May 23, 2000
ATHENS, Georgia - The top-ranked and top-seeded Stanford University men's tennis team won its fifth NCAA title in the last six years, 10th in the last 15 years and 17th in school history with a 4-0 shutout of No. 17-32 seed Virginia Commonwealth (27-5) on Tuesday afternoon at the University of Georgia.
"Every national championship is a great feeling, because there are so many things that can happen in this tournament," Stanford head coach Dick Gould said. "I think our team did a great job all year long of playing in adverse situations to get to this point. We had our share of injuries and every player on this roster did their share to get us to this point."
The 4-0 win completes a dominant tournament run for the Cardinal (28-1), which outscored its opposition 24-1 in six NCAA Tournament matches. The Cardinal, which has won all 17 of its titles under 34th-year head coach Gould, has won 15 of a possible 24 national titles since the present dual match format was adopted in 1977 and has captured 24 of its last 25 NCAA dual matches dating back to 1995.
Stanford scored its fourth and decisive point at No. 5 singles as Bay Area native Scotty Scott (Belvedere, CA/Pinewood HS) defeated Mats Norin 7-5, 6-1 to put an end to the 19th-ranked Rams' Cinderella run through the tournament. Scott provided the clinching victory in three of Stanford's six NCAA Tournament wins, including Monday's 4-0 semifinal triumph over third-ranked Florida.
The Cardinal also received straight set singles wins from juniors Alex Kim (Potomac, MD/Winston Churchill HS) at No. 1 and Ali Ansari (Houston, TX/Second Baptist HS) at No. 6.Kim's win completed an incredible two-day performance in which he defeated the No. 1 and 2 ranked players in the country in straight sets on consecutive days. Kim, who is the seventh-ranked singles player in Division I by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, knocked off second-ranked Daniel Andersson of Virginia Commonwealth 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday to give Stanford a 2-0 lead. In Monday's semifinal against Florida, Kim upset top-ranked and defending NCAA singles champion Jeff Morrison 6-3, 7-5.
"This was a totally different match today than I played yesterday," Kim said. "I went in with an open mind and was able to pull out the match against Daniel, who is a very tough opponent. I am happy, because I thought I played better and better each day in this tournament. I am happy to beat the quality players that I have beaten in these championships, but more excited that we as a team were able to come through with the national championship."
"I had to play on the defensive all day," Andersson said. "(Kim) had me running all over the court. We're just happy to get here. I think we played so well because we were relaxed and pumped up to win every match. We have to be satisfied to make it to the finals. There is no shame in losing to Stanford."
Ansari concluded an impressive season in the No. 6 singles slot by defeating Mattias Hoglund 7-5, 6-2 to put Stanford one win away from the national title. Ansari won 10 of his final 12 matches, and finished the season with 18 dual wins in 23 tries.
Stanford, who has just one senior in its starting lineup, started the dual in familiar fashion by winning the first two doubles matches to capture the opening point. The Cardinal won the doubles point in all six NCAA duals, and lost just one doubles match (vs. Auburn) in the process. The Cardinal's No. 2 doubles team of 34th-ranked K.J. Hippensteel (Roanoke, VA/International Academy) and David Martin (Key Biscayne, FL/Boca Raton Prep) opened play with an 8-1 win over Hoglund and Norin. Stanford clinched the point at No. 3 doubles when Ansari and Scott won for the 18th time in their last 20 matches by knocking off Fernando Sanchez and Jose Sanchez 9-7. Ansari and Scott finished the 2000 season with an impressive 24-5 record after going 11-10 last year.
With the team competition concluded, the NCAA Men's Singles Championships begin on Wednesday and the Doubles Championships on Thursday. All three of Stanford's singles entries are seeded, as well as its one doubles entry. In singles, the fifth-seeded and seventh-ranked Kim will meet 18th-ranked Toby Hansson of SMU on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (Pacific), while sixth-seeded and fifth-ranked Geoff Abrams (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS) plays 25th-ranked Andrew Nisker of Vanderbilt at 2:00 p.m. (Pacific) and No. 9-16 seed Hippensteel meets 46th-ranked Doug Root of Duke at 1:30 p.m. (Pacific). In Thursday's doubles first round, Stanford's top-ranked and second-seeded entry of Abrams and Kim plays 26th-ranked Huntley Montgomery and Brian Vahaly of Virginia at a time to be announced.
#1 Stanford 4, #19 Virginia Commonwealth 0
Singles
No. 1 - #7 Alex Kim (S) d. #2 Daniel Andersson, 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 - #5 Geoff Abrams (S) v. #17 Frank Moser (VCU), suspended (7-6, 2-4 VCU)
No. 3 - #11 K.J. Hippensteel (S) v. #61 (tie) Jose Sanchez (VCU), suspended (7-6, 4-3 Stanford)
No. 4 - David Martin (S) v. Fernando Sanchez (VCU), suspended (7-6, 1-5 VCU)
No. 5 - Scotty Scott (S) d. Mats Norin, 7-5, 6-1* (deciding match)
No. 6 - Ali Ansari (S) d. Mattias Hoglund, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles (Stanford wins doubles point)
No. 1 - #1 Geoff Abrams/Alex Kim (S) v. #19 Daniel Andersson/Frank Moser (VCU), suspended (7-7)
No. 2 - #34 K.J. Hippensteel/David Martin (S) d. Mattias Hoglund/Mats Norin, 8-1
No. 3 - Ali Ansari/Scotty Scott (S) d. Fernando Sanchez/Jose Sanchez, 9-7* (clinched point)
Records - #19 Virginia Commonwealth 27-5, #1 Stanford 28-1.