Men’s tennis sweeps No. 22 Boise State to extend win streak

Extending its season-high winning streak to six matches, the No. 52 Stanford’s men’s tennis team (9-2, 2-0 Pac-12) swept No. 22 Boise State (18-4, 20 Mountain West) 4-0 in a rain-shortened match at Taube Family Tennis Stadium on Tuesday.

Junior John Morrissey defeated Boise State’s senior No. 86 Andrew Bettles 6-1, 6-4 on court one in Tuesday’s 4-0 team win over the Broncos. Morrissey is 6-0 in singles matches over the Cardinal’s six-match winning streak. (AVI BAGLA/The Stanford Daily)

The Cardinal defeated its highest-ranked opponent of the season in the Broncos, who entered the match on an eight-match winning streak of their own.

After the two teams agreed to play singles first due to a threatening forecast, Stanford was able to jump out with to a quick one-point lead after sophomore Anthony Tsodikov defeated Boise State freshman Brendan McClain 6-2, 6-2 on court five. Tsodikov has gone 5-1 in singles during the team’s season-long winning streak.

Stanford extended its lead when juniors Robert Stineman and John Morrissey each won their singles matches in two sets on courts six and one, respectively.

Stineman has also gone 5-1 in singles over the Cardinal’s last six matches, while Morrissey has simply been dominant with an undefeated 6-0 record in that span.

The Cardinal clinched the victory minutes after the court one win, as sophomore Maciek Romanowicz won the No. 2 match, 6-4, 6-3. The other two singles matches were abandoned and the doubles matches were foregone after Stanford secured its win.

For a team that fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Cardinal will look to garner more confidence as they enter the heart of Pac-12 play. They will certainly be tested this weekend as they are slated to take on No. 2 USC and No. 3 UCLA in a two-match SoCal road trip.

Friday’s match at USC will take place at 1:30 p.m. and Saturday’s at UCLA has a 1 p.m. start.

Contact Jordan Wallach at jwallach ‘at’ stanford.edu.