
Playing the first of three straight home contests, Stanford (10-1, 3-0 Pac-12) has won six in a row since its only loss of the season to undefeated and top-ranked Florida in Gainesville on Feb. 19.
Friday’s match, which was televised by Pac-12 Networks, also gave Stanford a chance to avenge a rare conference loss.
Arizona State (9-5, 1-2 Pac-12) upset Stanford, 4-3, last season in Tempe, at the time representing only the Sun Devils’ second victory against the Cardinal in 56 all-time meetings.
Stanford quickly claimed a 1-0 lead, securing the point when Caroline Doyle and Melissa Lord prevailed 7-6 (5) on court two.
Emily Arbuthnott extended her winning streak to 11 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Savannah Slaysman at the No. 5 spot, pushing Stanford in front 2-0.
The Cardinal moved ahead 3-0 following Melissa Lord’s 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Kelley Anderson on court three.
Caroline Lampl, who last season clinched a team-best seven matches, produced her first of the season when she defeated Nicole Fossa Huergo 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 4 position.
Stanford hosts Arizona on Saturday at noon.
Track and field
Reigning Pac-12 women’s javelin champion Mackenzie Little makes her season debut as Stanford brings 14 track and field athletes to the Hornet Invitational on Saturday at Sacramento State.
Little, a sophomore, grew up in Australia, but was born in the United States and last competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July, placing 17th. She was a first-team All-America as a freshman, placing seventh at the NCAA Championships, and dominated the Pac-12, winning by 30 feet.
Little and another javelin thrower, Victoria Smith, are Stanford’s two All-Americans competing. The Cardinal contingent also includes five making their first appearance for Stanford, including three freshmen — Erika Malaspina, Jaimi Salone, and Landon Ellingson — making their collegiate debut.
Malaspina, from nearby Santa Cruz, was second at the California high school championships last year and third at the U.S. junior nationals. Salone, from Minneapolis, is the Minnesota Class A championship meet record holder in the discus. And Ellingson was last year’s Wisconsin Division II champion in the shot and discus.
Also, junior javelin thrower Trevor Danielson makes his collegiate debut, three years after graduating from high school. Danielson was the No. 7 high school thrower in the country in 2013 and graduated from Newberg (Ore.) High a year later. His javelin journey resumes Saturday.
This is not the first outdoor meet of the season involving Stanford athletes – Nathaniel Kucera and Ryan Silva ran the 800 at the Cal Opener on March 4, and the Cardinal had 10 competitors at the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend.
The Hornet Invitational is another step in the lead-in to the outdoor season, with the Stanford Invitational March 31-April 1, acting as the de facto season opener.
Men’s volleyball
No. 8 Stanford (11-9, 6-7 MPSF) returns home for the first time in three weeks to play host to ninth-ranked Pepperdine (7-9, 5-8 MPSF) on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.
Stanford dropped a pair of straight-set decisions last week at No. 4 Hawai’i. The Cardinal hit well in the first match, posting a .311 team hitting percentage, but it marked the first time Stanford hit over .300 and lost a match this season.
Hawai’i natives Gabriel Vega (11 kills, .421 hitting %) and Evan Enriques (10 digs, 8 assists) led Stanford in the first outing. In the rematch, Kevin Rakestraw hit .700 (7-0-10) and Clay Jones tallied 10 kills, but Stanford hit just .149 as a team.
Ranked ninth nationally, Pepperdine snapped a five-match losing streak with a 3-2 win at No. 14 CSUN on Wednesday. The Waves are second in the MPSF with 9.10 digs per set, fifth with 2.29 blocks per set and seventh with a .275 hitting percentage.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics