May 16, 2002
STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's tennis team advanced to quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championship for the 21st consecutive year with a 5-1 victory over Kentucky on Thursday morning at the Taube Tennis Center. The Cardinal improved to 24-1 on the season, while the Wildcats concluded their campaign at 18-9.
The third-seeded Cardinal will face sixth-seeded North Carolina (25-4) in the quarterfinals on Friday at 11:00 a.m. at the Taube Tennis Center. North Carolina advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in school history with a 4-1 win over 11th-seeded Arizona State (15-8) on Thursday morning.
"We started very strong in singles," Stanford head coach Lele Forood said. "We jumped ahead in every match, and that was the important thing after dropping the doubles point. We played our game today, and are pleased with the result. North Carolina will bea good challenge for us."
Kentucky jumped on top of the Cardinal early by winning two of the three doubles matches to take a 1-0 advantage. The Wildcats' No. 3 tandem of junior Jill Buckley (Oak Ridge, TN) and junior Amy Trefethen (Sarasota, FL) clinched the point with an 8-4 victory.
Stanford turned the tide quickly, however, by jumping out to a quick start in singles. The Cardinal won the first set in all six matches, losing a combined total of just seven games in the process.
The Cardinal then maintained the momentum, and won five matches in straight sets to clinch its 20th straight victory. Stanford quickly jumped out to a 3-1 lead thanks to victories from freshman Erin Burdette (Jackson, GA) at No. 4, senior Gabriela Lastra (Reno, NV) at No. 2 and senior Lauren Kalvaria (Indialantic, FL) at No. 1.
Stanford then clinched the match on simultaneous victories at Nos. 5 and 6 singles. Sophomore Emilia Anderson (Cincinnati, OH) and senior Keiko Tokuda (Clifton, NJ) closed out the opposition at the same time to give Stanford its fourth and fifth points.
"Congratulations to Stanford --- they are a very, very strong team," Kentucky head coach Mark Guilbeau said. "For us, the process, the desire and the intense belief that we could win today'smatch is the most important step we have taken. I am very happy for our kids --- they have earned a great amount of success and respect."
#2 Stanford 5, #17 Kentucky 1
Doubles (Kentucky wins point)
No. 1 - #8 Carolina Mayorga/Sarah Witten (K) d. #1 Lauren Kalvaria/Gabriela Lastra, 8-3
No. 2 - #14 Lauren Barnikow/Erin Burdette (S) d. Leigh Bradwell/Lauren Rookledge, 8-0
No. 3 - #60 Jill Buckley/Amy Trefethen (K) d. Keiko Tokuda/Story Tweedie-Yates, 8-4
Order of finish: #2, #1, #3
Singles
No. 1 - #4 Lauren Kalvaria (S) d. #44 Carolina Mayorga, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 - #6 Gabriela Lastra (S) d. #60 Sarah Witten, 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 - #16 Lauren Barnikow (S) v. #84 Lauren Rookledge (K), suspended (6-3, 2-3Stanford)
No. 4 - #13 Erin Burdette (S) d. Amy Trefethen, 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 - Keiko Tokuda (S) d. Jill Buckley, 6-0, 6-3
No. 6 - Emilia Anderson (S) d. Leigh Bradwell, 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: #4, #2, #1, #6, #5
Records - #17 Kentucky 18-9, #2 Stanford 24-1.
Individual and team rankings are courtesy of Omni Hotels and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).