April 22, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - Top-ranked Stanford (24-0, 8-0 Pac-10) closed out the regular season with a 7-0 win over sixth-ranked California (16-7, 6-2, Pac-10) this afternoon at the Taube Tennis Center, securing sole possession of the Cardinal's 19th Pac-10 Championship.
Prior to the match, Stanford coaches Lele Forood and Frankie Brennan honored the Cardinal's four seniors (Alice Barnes, Jessica Leck, Joanna Kao and Amber Liu) for their accomplishments. Stanford's four seniors have combined for more than 250 singles wins and more than 225 doubles victories. They have helped Stanford to a 105-2 record in the last four years and have helped the Cardinal break its own NCAA record with 80-consecutive victories, dating back to 2004. This quartet has only suffered two losses during their time on The Farm and has never lost a team match at the Taube Tennis Center, having won 96 consecutive matches on their home court.
In their final regular season match, they helped the Cardinal claim the Pac-10 title outright, after they captured at least a share of the conference crown for the 19th consecutive time last weekend with a sweep of the Arizona schools.
In doubles, the top-ranked duo in the nation of Barnes and junior Anne Yelsey came out strong, knocking off 13th-ranked Suzi Babos and Zsuzsanna Fodor, 8-2. Sophomore Lejla Hodzic and freshmen Jessica Nguyen sealed the doubles point for the Cardinal with an 8-2 victory on court three, while the 27th-ranked pair of Celia Durkin and Liu tabbed an 8-4 victory to complete the sweep.
Seventh-ranked Barnes got the Cardinal going in singles, tallying a quick 6-2, 6-1 victory over 26th-ranked Babos before Durkin added a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Bojana Bobusic. On court one, 17th-ranked Liu scored a 6-2, 6-0 upset win over eighth-ranked Fodor to clinch the Stanford victory.
Sixth-ranked Theresa Logar quickly added a 6-3, 6-0 win over No. 118 Marion Ravelojaona to extend the Cardinal lead to 5-0. On the back courts, 12th-ranked Yelsey and 48th-ranked Whitney Deason had both scored first set victories, but were knotted up in the second set. Yelsey, tied at 5-5 with No. 88 Stephanie Kusano pulled out the 7-5 second-set win to leave just Deason on court five.
No. 85 Cristina Visico took the second set from Deason, 6-4, forcing a tiebreaker third set. With her teammates on the next court cheering her on, Deason secured the 10-7 victory to capture the win and complete Stanford's 16th shutout of the season.
No. 1 Stanford 7, No. 6 California 0
Doubles
1. #1 Alice Barnes/Anne Yelsey (S) def. #13 Suzi Babos/Zsuzsanna Fodor (C), 8-2
2. #27 Celia Durkin/Amber Liu (S) def. Bojana Bobusic/Stephanie Kusano (C), 8-4
3. Lejla Hodzic/Jessica Nguyen (S) def. Claire Ilcinkas/Marion Ravelojaona (C), 8-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. #17 Amber Liu (S) def. #8 Zsuzsanna Fodor (C), 6-2, 6-0
2. #7 Alice Barnes (S) def. #26 Suzi Babos (C), 6-2, 6-1
3. #6 Theresa Logar (S) def. #118 Marion Ravelojaona (C), 6-3, 6-0
4. #12 Anne Yelsey (S) def. #88 Stephanie Kusano (C), 6-1, 7-5
5. #48 Whitney Deason (S) def. #85 Cristina Visico (C), 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
6. #37 Celia Durkin (S) def. Bojana Bobusic (C), 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 2, 6, 1, 3, 4, 5