Colorado
Stanford
No. 20 Stanford Proves Too Much For Buffs
March 25, 2016 | Tennis
STANFORD, Calif. - No. 20 Stanford proved to be too much for Colorado as the host Cardinal won 7-0 on Friday at the Taube Family Tennis Center. Stanford improved to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-12, while the Buffaloes dropped to 6-10 and 1-4 with their third straight loss.
"Stanford got us pretty good today, they took it to us," head coach Nicole Kenneally said. "When you play a team of this quality, you've got to show up and be willing to grind and play out of your own comfort zone to look for opportunities to keep yourself in there. We weren't willing to do that in a few spots. A few people battled really hard though and that was good to see."
It was a big day in many ways for Stanford as it welcomed back Carol Zhao to its lineup. Zhao finished last season as the No. 2-ranked player in the country, but had missed all but one match this season until Friday after training with the Canadian national team and playing on the women's professional circuit. She helped the Cardinal to a 6-2 win at No. 2 singles after Stanford won 6-0 at No. 3 to claim the doubles point.
"When you've got somebody who's been playing pro tournaments for the past six months, [it's going to be a challenge]," Kenneally said about Zhao returning to Stanford. "She's been playing the best players in the world. Nuria [Ormeño Ruiz] played a fantastic match and had opportunities. It makes them better to have their No. 1 player back. She's back through the end of the year and when you insert someone at the top of their lineup, it makes them a lot tougher."
Stanford earned straight-set victories at No. 4, No. 6, No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, to lead the match 5-0.
Kyra Wojcik then battled through a strong match at No. 5 before falling 6-3, 6-4, taking several games in each set.
The final match was a battle at the No. 1 position between Zhao and Nuria Ormeño Ruiz, who jumped into this week's national rankings at No. 74. The junior for the Buffs played one of her best matches of the season against one of the most accomplished players in the country. She dropped the first set 7-5 and rallied for a 6-all tie in the second set. However, Zhao proved too much in the end, edging Ormeño Ruiz 7-5 in the tiebreaker to finish the match.
"It was close the whole way," Kenneally said. "It was a close first set. Nuria got up a couple of times, then got even, then got down, and then came back. Overall she competed really hard and really well. A couple of errors either way were the difference. It could have easily gone to a third set if just a couple points went the other way."
CU will play at top-ranked California on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT.
#20 Stanford 7, Colorado 0
Mar 25, 2016 at Stanford, Calif. (Taube Family Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. #59 Zhao, Carol (STAN) def. #74 Ormeño Ruiz, Nuria (COLO) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) |
| 2. #23 Davidson, Taylor (STAN) def. Daniel, Jeannez (COLO) 6-1, 6-2 |
| 3. #57 Doyle, Caroline (STAN) def. Aiello, Alex (COLO) 6-4, 6-1 |
| 4. #118 Hardebeck, Krista (STAN) def. Andrinopoulos, Annabelle (COLO) 6-2, 6-2 |
| 5. Lampl, Caroline (STAN) def. Wojcik, Kyra (COLO) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 6. Lord, Melissa (STAN) def. Beck, Brigitte (COLO) 6-0, 6-2 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #4 Davidson, Taylor/Doyle, Caroline (STAN) vs. Daniel, Jeannez/Ormeño Ruiz, Nuria (COLO) 5-2, unfinished |
| 2. Lord, Melissa/Zhao, Carol (STAN) def. Andrinopoulos, Annabelle/Wojcik, Kyra (COLO) 6-2 |
| 3. #47 Hardebeck, Krista/Lampl, Caroline (STAN) def. Aiello, Alex/Beck, Brigitte (COLO) 6-0 |
| Match Notes |
| Colorado 6-10, 1-4 Pac-12 |
| Stanford 8-3, 3-1 Pac-12; National ranking #20 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (4,6,2,3,5,1) |
| T-2:25 |
Players Mentioned
