May 22, 2004
TULSA, Okla. - The No. 9 ranked Stanford University men's tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championship with a hard-fought, 4-3 win over the No. 7 ranked Florida Gators, Saturday afternoon at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at the University of Tulsa. The Cardinal improve to 19-7 and will face a Pac-10 rival USC in the quarterfinals on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. (CST). Florida ends its season with an 18-8 overall record.
The Cardinal started the match by capturing the doubles point. The team of sophomore James Pade and freshman James Wan edged out the Gaters' duo of Stef Tell and Marty Stiegwardt, 9-7 at the No. 3 doubles position.
Up 1-0 heading into singles competition, the teams split the singles matches to secure the 4-3 win for the Cardinal.
Florida quickly evened things up at 1-1 as the Gators' Obradovic defeated Wan, 6-0, 6-1, dropping Wan to 27-5 overall.
The Cardinal bounced back as junior Sam Warburg, the 2004 Pac-10 Player of the Year, posted a straight sets, 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 12 ranked Ham Mirzadeh at the No. 1 singles spot. Warburg, ranked No. 8 in the latest ITA poll, improved his overall record to 31-7 and improved his record versus ranked opponents to 22-3.
The Gators wouldn't go away, tying the score at 2-2 when Holmia rallied for a, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, three-set win over Corkery at the No. 2 singles spot.
Pade, who clinched the win in Stanford's second round victory over Washington, gave Stanford a slim 3-2 lead with a, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, over Jordan Dolberg at the No. 4 singles spot.
Florida evened up the match at 3-3 as the Gators' Chris Brandi collected a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6, win over Sheng at the No. 5 singles spot.
The match came down to the No. 6 singles contest, which saw senior captain Carter Morris square-off versus Ryan Sherry. Morris showed why he is the team captain by rallying for a 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, three-set win over Sherry, giving the Cardinal the win.
Match Results
Stanford - 4
Florida - 3
Doubles (Stanford Wins Point)
1. Carter Morris/Sam Warburg (S) vs. Ham Mirzadeh/Chris Brandi (F) - DNF
2. KC Corkery/Phil Sheng (S) def. Vlad Obradovic/Janne Holmia (F) - 8-5
3. James Pade/James Wan (S) def. Stef Tell/Marty Stiegwardt (F) - 9-7
Singles
1. Sam Warburg (S) def. Ham Mirzadeh (F), 6-4, 6-2
2. Janne Holmia (F) def. KC Corkery (S), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Vlad Obradovic (F) def. James Wan (S), 6-0, 6-1
4. James Pade (S) def. Vlad Obradovic (F), 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
5. Chris Brandi (F) def. Phil Sheng (S), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6
6. Carter Morris (S) def. Ryan Sherry (F), 6-7, 6-3, 7-6
Order of Finish: #3, #1, #2, #5, #4, #6