San Jose State Women topple top-ranked Stanford in the Battle of the Bay

It was one match on a chilly, windy day in February and the top-ranked team in the nation wasn't at full strength. Nonetheless, San Jose State's win over Stanford in the Battle of Bay on Tuesday has to rank high on the Spartan's feel-good meter.

Lucia Lopez Ortega, Kajsa Arwefjäll and Antonia Malate all posted wins for sixth-ranked San Jose State while freshman Rebecca Gyllner tied her match with the world's top-ranked female amateur Rose Zhang to give the Spartans a 3-2-1 victory over their Bay Area rival at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif.

Playing in the anchor match, Malate delivered the clinching point for the Spartans with a 2-up win over Caroline Sturdza. The match was tied after 10 holes before Malate won three of the next four to go 3 up with four to play. After the players halved 15, Sturdza won 16 and 17 to close within one but Malate won the 18th to secure the win for the Spartans

A great winning chip by @atemalate as the #4 Spartans defeat #1 Stanford in the Battle in the Bay, 3-2-1.#AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/Y0mv8dPFko

— San Jose State Women's Golf (@SanJoseStWGOLF) February 21, 2023

The match between Zhang and Gyllner, a freshman from Gävle, Sweden, seemed to favor the Cardinal, at least on paper. Zhang took a 1-up lead into the par-5 18th hole but Gyllner managed to eke out a tie with a par to Zhang's bogey.

Stanford's Sadie Englemann and Kelly Xu earned wins for the Cardinal, who were playing without the services of Rachel Heck and Brooke Seay, who are nursing injuries.

San Jose State and Stanford will both be in the field at the upcoming Juli Inkster Meadow Club Invitational, March 6-7 in Fairfax, Calif.

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Battle of the Bay • Final Results
San Jose State d. Stanford, 3-2-1
Lucia Lopez Ortega (SJS) def. Megha Ganne (ST), 2 & 1
Sadie Englemann (ST) def. Louisa Carlbom (SJS), 4 & 3
Rebecca Gyllner (SJS)-Rose Zhang (ST), Halved
Kajsa Arwefjäll (SJS) def. Angelina Ye (ST), 6 & 5
Kelly Xu (ST) def. Jordyn Parr (SJS), 2 up
Antonia Malate (SJS) def. Carline Sturdza (ST), 2 up