Women’s tennis defeats Ohio State to advance to NCAA quarterfinals

Before fans cheered Friday under blue skies, No. 7 Stanford women’s tennis (24-2, 10-0 PAC 12) put on a masterful performance, solidly defeating No. 10 Ohio State (22-8, 10-1 Big 10) 4 -1 NCAA Tournaments Round of 16. The Cardinals’ winning streak has reached 21 straight.

The match was never tight. Starting with the doubleheader, the Cardinal made an authoritative statement that they were the better team. In fact, it took nearly 20 minutes for the Buckeyes to earn their first lead, and Stanford never trailed in any period. On the second court, graduate student Sara Choy and freshman Alexandra Yepifanova finished first, winning 6-2. The match was highlighted by Yepifanova’s strong and well-placed serves, which opened the court for Choys’ sharp net flights.

Next, on court three, the formidable team of sophomores Connie Ma and Valencia Xu won their set 6-2 as Ma hit several nice serves and Xu remained steady from the baseline. The victory was their 11th in a row. Around the same time, No. 16-ranked senior Angelica Blake and freshman Alexis Blokhina went 6-1 on court one, outscoring their Buckeye opponents No. 37 Irina Cantos Siemers and Sydni Ratliff at every turn. The Cardinal secured the double point in just half an hour.

In the singles matches that followed, the Cardinal took an early victory. No. 44 Blake, who lost just one game all afternoon in singles and doubles, defeated his Buckeye opponent 6-0, 6-0. Blakes’ sharp-angled shots and his incredible ability to switch back and forth from offense to defense were on full display.

No. 29 Yepifanova, on the first court, followed with a dominant win over No. 30 Ratliff. Yepifanova broke Ratliffs serve early and then cruised to a 6-2 first set win. In the second set, 2-0, Ratliff appeared to twist his ankle. After a long treatment timeout, play resumed and Yepifanova picked up where she left off, winning the second set 6-1. Throughout the match, Yepifanova answered the Ratliffs’ powerful shots with equal, if not more, power and excellent consistency and shot placement, putting her opponent on the defensive. Yepifanov’s serve was also a powerful weapon, producing several aces and service winners.

Xu, on court five, won the key point. Her opponent, No. 89 Shelly Bereznyak, hadn’t lost a singles match since February, but Xu jumped out to a 4-0 lead and fought back to win the first set 7-5. Xu quickly quelled any Buckeye hopes of a close second period. Standing close to the baseline, he took the ball early, dictated the point and kept Bereznyak off balance. In the final game, Xu was down 0-40 before reeling off the last four points for a 6-0 second set and match win.

When Xu secured, Choy on the sixth court was in the set 6-4, 4-5. On the third court, number 84 Blokhina, who had lost the first set 6-0, showed her strength by coming back from 1-4 down in the second and winning it in the semifinals just as the match ended. The Buckeyes scored their only point when Siemers won 18 Ma, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 20 on the second court.

Afterwards, Jepifanova commented on her singles match: I’ve seen Sydni play since juniors. I know his game. He has also been to Fall Nationals. I saw him play out there, he had a great win, but I knew if I could focus on what I needed to do in terms of first pass percentage, getting rebounds from deep and just taking advantage of all my opportunities, I knew the result would go my way.

She also described what makes her and Choy such an effective doubles team, especially in her service games: When I’m on the baseline and Sara is at the net, we’re both really confident. Sara has great hands. He likes being up there and I have a lot of confidence in him as well, and I also have confidence in my fundamentals to set him up. Overall, Sara and I are the best at hitting consistently and I don’t give loose points.

When asked how she was able to bounce back so quickly from last weeks singles loss to Oklahoma State, her first since February, Yepifanova talked about her mental preparation and the challenges of managing academics and athletics at the same time.

Against Oklahoma State, I was in a different mental state. The day before Oklahoma State I had two layoffs and the day before I had another, so it was going to be a hectic week at Oklahoma State, Yepifanova said. But I really took my time before this. I rested more. I felt mentally more prepared and it really showed in a lot of my game, not just my serve.

The Cardinal now advance to Wednesday’s NCAA quarterfinals in Orlando, Fla., where they will face No. 2 Texas A&M (30-2, 13-0 SEC).

“They’re obviously a really good team,” Yepifanova said of the Aggies. They played brilliantly, [but] playing out of this world. I think everyone’s so confident and everyone’s back at each other, so I think it’s going to be a great match.