With a 4-2 win over Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Syracuse (14-12, 5-9 Atlantic Coast) set up a matchup with No. 3-seed Stanford (23-1, 10-0 Pacific-12) on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Stanford, California. In the Orange’s 44-year program history, they have never gone past the second round of the NCAA tournament, and they lost 4-0 to Florida last time they reached this stage.

Here’s what to know before Sunday’s matchup.

Last time they played: For the second match in a row, Syracuse will play its opponent for the first time. The Orange are 4-10 against ranked opponents this year and 0-3 against top-five teams.

The Stanford report: The winner of two of the last three national championships features seven ranked singles players and four ranked doubles pairings. A blue-blood of NCAA women’s tennis, the Cardinal have a record 20 national titles, including four this decade. They returned 10 members this year, and all six of their regular singles players are generally in the same roles as last year. Stanford comes into Sunday’s matchup on an 18-match winning-streak.

How Syracuse beats Stanford: Playing nearly perfect and winning at the top of the lineup. There’s little room for error against Stanford, and a lost doubles point for Syracuse could see a quick match in favor of the Cardinal. If the Orange are able to steal the doubles point, which they’ve struggled with throughout the season but did against Wisconsin in the first round, they’ll be able to rely on their top-three singles slots. That’s where Syracuse needs to dominate.

No. 14 Gabriela Knutson has said some of her best matches this season came against great opposition. She fell in straight-sets with both going to a tiebreak against Miami’s now-No. 1 Estela Perez-Somarriba, and will need to play at a similar level against likely opponent No. 24 Michaela Gordon. Knutson was able to flatten out her groundstrokes and keep Perez-Somarriba on the move, and doing the same could be a winning combination against Gordon, who’s struggled at times this season and went 10-4 at first singles.

While Stanford has lost just two points at second and third doubles all season, that’s where Syracuse must capitalize because of its lack of depth. The Orange have just two ranked singles players to Stanford’s seven. No. 99 Miranda Ramirez has to find her early-season form, when she beat the then-No. 36 and then-No. 52 players, and Sofya Golubovskaya must find a way to finish matches. She’s taken sets off top-20 players this season, but still doesn’t have a marquee win.

Stat to know: 154 — The number of NCAA tournament wins Stanford has in program history, an NCAA record. Syracuse has two.  

Player to watch: Caroline Lampl, senior

She isn’t Stanford’s best player, but Lampl has been a steady option for the Cardinal at third singles and first doubles. She holds a relatively poor doubles record compared to her teammates, 10-6, but she’s Stanford’s only undefeated singles player (19-0) in dual matches that’s played more than 10 this season. Lampl dropped just two sets in last year’s NCAA tournament and started her 2019 campaign with a 6-2 6-0 win against Saint Mary’s. She could play a pivotal role in shutting down Syracuse by denying one of the three points it’ll likely need at the top of the lineup.

Published on May 5, 2019 at 8:54 am

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder