Stanford women cruise into NCAA round of 16

Michaela Gordon, playing in qualifying in the 2017 Sacramento
Challenger, routed No. 14 Gabriela Knutson 6-3, 6-0 today to
help host Stanford, seeded third, beat Syracuse 4-1 in the sec-
ond round of the NCAA Championships. Photo by Rob Vomund 

   The host Stanford women, seeded third, beat Syracuse 4-1 today at Taube Family Tennis Stadium to reach the round of 16 in the NCAA Championships.
   The Cardinal (24-1) extended its winning streak to 19 matches in a quest for its second consecutive NCAA title, third in four years and 20th overall. Florida ranks second with seven NCAA crowns. No other school has won more than two.
   Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, gave Stanford a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Gabriela Knutson on Court 1. At No. 14, Knutson is the highest-ranked player whom No. 24 Gordon has defeated this season.
   Syracuse's victory came on Court 2 as Sofya Golubovskaya upset Melissa Lord 6-4, 6-2. Lord, a senior from Bloomfield, Conn., had been 16-0 in NCAA team competition, including the clincher in last year's final against Vanderbilt.
   Stanford will host 14th-seeded Kansas (21-4) on Friday at 2 p.m. in the Super Regionals. The Jayhawks defeated Florida 4-2 on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.
   The winner of the Stanford-Kansas match will travel to Orlando, Fla., where eight teams will compete for the national title May 17-19 at the USTA National Campus.