April 22, 2000
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Second-ranked UCLA (21-3) snapped top-ranked Stanford's (22-1) 22-match winning streak with a 5-2 non-conference victory on Saturday afternoon at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The meeting was the third of the season between the teams, with Stanford posting 4-3 wins in the National Team Indoor Finals on Feb. 27 and on The Farm on Apr. 7. The Cardinal finished the regular season 22-1, which marked its 13th straight 20-win season.
UCLA earned the first point of the afternoon by winning two of the three doubles matches. At No. 1 doubles, UCLA's fifth-ranked duo of Brandon Kramer (Reno, NV/Reno HS) and Jong-Min Lee (Melbourne, Australia/UC Santa Barbara) beat Stanford's top-ranked duo of Geoff Abrams (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS) and Alex Kim (Potomac, MD/Winston Churchill HS) for the first time in three tries this season. Kramer and Lee fell behind 4-1 early, but won seven of the next eight games to post an 8-5 victory. Stanford's lone doubles win came from Ali Ansari (Houston, TX/Second Baptist HS) and Scotty Scott (Belvedere, CA/Pinewood HS) 8-3 at No. 3, as they improved to 17-4 on the year and have now won 11 of their last 12.
UCLA then won four of the six singles matches to snap a three-match losing streak to the Cardinal. UCLA clinched the victory at No. 1 singles, as 36th-ranked Lee held off third-ranked Kim 7-6 (4), 6-4. The loss was Kim's first in three meetings with Lee this season.
Stanford's two victories in singles competition came from 12th-ranked Abrams and 94th-ranked Scott. Abrams won his 17th straight match by defeating 40th-ranked Kramer 6-4, 7-6 (2) at No. 2 singles, while Scott improved to 19-6 on the year with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Lassi Ketola (Helsinki, Finland/Kapylan Iltaoppikoulu HS).
Stanford returns to action next Thursday-Sunday at the Pac-10 Individual Championships in Ojai, California. The pairings for the 64-team NCAA Tournament are then announced on May 4, and the Cardinal is expected to be named as one of 16 host sites for the first and second rounds on May 13-14. The final four rounds of the NCAA Championships will be held May 20-23 in Athens, Georgia.
#2 UCLA 5, #1 Stanford 2
Singles
No. 1 - #36 Jong-Min Lee (UCLA) d. #3 Alex Kim, 7-6 (4), 6-4
No. 2 - #12 Geoff Abrams (S) d. #40 Brandon Kramer, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
No. 3 - Jean-Noel Grinda (UCLA) d. #13 K.J. Hippensteel, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
No. 4 - #87 Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) d. David Martin, 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 - #94 Scotty Scott (S) d. Lassi Ketola, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
No. 6 - Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) d. Scott Lipsky, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 - #5 Brandon/Kramer Jong-Min Lee (UCLA) d. #1 Geoff Abrams/Alex Kim, 8-5
No. 2 - Jean-Noel Grinda/Jean-Julien Rojer (UCLA) d. #21 K.J. Hippensteel/David Martin, 8-0
No. 3 - Ali Ansari/Scotty Scott (S) d. Lassi Ketola/Travis Rettenmaier, 8-3
(UCLA wins doubles point)
Records - #1 Stanford 22-1, #2 UCLA 21-3.