Stanford junior Taylor Davidson clinched national title No. 18 for the Cardinal with a dramatic win over Vladica Babic in the deciding match at No. 2 singles. There was a huge orange-clad crowd of over 1600 on hand cheering every point but it wasn’t enough to push Oklahoma State over the top.
The Clincher (Photo By Bill Kallenberg – CapturedInAction.com)
Oklahoma State actually played from ahead most of the match and it all started with the Cowgirls claiming the doubles point for the 32nd time in 33 matches. Oklahoma State’s Katarina Adamovic and Vladica Babic rolled to a 6-1 win at No. 3 while Maria Alvarez and Kelsey Laurente clinched the point with a 6-3 win at No. 1.
Oklahoma State jumped on Stanford in singles and the Cowgirls would end up taking four opening sets. However the first one to finish would be Stanford senior Krista Hardebeck at No. 4 singles. Hardebeck went up early break in each set and served it out at love to defeate Kelsey Laurente 6-4, 6-4.
Oklahoma State junior Katarina Adamovic would put Oklahoma State back in front with a win over Carol Zhao at No. 1. Adamovic served for the first set up 5-2 but Zhao would break and then hold for 5-4. Adamovic managed to serve it out the second time with a hold from 40-15. Adamovic broke Zhao’s 2-2 service game on the deciding point but Zhao would break back from 30-40 to even it at 3-3. Adamovic would break from 15-40 to go up 4-3 but Zhao would do the same to break for 4-4. Zhao held from 40-15 to go up 5-4 but Adamovic would hold from 40-30 with an ace for 5-5. Adamovic would break from 30-40 when a Zhao backhand sailed long and then she’d serve it out from 40-30 to win 6-4, 7-5.
Oklahoma State had a 2-1 lead plus it was closing to winning at No. 3 but Stanford had taken break leads in the third set at No. 2, No. 5, and No. 6.
Cowgirls junior Viktoriya Lushkova would make it 3-1 with a three-set win over Carolina Doyle at No. 3. Doyle took the opening set 6-4 but Lushkova would get the second 6-4. Lushkova jumped out to a 3-0 double break lead in the third but Doyle would break back on the deciding point for 1-3. Lushkova would break back, hold, and break again to close it out 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Lushkova finished the year with a 25-1 dual-match record.
Less than a minute after Lushkova’s win, Stanford freshman Caroline Lampl would trim the deficit to 3-2 with a come from behind win over Katarina Stresnakova at No. 5. Lampl dropped the first set 6-4 but she’d come back to take the second 6-3. Lampl broke Stresnakova to start the third set but Stresnakova would break back and hold for 2-1. Lampl would then hold, break, and hold for 4-2 before Stresnakova held on the deciding point for 3-4. Lampl held on the deciding point for 5-3 and then she’d break to win it 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Roughly eight minutes later the match would be tied at 3-3 after Stanford freshman Melissa Lord rallied from a set down to defeat Carla Tur Mari in three sets. Tur Mari took the opening set 7-6(6) but Lord came back and got the second set 6-2. Tur Mari held to start the third set but then Lord won the next five games to go up 5-1. Tur Mari held for 2-5 and then Lord served it out for the 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win.
The final match left on court was at No. 2 singles between Stanford junior Taylor Davidson and Oklahoma State sophomore Vladic Babic. Babic took the opening set 6-3 and then went up a break in the second set at 4-1. Davidson held and then broke from 15-40 to put the match back on serve at 3-4. Davidson and Babic exchanged holds then Davidson found herself serving at 3-6, 4-5 (40-40). Davidson fought off the match point when a Babic backhand sailed long and then Davidson would break Babic for 6-5 despite the fact that Babic was up 40-love on her service game. Below is the match point she faced at 4-5 (40-40)
Davidson would serve out the second set and send it to a third. Davidson broke Babic early in the second and would break again to go up 5-2. Babic would break back when Davidson double faulted and then she’d hold for 4-5. Babic would break at love to even it at 5-5 (clip)
6. Melissa Lord (Stanford) def. Carla Tur Mari (Oklahoma State), 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 3, 5, 6, 2
Stanford Head Coach Lela Forood
“On winning her eighth national championship and 18th as a school…
“They always feel really good. Really good. Especially when it’s been four years since the last one. Very satisfying.
