SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 56 Santa Clara women's tennis team returned back to the courts after a three-week break where they fell to No. 2 Stanford by a score of 7-0 in the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The Broncos (1-2; 0-0 WCC) now travel to San Luis Obispo, Calif. where they face Cal Poly on Sun., Feb. 16 at 11 a.m.
In doubles, Bronco duo Stephanie Skaras and Nicolette Wolny showed a strong performance against the Cardinal (5-0; 0-0 Pac-12) on court three. Caroline Doyle and Krista Hardebeck nearly edged Skaras and Wolny by a score of 7-6.
"Nikki and I were both happy with how we played and competed with Stanford," said senior Skaras after the day's events. "It was a bit disappointing we could not take advantage of the opportunities we had to win, but it will give us confidence going into the rest of the season."
On court two, Bronco partners and sophomores Chelby Cooke and Delphine Rouvillois took on the No. 30 doubles team of Taylor Davidson and Ellen Tsay where they fell 8-1. Katie Le and Daniella Silva could not overcome the No. 17 pairing of Kristie Ahn and Carol Zhao and dropped their match, 8-0.
On the singles side, five out of the six Broncos went up against top-50 ranked opponents. Cooke put in a battling effort against Hardebeck on court two where she was able to get four games off the Cardinal in the second set. Cooke fell, 6-0, 6-4, but is confident in her performance.
"I had a slow start in the first set and was able to get back into the match during the second," explains Cooke. "This match differed from my success at the ITA Kick Off as I was able to get up in the first sets. Against these bigger teams and ranked players, it's important to have a good start and prevent them from getting too much momentum early in the match."
No. 5 Ahn of Stanford proved too much for No. 28 Le on court one. Le dropped just her fourth match of the year and was defeated, 6-1, 6-1. Her overall singles record tallies 12-4 for the season. Rouvillois played well against No. 25 Taylor Davidson, but the match ended in Stanford's favor by a score of 6-2, 6-2.
The Broncos now travel to San Luis Obispo to take on Cal Poly on Sun., Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. Check back into SantaClaraBroncos.com for all your tennis updates and news.
No. 2 Stanford 7, No. 56 Santa Clara 0
DOUBLES
1) No. 17 Ahn/Zhao (STAN) d. Le/Silva (SCU) 8-0
2) No. 30 Davidson/Tsay (STAN) d. Cooke/Rouvillois (SCU) 8-1
3) Doyle/Hardebeck (STAN) led Skaras/Wolny (SCU) 7-6
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
1) No. 5 Kristie Ahn (STAN) d. No. 28 Katie Le (SCU) 6-1, 6-1
2) Krista Hardebeck (STAN) d. Chelby Cooke (SCU) 6-0, 6-4
3) No. 51 Carol Zhao (STAN) d. Daniella Silva (SCU) 6-0, 6-1
4) No. 25 Taylor Davidson (STAN) d. Delphine Rouvillois (SCU) 6-2, 6-2
5) No. 32 Ellen Tsay (STAN) d. Stephanie Skaras (SCU) 6-1, 6-0
6) No. 49 Caroline Doyle (STAN) d. Nicolette Wolny (SCU) 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 5, 2, 1, 4
GO BRONCOS!
