The No. 11 Stanford women’s tennis team (15-5, 7-3 Pac 12) concluded its regular season on Saturday with a 5-2 loss at No. 4 Cal. The Cardinal were riding a six-match winning streak that had seen them earn victories over top-level teams, such as No. 24 Arizona and No. 16 Pepperdine.

The match was the Cardinal’s second loss to the Golden Bears this season, with the first coming in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss at Taube Stadium earlier this year. The Cardinal entered this match with a significant change in their lineup, however, as sophomore Caroline Doyle, the No. 20 player in the nation and Stanford’s No. 3 player, sat out due to injury. Paulette Wolak, a freshman, was inserted into the lineup at the No. 6 position for her first career singles start.

Cal earned the doubles point with wins at the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, and took a decisive lead by exploiting the bottom of the Cardinal lineup. No. 56 Lynn Chi of Cal defeated junior Lindsey Kostas 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 5 spot, while Cecilia Estlander defeated Wolak 6-0, 6-1 to put the Golden Bears up 3-0. No. 48 Denise Starr clinched the match for Cal, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Stanford sophomore Taylor Davidson.

 

Stanford’s stalwart No. 1, sophomore Carol Zhao, provided one of the lone bright spots for the Cardinal with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over No. 24 Klara Fabikova. Senior Ellen Tsay, playing in her last regular-season match for the Cardinal, added a second point at the No. 4 spot with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

The Cardinal ended the season ranked fourth in the Pac-12, behind USC, Cal and UCLA, all of which were ranked in the year-end top five nationally. The team will head to Ojai, California this Thursday for the singles and doubles Pac-12 Championships, before opening NCAA tournament play in early May.

Contact Neel Ramachandran at neelr ‘at’ stanford.edu.