On rebounding from losing the doubles point…
“They definitely took it to us in the doubles. We had a few chances early, and we didn’t get them. They kind of rolled after that. That’s what they’ve done this year, from what I understand. We got in our huddle, as we’ve done many times this year, and said OK that doesn’t matter. Let’s go get some singles. That’s the way we’ve had to respond a lot of times this year, so we know that we’re pretty capable. We like our lineup. We think there are winning spots at every number on our lineup. They certainly grabbed four first sets. I wasn’t totally expecting that. They really showed that they were very serious, that they were really going to come after us, play very well. Obviously coaching the one and the two position mostly today, I think when Taylor (Davidson) was able to make a breakthrough a little bit in that second set, create some errors, and be able to get herself back in that second set, that’s when I think the momentum of the match started to turn. Obviously we had lost first sets at five and six at that point, but I really felt good that we were going to get ourselves back in those matches. We needed to find some other wins. So, that was very pivotal to this match.
On the leadership and play of Krista (Hardebeck)…
“Since January, she’s had a phenomenal season. Phenomenal. Way better than her last couple of seasons have been. She really just flipped a switch this year, and became such a great competitor again, really out there and starting matches well. She’s a great frontrunner. It started all season. Not that it was unexpected, but it was such a pleasure to see that we were going to get such an incredible performance from her this year. Because it started to make things more possible for us seeing ourselves as potential champions. We needed our freshmen to really – their learning curve had to go up substantially this year, and clearly that happened as well. Krista being kind of a rock at four, and being able to deliver so many victories. Today she was first off the court with a win for us. That was really important. Really important. In knew she was going to play well in the doubles. Right from the beginning, even though we weren’t technically score-wise in that match, she was playing beautifully. I thought, OK, she’s got it today. She’s going to be on top of her game.
On what made this season stand out from other championship seasons…
“For these guys to get their first championship in their junior year, so hopefully good things to come for them still in their careers. The atmosphere was really amazing today. It really was. People weren’t really for us, but still, it was a very, very exciting college tennis atmosphere. I didn’t have toplay, obviously, but I thought everybody was pretty fair. There wasn’t a lot of stuff, no one was talking to our players or anything like that. So, it was really fun.
On the resilience of her team to come back and win after losing four first sets in singles…
“That’s kind of our team right there. We don’t always go three, but we go three a lot. Some of our players sometimes, when I see (Caroline) Lampl, for instance, going down in the first set, I don’t think at all that a loss might be coming. I think, OK, she’s not making enough balls yet. She’ll get it going. The second set will start, she’ll start to find the range a little more. She’s a really good competitor. She’s got a very good game. Then I saw Mel (Melissa Lord) was really close with the games in that match, it was unfortunate when I saw the 7-6 go up against her, but I knew she’s pretty resilient. She’s played very well. She’s a very confident player at this point, so I thought OK, that doesn’t mean a lot. It means her match is going to take longer, but still felt very confident in those parts of our lineup that we were going to come right back. I saw Krista was rolling. Carol (Zhao) was this close to maybe getting into the third set, which would have been nice. Obviously once Taylor got a foothold in that second set, made a nice comeback, I thought, oohh they’re in trouble now.
Taylor Davidson, Stanford (#2 singles)
“On coming back after losing the first set 3-6…
“I was down 4-1, 5-2, and I actually had a match point against me at one point. I wasn’t thinking that I need to win this match, I was thinking to stay on the court and hopefully Carol can split sets. I know how nice it is to not have as much pressure on your shoulders, I wanted to help someone else relax a little more and play better.
