NCAA Women's Tennis Championships: Stanford topples top-seeded Vanderbilt to claim crown
Don't count the Cardinal out. For the second time in three years, Stanford has won the NCAA title while being a No. 15 seed, edging No. 1 seed Vanderbilt in a 4-3 thriller Tuesday afternoon in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Related: 2018 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships bracket (NCAA.com)]
For the 15th time in the last 20 matches, the Cardinal overcame an early deficit after dropping the doubles point to the Commodores. Vandy jumped out early as the duo of Fernanda Contreras/Astra Sharma defeated the third-ranked pair of Emily Arbuthnott/Michaela Gordon 6-3 on court 1. While Melissa Lord/Janice Shin evened things up with a 6-4 victory on court 3, Caroline Lampl/Kimberly Yee fell 4-6 to Emma Kurtz/Emily Smith to seal the doubles point.
Despite being in the hole, Stanford recovered quickly, clinching two singles points with Emma Higuchi picking up a 6-3, 6-2 win on court 6, before Lampl earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory on No. 3. The Commodores climbed off the mat as Sharma took down Gordon 7-6(3), 6-3 on court 1. Shin put the Card one win away from the title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Kurtz. Amanda Meyer kept Vandy's hopes alive with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Arbuthnott on court 4. It all came down No. 2.
In a fitting finish for the NCAA title match, Lord went the distance over Contreras, capturing the crown with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 win.
For the 117th time, @GoStanford is the National Champion.
No. 15 seed @StanfordWTennis ties its own record as the lowest seed to win the @NCAATennis title.
The final point -- a @praisethemlord clincher. pic.twitter.com/7ehkOkWLRd
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) May 22, 2018
This is the 19th NCAA title for the Cardinal program and coach Lele Forood's ninth national title on The Farm.