Cardinal Comeback Falls Short

BERKELEY, Calif. - A slow start doomed the Cardinal as No. 17 Stanford dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 7 California on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops Stanford to 14-5 overall, finishing the regular season 8-2 in Pac-12 play.

Two ranked pairs were in a tight battle on the first court, but the Cardinal dropped a pair of 6-3 matches on courts two and three to give the Golden Bears the early advantage.

Courts one and two in singles play were both quick affairs with one going to Cal and two going to Stanford's No. 20 Alexandra Yepifanova, earning a 6-2, 6-0 victory over No. 59 Jessica Alsola.

Another straight-set defeat put Stanford's back against the wall, as Sara Choy saw her nine-match win streak come to an end on court six. Needing to win out on courts three, four and five, the Cardinal fought valiantly after losing the first sets on each. Angelica Blake and India Houghton both had set points in their respective tiebreakers in the first set, but neither could capitalize. Valencia Xu rallied with a 6-2 second-set win to force a third, while Blake took a 6-3 second set to do the same.

Houghton surged ahead 3-0 in the second set on court four but couldn't win another game, ultimately giving the Golden Bears the clincher. Blake coasted to a 6-1 victory in the third for Stanford's second point of the day.

The Cardinal is the No. 3 seed at next week's Pac-12 Tournament and will face the winner of No. 6 Oregon and No. 11 Colorado on Thursday, April 21 at 6 p.m. in Ojai, California.
No. 7 California 5, No. 17 Stanford 2

DOUBLES
1. #12 Angelica Blake/Connie Ma (STAN) led #47 Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (CAL) 4-3 DNF
2. Haley Giavara/Hannah Viller Moeller (CAL) d. Sara Choy/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) 6-3
3. Erin Richardson/Julia Rosenqvist (CAL) d. Niluka Madurawe/Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2
 
SINGLES
1. #97 Haley Giavara (CAL) d. #19 Connie Ma (STAN) 6-1, 6-0
2. #20 Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. #59 Jessica Alsola (CAL) 6-2, 6-0
3. Angelica Blake (STAN) d. #124 Katja Wiersholm (CAL) 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1
4. Julia Rosenqvist (CAL) d. India Houghton (STAN) 7-6(8), 6-3
5. Hannah Viller Moeller (CAL) d. #112 Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
6. Erin Richardson (CAL) d. Sara Choy (STAN) 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 3