April 10, 2002
BERKELEY, Calif. - Sixth-ranked Stanford improved to 3-0 in the Pacific-10 Conference with a crucial 4-3 road win over 17th-ranked California on Wednesday afternoon at Berkeley's Hellman Tennis Center. The match was a make-up of Tuesday's (April 9) contest that was postponed because of rain.
The Cardinal moved to 17-2 with the win, while the Golden Bears dropped to 14-5 overall and 2-1 in the Pacific-10 Conference. Stanford and California split the 2002 season series, with each team posting a road victory. California has not swept a season series with Stanford since the 1962 campaign.
Stanford won the match by capturing the doubles point and the Nos. 1-3 singles matches.In doubles, the Cardinal picked up wins at Nos. 2 and 3 to take a 1-0 advantage. Fourteenth-ranked Ryan Haviland (Aiken, SC) and K.J. Hippensteel (Roanoke, VA) defeated Ben Miles and Balazs Veress 8-5 at No. 2 and freshmen Phil Sheng (Thousand Oaks, CA) and Sam Warburg (Sacramento, CA) were 8-5 winners over Chase Exon and Conor Niland at No. 3.
Stanford then received straight set singles victories from juniors Scott Lipsky (Merrick, NY) and David Martin (Tulsa, OK). Martin, who is ranked tied for 46th in the country, beat the 83rd-ranked Veress 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 and the 76th-ranked Lipsky topped the unranked Niland 7-6, 7-5 at No. 3.
The Cardinal picked up its fourth and deciding point at No. 1 singles where the fourth-ranked Hippensteel outlasted the 22nd-ranked Fruttero 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. Fruttero led 4-1 in the third set before Hippensteel rallied to win the final five games and the match.
Both schools resume conference play this weekend in Arizona. Stanford visits No. 38 Arizona State (9-8, 1-3) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. in Tempe, while California visits No. 59 Arizona (8-9, 1-3) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. in Tucson.
#6 Stanford 4, #17 California 3
Doubles (Stanford wins point)
No. 1 - #37 John Paul Fruttero/Robert Kowalczyk (C) d. #1 Scott Lipsky/David Martin, 8-3
No. 2 - #14 Ryan Haviland/K.J. Hippensteel (S) d. Ben Miles/Balazs Veress, 8-5
No. 3 - Phil Sheng/Sam Warburg (S) d. Chase Exon/Conor Niland, 8-5
Singles
No. 1 - #4 K.J. Hippensteel (S) d. #22 John Paul Fruttero, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 - #46 (tie) David Martin (S) d. #83 Balazs Veress, 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 - #76 Scott Lipsky d. Conor Niland, 7-6, 7-5
No. 4 - #120 Wayne Wong (C) d. #57 Ryan Haviland 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
No. 5 - Robert Kowalczyk (C) d. Sam Warburg, 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 - Mik Ledvonova (C) d. Phil Sheng, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Records - #6 Stanford 17-2 overall (3-0 Pacific-10 Conference), #17 California 14-5 (2-1).
Player and team rankings are courtesy of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and Omni Hotels.