May 22, 2000
ATHENS, Georgia - Top-ranked and top-seeded Stanford (27-1) advanced to the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship match for the seventh time in the last nine years after an impressive 4-0 semifinal win over third-ranked Florida (28-4) on Monday afternoon at the University of Georgia. With the 4-0 win, Stanford has outscored its NCAA Tournament opponents 20-1 in its five postseason victories.
Stanford takes on 19th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth (27-4) in the finals on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) at the University of Georgia. The Rams were just a No. 17-32 seed in the 64-team field but have upset #4 Illinois, #9 Tennessee and #13 Mississippi on their way to the finals. Virginia Commonwealth defeated Tennessee 4-3 on Monday in improbable fashion. The Volunteers led 3-2, but their No. 3 and 4 singles players defaulted because of dehydration within 13 minutes of one another to give the Rams the 4-3 victory.
The Cardinal, which has now advanced to the finals seven of the last nine years, is shooting for its fifth national title in the last six seasons and 17th in school history. The Cardinal's current total of 16 national titles is the best in Division I history, just ahead of the 15 captured by both UCLA and USC.
Stanford posted the impressive win over the Gators behind an outstanding day from junior Alex Kim (Potomac, MD/Winston Churchill HS). Kim and Geoff Abrams (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS), who are the top-ranked doubles team in the nation, opened the day by defeating the third-ranked pair of Jeff Morrison and Nathan Overholser 8-5 at No. 1 to help the Cardinal capture the doubles point for the fifth time in as many tries in the postseason. Stanford also received an 8-5 doubles victory from the 34th-ranked pair of K.J. Hippensteel (Roanoke, VA/International Academy) and David Martin (Key Biscayne, FL/Boca Raton Prep) at No. 2.
The seventh-ranked Kim then gave Stanford a huge lift in singles when he stunned top-ranked and defending NCAA singles champion Jeff Morrison in straight sets. Kim defeated Morrison 6-3, 7-5 to improve to improve to 42-7 overall this season and 23-6 against nationally ranked opponents.
Stanford then picked up the clinching third and fourth victories behind three set wins from Hippensteel and Scotty Scott (Belvedere, CA/Pinewood HS). The victories marked the second time in as many days that Hippensteel and Scott both rallied from a set down to come back and win. The 11th-ranked Hippensteel outlasted Overholser 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 3 singles, and has now won four of his last five matches. Scott clinched the victory with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Dylan Mann at No. 5 singles, which marked the fifth time this season that the Cardinal junior has won a match after dropping the opening set.
#1 Stanford 4, #3 Florida 0
Singles
No. 1 - #7 Alex Kim (S) d. #1 Jeff Morrison, 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 - #5 Geoff Abrams (S) v. #10 Justin O'Neal (F), suspended (4-6 Florida, 6-3 Stanford, 2-2)
No. 3 - #11 K.J. Hippensteel (S) d. Nathan Overholser, 6-4. 4-6, 6-4
No. 4 - Olivier Levant (F) v. David Martin (S), suspended (7-6, 4-4 Florida)
No. 5 - Scotty Scott (S) d. Dylan Mann, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1* (deciding match)
No. 6 - Ali Ansari (S) v. Troy Hahn (F), suspended (6-3 Stanford, 6-7 Florida, 1-1)
Doubles (Stanford wins doubles point)
No. 1 - #1 Geoff Abrams/Alex Kim (S) d. #3 Jeff Morrison/Nathan Overholser, 8-5
No. 2 - #34 K.J. Hippensteel/David Martin (S) d. Olivier Levant/Justin O'Neal, 8-5
No. 3 - Ali Ansari/Scotty Scott (S) v. Marcos Asse/Dylan Mann, suspended (7-6 Stanford)
Records - #3 Florida 28-4, #1 Stanford 27-1.