May 21, 2000
Malibu, Calif. - The top-ranked Stanford women's tennis team fell to Georgia 5-4 in the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship match Sunday, May 21 at Pepperdine University.
The Cardinal and the Bulldogs battled throughout the day. At No. 2 singles, third-ranked freshman Cardinal Laura Granville defeated #10 Esther Knox 6-0, 6-3 and Stanford's Jennifer Heiser beat Kelly Baskin 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5 singles. The Bulldogs came back to beat the Cardinal at No. 6 singles as Anne Nguyen defeated #32 Keiko Tokuda in three sets 6-3, (6-1), 6-3. At No. 3 singles, Georgia's #55 Marissa Catlin defeated ninth-ranked Cardinal Lauren Kalvaria 7-5, 7-6. Top-ranked Cardinal Marissa Irvin fell to #5 Aarthi Venkatesan in three sets 6-4, (7-5), 6-3. Stanford pulled out one more win as #60 Gabriela Lastra defeated #33 Lori Grey in three sets 6-2, (7-6), 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
Going into the doubles matches, the match was tied between the Bulldogs and the Cardinal, 3-3. At No. 2 singles, Georgia pulled out a big win with the 22nd-ranked team of Knox/Venkatesan defeated #13 Granville/Tokuda 8-3. Stanford came back with a win at No. 3 singles as #28 Kalvaria/Lastra beat Zoe Mellis/Nguyen 8-2.
The deciding match came down to No. 1 singles between Stanford's team of Teryn Ashley/Irvin against Georgia's Catlin/Grey. Georgia pulled out to an early lead, up 6-1 before the Cardinal came back, making a six game run to bring the score to 7-6 Stanford. The two teams tied it up at 8 games each, and a 7-point tiebreaker was played. The Bulldogs pulled out the win, 7-3 in the tiebreaker.
Stanford head coach Frank Brennan said, "Georgia was very good, and competed will. They were very spirited. It's been a heck of a season, with 30 wins at No. 1 in the country. But today the Bulldogs wouldn't be denied."
Stanford finishes the season with a record of 30-1 as the National Runners-up. The Championship match can be seen on television on Tuesday, May 30 at 10:30 a.m. (PT) on ESPN. The NCAA Championships will continue on Monday, May 22 with the first round of the singles and doubles individual matches. Stanford's Marissa Irvin is seeded No. 1 in the tournament, and she will play on Monday at 10:30 a.m. The doubles team of Ashley/Irvin also earned the top seed in the doubles tournament, and they will play on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Singles No. 1 #5 Aarthi Venkatesan (G) def. #1 Marissa Irvin (S) - 6-3, (7-5), 6-3 No. 2 #3 Laura Granville (S) def. #10 Esther Knox (G) - 6-0, 6-3 No. 3 #55 Marissa Catlin (G) def. #9 Lauren Kalvaria (S) - 7-5, 7-6 No. 4 #60 Gabriela Lastra (S) def. #33 Lori Grey (G) - 6-2, (7-6), 6-1 No. 5 Jennifer Heiser (S) def. Kelly Baskin (G) - 6-4, 6-0 No. 6 Anne Nguyen (G) def. #32 Keiko Tokuda (S) - 6-3, (6-1), 6-3
Doubles No. 1 #2 Catlin/Grey (G) def. #4 Ashley/Irvin (S) - 8-8 (7-3 tiebreaker) No. 2 #22 Knox/Venkatesan (G) def. #13 Granville/Tokuda (S) - 8-3 No. 3 #28 Kalvaria/Lastra (S) def. Mellis/Nguyen (G) - 8-2
Final Score: #2 Georgia 5, Stanford 4