On knowing she was the last one on the court…
“I heard Caroline Lampl scream from the back courts and I knew that she had won her match which has happened plenty of times already during this tournament. After hearing that I knew it was down to me. At that time I had a big lead, I was up 5-2 and feeling good, but then I started cramping a little bit, things didn’t feel as good, but I knew that if I could just stay in the match and make her hit a lot of balls that I was tougher than her. At that point though there is a lot of pressure on both players that you never know what is going to happen.
On Coach Young recruiting her hard….
“He was really on top of things during the recruiting process. He recruited me pretty hard from start to finish, but at that point I told him that he did a really good job recruiting me and that he was a great guy, but that I had interest in other schools. I have a lot of respect for him as both a coach and person.
Oklahoma State Head Coach Chris Young
On his emotions post-match…
“I’m just proud. I am sure at some point I will think about the fact that we had match point at number two in the second set and that might bother me a little bit but you guys all saw the crowd and the teams compete. It is unbelievable for college tennis and as a person who grew up in the state of Oklahoma, people don’t think of tennis that much around here and what Vince (Tulsa men’s tennis coach Vince Westbrook) did to build this facility I think inspired all of us, challenged all of us to build facilities like we have and to build a program like we did. I knew this day was coming and I envisioned it. I knew that Tulsa was going to be hosting and I wanted to have a team that was going to do something special here and it’s honestly not surprising to me what these kids did because they are an unbelievable group and I think that everybody got to witness it today. Like I said, after the match, I think there is two champions. Stanford deserves all the credit, I would never take anything away from them. That is who you want to play in a final, Stanford, because of their history and we gave them all that we had. I was proud of Vladica in the second set and that match ball because she went for it and she just missed it but she came back after being down 5-2, really had nothing left and gave it all to get back to five all. That says a lot about who she is in our program. I am just proud. I am proud of Oklahoma State. I am proud of our fans. I am proud of tennis in the state of Oklahoma and what we could do. I think this is a moment that is going to inspire a lot of people to enjoy college tennis in this area and it is going to do great benefits for many of us.
On Vladica giving her all and collapsing from exhaustion…
“Vlade gave it all. It has happened one other time where she just gets overheated and sometimes when she is like that she sits down and she stands up real quick, sometimes all that blood flow just rushes to her head. I asked the girls to stand up and I wanted her to talk to them really quick before we went out. I knew that they were emotional and I just wanted us to go out there and hold our heads high. I told the girls that they had nothing to be ashamed of and I just wanted to take a moment, I knew that we were going to walk over there and there was all of our fans to be there and support us. We can go to the hotel room and cry about it but I think right now is a time to hold our heads high and I just wanted the girls to do that and Vladica stood up real quick and then she went right back down but she gave us all that we had and I am proud of her.
On if Vladica will be alright…
“She is fine, I want to say a special thanks to the Stanford trainer who came right there and help cool her down, our trainer Christina West has done an amazing job and the Tulsa trainers were phenomenal. The doctor got there as we got to the training room, we got her in the cold bath and got her temperature down and she is doing fine.
On when Vladica was down 5-2 what advice did he give her…
“I told her I thought that she still had something left to give. Vladica stayed over the Christmas break in Stillwater and worked her butt off. She trained really hard and at the end of last season in the sweet sixteen against Florida Vladica just had nothing left. She had given us everything that she had and her fitness wore down and so she stayed over the break to make sure that didn’t happen again. I just told her, all that hard work that she did, not going home for Christmas and doing two-a-days with our strength coach over the Christmas break and a lot of stuff on her own, now is the time to put it to use. I just said to leave it all out on the court and she did that and the great thing is she made Taylor earn it at the end and that is what you want.
On the importance of the Greenwood family (the OSU tennis center is named after the Greenwoods)…
“You know, probably the most disappointed I am today is that today is Anne Greenwood’s birthday and we thought that winning the national cham- pionship on her birthday seemed fitting. I thought it was meant to be. I can’t say enough about the Greenwoods. My relationship with them and our family’s relationship with them is like none other. There is not another donor family at any school that is going to be as invested as they are, there may be people that equal them but nobody does more. The things that they’ve done, they don’t just give their money they gave themselves and they gave themselves to these kids. They are mentors to these kids and they’ll spend time looking at resumes for the kids and trying to help them better themselves, they’ll spend time giving them advice off the court, it is not just about tennis and I think that is what makes our program special. Kids come to our program and they don’t just grow as tennis players they grow as people and I think that you see that on every court that these girls are just growing in everyway.
