May 10, 2002
STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford University women's tennis team opened defense of its NCAA Championship with a convincing 4-0 first round victory over visiting Sacramento State on a windy Friday afternoon at the Taube Tennis Center. The Cardinal is now 22-0 all-time in NCAA opening round matches.
The second-ranked and third-seeded Cardinal improved to 22-1 with the victory, and will next face 36th-ranked and No. 33-48 seed Pepperdine (13-13) in NCAA second round action on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Taube Tennis Center. The Waves advanced with a 4-1 victory over 64th-ranked and No. 29-32 seed Long Beach State (21-3) on Friday morning at Stanford. The match will be the second of the season between the clubs, as Stanford posted a 5-2 non-conference victory on Feb. 2 in Malibu. The winner of Saturday's match will be one of 16 schools to advance to the NCAA Women's Tennis Team Championship on May 16-19 at Stanford.
"I thought we played very well today," Stanford head coach Lele Forood said. "I was very impressed with our doubles given our two-and-a-half-week layoff and the windy conditions. Our form was very good today."
Sacramento State, which was making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Women's Tennis Team Championship, ended its season at 20-4. The unranked Hornets were a No. 49-64 seed in the tournmanent.
"Our girls set a goal back in September of winning the Big Sky Conference Championship and going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever," Sacramento State head coach Bill Campbell said. "We accomplished a lot this season with a team dominated by freshmen."
The Cardinal opened the match by breezing through the doubles competition. Stanford lost just one game in two matches, and clinched the point with an 8-0 victory at No. 2 from sophomore Lauren Barnikow (Woodbridge, NJ) and freshman Erin Burdette (Jackson, GA).
Stanford then captured three singles matches in straight sets to clinch its 18th NCAA Championship win in its last 19 tries. Sophomore Emilia Anderson (Cincinnati, OH) prevailed 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 to give the Cardinal a 2-0 lead, and senior Keiko Tokuda (Clifton, NJ) followed with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 5. Senior Gabriela Lastra (Reno, NV) provided the fourth and deciding point with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph at No. 2.
#2 Stanford 4, Sacramento State 0
Doubles (Stanford wins point)
No. 1 - #1 Lauren Kalvaria/Gabriela Lastra (S) d. Gabriella Lundqvist/Marta Gronowicz, 8-1
No. 2 - #14 Lauren Barnikow/Erin Burdette (S) d. Roberta Fessenko/Italina Kirknis, 8-0
No. 3 - Keiko Tokuda/Story Tweedie-Yates (S) v. Petra Abraham/Amanda Sanches, suspended (5-3Stanford)
Order of finish: #1, #2
Singles
No. 1 - #4 Lauren Kalvaria (S) v. Gabriella Lundqvist, suspended (6-2, 2-0 Stanford)
No. 2 - #6 Gabriela Lastra (S) d. Marta Gronowicz, 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 - #16 Lauren Barnikow (S) v. Roberta Fessenko, suspended (5-4 Stanford)
No. 4 - #13 Erin Burdette (S) v. Italina Kirknis, suspended (6-0, 5-1 Stanford)
No. 5 - Keiko Tokuda (S) d. Amanda Sanches, 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 - Emilia Anderson (S) d. Cristina Rivieccio, 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: #6, #5, #2
Records - #2 Stanford 22-1 overall, Sacramento State 20-4
Player and team rankings are courtesy of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and Omni Hotels.