The Cardinal finished the year 19-6, going 7-2 in Pac-12 play. Stanford was the No. 3 seed at the Pac-12 Tournament in Ojai, Calif. and won three matches in three days to claim the tournament title. Earning the No. 15 seed nationally for the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinal swept through the first two rounds at home before falling in the Super Regionals at No. 2 Oklahoma. Freshman Connie Ma was a highlight throughout the year, ending her rookie campaign with a run to the championship match of the NCAA Singles Tournament in May.
THE NATION’S BEST FRESHMAN
Connie Ma certainly lived up to the hype, having spent time as the nation’s No. 1 recruit in high school by TennisRecruiting.com. The rookie spent the entire season playing No. 1 in both singles and doubles for the Cardinal and made an early splash, winning the ITA Northwest Regionals in both singles and doubles in the fall. At the ITA National Fall Championships she advanced to the quarterfinals in singles play.
In dual matches, Ma finished the season 15-5 overall in singles, the most wins at the top spot since Carol Zhao in 2015 and most by a freshman at No. 1 since Hilary Barte in 2008. She owned a team-high 15 victories against ranked opponents and was 10-4 against Pac-12 opponents. Overall, she was 32-9 on the year in singles.
Ma solidified her spot as not only an All-American in singles but the ITA National Rookie of the Year following a magical run to the championship match of the NCAA Singles Tournament. She became just the 14th unseeded player since event started in 1982 to advance to the championship match and was the fifth freshman in Stanford history to advance to the championship match and first since Amber Liu in 2003. She finished the year ranked No. 12 nationally.
Looking for the best freshman in the ????????????? Look no further ??
Connie Ma took on the challenge and delivered in her first season with the Cardinal!#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/FtEGVqbbRI
— Stanford Women’s Tennis (@StanfordWTennis) June 13, 2022
OWNED OJAI (AGAIN)
Stanford won its fourth Pac-12 Tournament title out of five years of the event, posting wins over No. 37 Oregon, No. 16 UCLA and No. 20 Arizona State to claim the title. Freshman Alexandra…
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