On if he took in the atmosphere of the crowd…
“You bet, I think inside I tried to stay as solid as I could for the kids but I was loving every minute of it. I will remember this week for the rest of my life. It was just set up perfectly for us and like I said last night, I have a strong faith and I said a lot of prayers this year that we could do something special and I think God allowed us to do that and to represent Oklahoma State in a very special way. I am just thankful that He used our program in that way and I’m just not at all disappointed in the outcome. I am just so proud of these kids because how could you not be?
On playing at the Coleman Center only three years ago…
“The great thing about it is Maria Alvarez is one of our seniors and she is the last Coleman Center player. You know, most people don’t realize what the Coleman Center was, that was kids changing clothes in my car as I would pull it up next to it, it was no bathrooms, no nothing. I remember playing Texas and we are in the middle of a match and a girl steps and the court comes out from under her and we have to move courts and you name it, it happened. My legendary story was that the day before we were supposed to play Tulsa one year the rec center comes and says that the high schools has priority and we had to come play Tulsa at Tulsa instead of getting a home match. For that to have happened four years ago and for us to be in a national championship, I don’t talk about it a lot because I don’t think that it is just about me but there is a lot of special people that have made this program come a long way from driving an hour every day to practice to being in the national finals so that is why I am proud. I am going to refuse to be disappointed because we have come too far to hold our heads down at this moment.
On being the first Big XII program to reach this point…
“Well, I didn’t know that so thanks for the good news. It is good to know, we represent the program with pride. I was just telling Drew that you’ve got to look at Katarina’s press conference because she took up for the Big XII there she said that hey people underestimate the Big XII and we are here to represent them. We are proud of the Big XII Conference and we are proud to represent what it stands for. I thought all season long our girls wore that badge with pride because we were hosting the conference tournament and the Big XII came in and did a great job for us, hosting the tournament and gave all the kids a great experience. I didn’t know we were the first team, I think that is amazing. Our goal was to be the first women’s team to win a national championship, that may have to wait until next year.
On Katarina’s doing leading into the individual tournament…
“Katarina is amazing, her improvement is amazing. I couldn’t be more proud of her, to beat Perez, Manasse and Zhao. I mean, anybody that knows anything about college tennis knows how special that is. She played at a high level and I thought that we had to win one, two and three today and that is why I was there on those top two courts and we almost did it. For us as a program to win the doubles and to win one, two, three against Stan- ford, I think that shows we have come a long way.
Vladica Babic was the other one to go down too – Chris Young talked about it in the press conference – she got overheated – she pulled out of the singles competition as well.
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on Thu March 19, 2020 at 6:26 pm
It was Taylor Davidson – I believe she rolled her ankle some during the celebration – she pulled out of the individuals shortly after the match.
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on Thu March 19, 2020 at 6:26 pm
Has any player ever clinched 3 matches in the third set with the match 3 all on the way to a national title? Taylor Davidson has to be one of the most clutch players in NCAA tournament history.
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on Thu March 19, 2020 at 6:26 pm
There was Oklahoma State member that was receiving some medical treatment on the court after the match. Any update on whom it was and her condition?
Vladica Babic was the other one to go down too – Chris Young talked about it in the press conference – she got overheated – she pulled out of the singles competition as well.
It was Taylor Davidson – I believe she rolled her ankle some during the celebration – she pulled out of the individuals shortly after the match.
Has any player ever clinched 3 matches in the third set with the match 3 all on the way to a national title? Taylor Davidson has to be one of the most clutch players in NCAA tournament history.
There was Oklahoma State member that was receiving some medical treatment on the court after the match. Any update on whom it was and her condition?