Tom Fawcett won at No.1 singles and teamed with Axel Geller to win at No. 2 doubles, helped the fifth-ranked Stanford men’s tennis beat host No. 10 Illinois 4-2 in a nonconference match Saturday.
Geller also won at No. 2 singles for the Cardinal (6-0), which is off to its best start since winning seven straight to open the 2011 season. William Genensen also won his singles match.
Stanford travels to Seattle next weekend to compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Stanford captured the doubles point at the top of the ladder with Michael Genender and Sameer forcing a tiebreaker and outlasting the No. 40 ranked team of Aleks Vukic and Aron Hiltzik, 9-7, to earn the point.
Genensen gave the Cardinal a 2-0 lead and Geller made it 3-0 before the Fighting Illini won a three-set match at No. 3 singles and a 7-5, 7-6 (10) decision at No. 4 singles.
Fawcett, ranked No. 33 in the latest ITA poll, came through with the clincher for the Cardinal. The senior earned his third victory over a top-50 opponent in four matches, defeating No. 46 Aleks Vukic 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5) to seal it for Stanford.
Wrestling
Mason Pengilly and Isaiah Locsin scored late takedowns to clinch Stanford’s 21-15 win over visiting Oregon State on Saturday at Maples Pavilion, just the second time in program history, the Cardinal (7-4, 3-1 Pac-12) defeated the Beavers (5-6, 1-2 Pac-12) in a dual.
Stanford held a 15-12 advantage after seven bouts. Pengilly, who was wrestling in just his second match this season, pulled out a 7-6 decision over Devan Turner at 133 pounds.
Tied 4-4 after two periods, Turner chose down to start the final frame. He quickly earned a reversal and Pengilly got the escape, trailing 6-5. As the clock wound down, Pengilly came out of a scramble with two and the win.
Locsin sealed the win for the Cardinal at 141 pounds, defeating Jack Hathaway 2-1. There was no score in the first period and Hathaway tallied the escape in the second.
Locsin chose neutral to start the third and put two on the board with less than 20 seconds remaining in the bout. He improves to 18-8 overall and 4-3 in duals this season.
The Cardinal hosts Nebraska at 7 p.m. Friday.
Men’s gymnastics
Event titles by Connor Lewis, Blake Sun and Joey Ringer as well as a return to action by Drew Burton highlighted the night Saturday as the No. 2 Cardinal scored a 403.600 to top No. 12 Cal, No. 13 ASU and No. 15 Washington in the annual Pac-12 Invitational.
The Cardinal (10-1, 3-0 MPSF) opened up on floor with a 68.150 team score for its fourth team event title of the year. Bailey Perez led Stanford with a 14.100 for his second-highest score of the year and Jacob Barrus also made a victorious return to the floor for the first time since last season for a 13.95 fourth-place finish in the event.
Joey Ringer stepped up next on pommel horse for his second career event title with a season-best 14.200 score. The Cardinal dominated the event as it took first-fourth in the event. David Jessen, Blake Sun and Robert Neff all pulled in next after Ringer to lead Stanford to a season-best 67.800 for another team event title.
The team-title trend continued on rings with a 65.350 as Thomas Lee, Connor Lewis and Ryan Sheppard took second-fourth in the event. Lewis made his collegiate debut on the rings to take third with a 13.100. Burton also returned to competition in the event after a year away for a 12.750.
Softball
Teaghan Cowles hit .571 on the day and Maddy Dwyer pitched seven scoreless innings but Stanford fell twice Saturday, losing to Fresno State, 2-0, in eight innings and 9-8 to CSUN, which scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
Cowles collected four hits and drove in a pair of runs on the day.
Men’s volleyball
Stanford came up short in a 25-23, 25-23, 25-22 loss at No. 12 CSUN, Saturday, at the Matadome.
The Cardinal (2-10) was swept by the Matadors (7-4) for the second time this season. CSUN hit .256 as a team, while holding Stanford to a .188 clip. The Matadors held a 7-3 advantage in aces and six of their 15 blocks were solo.
Freshman opposite Jaylen Jasper led Stanford with 13 kills on .222 hitting, while sophomore outside hitter Eric Beatty finished with eight kills and three digs. Freshman middle blocker Kyler Presho had seven kills on a .308 attack percentage and two blocks.
Junior setter Russell Dervay finished with 29 assists and matched his career-high with three blocks. Senior libero Jake Stuebner collected four digs and an assist.
Lacrosse
Due to poor weather, the women’s lacrosse game between the Denver Pioneers and the Stanford Cardinal has been postponed to Sunday at noon.