May 18, 2001
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - The top-ranked Stanford University women's tennis team (28-0) moved into the semifinals of the NCAA Team Championships with a 4-0 win over 11th-ranked Arizona State (20-6) on Friday afternoon at the Lincoln Tennis Center. The Cardinal has not dropped a point in its four tournament victories.
"This was an extremely close contest from the start despite our margin of victory," Stanford head coach Lele Forood said. "I am very pleased that we won the doubles point. I think getting that initial point set the stage for our singles performance later in the match. Overall I think we played really well and I'm relieved to be moving on to the next round."
In that next round, Stanford will face fifth-ranked Florida (24-2) in the national semifinals on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (ET). Florida defeated 14th-ranked Washington (21-8) 4-0 on Friday. The other semifinal match features fourth-ranked Georgia (23-4) and sixth-ranked Vanderbilt (25-4). The winners of Saturday's matches will meet for the NCAA Championship on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (ET).
"We haven't faced Florida so I don't know much about them," Forood said. "We're just going to prepare like we always do and come out ready to compete."
Stanford posted its third win in as many tries against the Sun Devils with three straight set singles victories and a convincing doubles point victory.
The Cardinal lost just five points in the two doubles matches, and clinched the point when top-ranked Lauren Barnikow (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge HS) and Lauren Kalvaria (Indialantic, FL/Boca Raton Prep) handled 12th-ranked Mhairi Brown and Celena McCoury 8-1 at No. 1. Barnikow and Kalvaria are now 35-4 on the season. Stanford also received a victory at No. 2 as second-ranked Laura Granville (Chicago, IL/The Latin School) and Gabriela Lastra (Reno, NV/Reno HS) knocked off 38th-ranked Cindy Sureephong and Megan Yeats 8-4.
Stanford then swept through singles competition, as 50th-ranked Keiko Tokuda (Clifton, NJ/Clifton HS) clinched the Cardinal's 28th dual victory without a loss this season by beating Mhairi Brown 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5. The Cardinal also received singles victories from Kalvaria at No. 2 and Barnikow at No. 4. Kalvaria defeated Karin Palme 6-1, 6-2, while Barnikow beat Faye DeVera 6-2, 6-0.
#1 Stanford 4, #11 Arizona State 0
Singles
#1 - #1 Laura Granville (S) v. #6 Adria Engel (ASU), suspended
#2 - #9 Lauren Kalvaria (S) d. Karin Palme, 6-1, 6-2
#3 - #17 Gabriela Lastra (S) v. #89 Megan Yeats (ASU), suspended
#4 - Lauren Barnikow (S) d. Faye DeVera, 6-2, 6-0
#5 - #50 Keiko Tokuda (S) d. Mhairi Brown, 7-5, 6-2* (clinched match)
#6 - Emilia Anderson (S) v. Cindy Sureephong (ASU), suspended
Doubles (Stanford wins point)#1 - #1 Lauren Barnikow/Lauren Kalvaria (S) d. #12 Mhairi Brown/Celena McCoury, 8-1* (clinched doubles point)
#2 - #2 Laura Granville/Gabriela Lastra (S) d. #38 Cindy Sureephong/Megan Yeats, 8-4
#3 - Sarah Pestieau/Keiko Tokuda (S) v. Faye DeVera/Adria Engel, suspended
Records - #1 Stanford 28-0, #11 Arizona State 20-6.