This Year in Women's Tennis

STANFORD, the 2016 Pac-12 champion, claimed its 18th NCAA title in women’s tennis and the Conference’s 22nd by defeating No. 12 seed Oklahoma State, 4-3. After dropping the doubles point and facing the 3-1 deficit, the No. 15 seed Cardinal rallied for the win. It was the Cardinal’s fourth win in the NCAA Tournament when losing the doubles point. This is Stanford’s first title since 2013 and the Pac-12’s third in the last four years. No. 1 seed CALIFORNIA made it to the national semifinal but fell short to the Cowgirls.

The Cardinal went 9-1 in Pac-12 play on the year, defeating USC in a make-up match the day before action began at the Pac-12 Championships to clinch the title. The Cardinal won, 4-2, and claimed its first Pac-12 Championship since 2012 and 25th overall.

Five teams picked up bids for the NCAA Tournament. Stanford won the title while California made it to the nationa semifinal. ARIZONA STATE, UCLA and USC all made it to the second round.On the women’s singles side, California’s Maegan Manasse and ARIZONA STATE’s Desirae Krawczyk both made it to the round of 16. In the doubles competition, Manasse and teammate Denise Starr, the No. 4 seed, made it all the way to the championship match but came up short against Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keagan from Florida. UCLA’s Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips made it to the national semifinal but also lost to the Florida duo.

The Pac-12 Women’s Championships saw California’s Manasse win the singles title while Arizona State’s Alexandra Osborne and Ebony Panoho won the doubles title.    

The women’s coaches voted California’s Manaasse as the Women’s Singles Player of the Year, and voted Manasse and her teammate, Denise Starr, the Women’s Doubles Team of the Year. California’s Olivia Hauger was selected Women’s Freshman/Newcomer of the Year, and Sun Devil head coach Sheila McInerney was the Women’s Coach of the Year.

Women’s players earning All-America accolads were: Krawczyk, ASU (Singles); Klara Fabikova, CAL (Doubles); Harrison, UCLA (Singles and Doubles); Manasse, CAL (Singles and Doubles); McPhillips, UCLA (Doubles); Giuliana Olmos, USC (Doubles); Gabby Smith, USC (Doubles); Starr, CAL (Doubles).