May 17, 2001
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - The top-ranked Stanford University women's tennis team (27-0) advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championships with a convincing 4-0 win over 17th-ranked Wake Forest (18-9) on Thursday evening at the Lincoln Tennis Center at Stone Mountain.
The Cardinal's quarterfinal opponent is a familiar one - the 11th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils. Stanford and Arizona State will battle for a spot in the semifinals on Friday at 2:00 p.m. (ET). The Cardinal leads the season series 2-0, winning 6-1 on March 10 on The Farm and 5-2 on April 13 in Tempe. The Sun Devils advanced with a 4-2 win over California on Thursday evening. In Friday's other quarterfinals, Florida plays Washington, Vanderbilt takes on Duke, and Georgia meets USC.
"We played (Arizona State) twice in conference and won both, so we know about them and they know about us," Stanford head coach Lele Forood said. "We were fortunate to win both of those. We lost the doubles to them, so that will be a key for us to try to get that point tomorrow."
Stanford kept alive its streak of not losing a point in this year's NCAA Championships by sweeping two doubles matches and losing just 12 games in its three singles victories.
In doubles, the Cardinal received victories from second-ranked Laura Granville (Chicago, IL/The Latin School) and Gabriela Lastra (Reno, NV/Reno HS) at No. 2 and Sarah Pestieau (New York, NY/Lycee Francais de New York) and Keiko Tokuda (Clifton, NJ/Clifton HS) at No. 3. Pestieau and Tokuda knocked off Jackie Houston and Elizabeth Proctor 8-3, while Granville and Lastra improved to 24-0 in duals with an 8-6 win over Maren Haus and Aimee Smith.
Stanford received all three of its singles victories from its junior class of Lauren Kalvaria (Indialantic, FL/Boca Raton Prep), Lastra and Tokuda.
The 17th-ranked Lastra put the first singles point on the board with a 6-2, 6-2 win over the 71st-ranked Haus at No. 3. Lastra has now won 20 consecutive singles matches. The 50th-ranked Tokuda then made it 3-0 by defeating Proctor 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5.
The ninth-ranked Kalvaria clinched the dual by defeating 19th-ranked Janet Bergman 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2. Kalvaria has won 21 straight matches, and is 23-0 in duals this season.
"It felt good to get the win and move on," Forood said. "We were pretty sharp and I'm happy with our performance. With the humidity and heat, it's good to get it over."
#1 Stanford 4, #17 Wake Forest 0
Singles
#1 - #1 Laura Granville (S) v. #4 Bea Bielik (WF), suspended (6-3, 6-6 Stanford)
#2 - #9 Lauren Kalvaria (S) d. #19 Janet Bergman, 6-1, 6-3* (clinched match)
#3 - #17 Gabriela Lastra (S) d. #71 Maren Haus, 6-2, 6-2
#4 - Lauren Barnikow (S) v. Jackie Houston (WF), suspended (6-2 S, 6-1 WF)
#5 - #50 Keiko Tokuda (S) d. Elizabeth Proctor, 6-4, 6-0
#6 - Emilia Anderson (S) v. Aimee Smith (WF), suspended (6-4, 6-6 Wake Forest)
Doubles (Stanford wins point)
#1 - #1 Lauren Barnikow/Lauren Kalvaria (S) v. #8 Bea Bielik/Janet Bergman (WF), suspended (7-5 Stanford)
#2 - #2 Laura Granville/Gabriela Lastra (S) d. Maren Haus/Aimee Smith, 8-6* (clinched doubles point)
#3 - Sarah Pestieau/Keiko Tokuda (S) d. Jackie Houston/Elizabeth Proctor, 8-3
Records - #1 Stanford 27-0, #17 Wake Forest 18-9.