May 22, 2006
Results | Notes
Stanford, Calif. - Top-ranked and top-seeded Stanford advanced to the NCAA Championship match with a 4-0 victory over fourth-seeded Florida in the semifinals this afternoon at the Taube Tennis Center. The Cardinal will face seventh-seeded Miami in the title match at noon on Tuesday.
Despite a rain-out yesterday, the Cardinal was ready to go this morning, as Stanford swept through doubles with an 8-2 victory by Lejla Hodzic and Jessica Nguyen on court three and an 8-0 blanking by No. 22 Celia Durkin and Amber Liu on court two.
With a 1-0 lead, Stanford carried the momentum into singles, winning all six first sets. Durkin, ranked No. 34 in the nation, finished first, with a 6-4, 6-0 win on court six, while fifth-ranked Alice Barnes tallied the next point with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over ninth-ranked Diana Srebrovic to give Stanford a 3-0 lead. Whitney Deason scored the clinching point, taking a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Nina Suvak on court five for the win.
The Cardinal will be playing in its 20th NCAA Championship in the 25-year history of the event and will seek its 15th team title. Stanford is 99-11 all-time in post-season action and has won 17 straight (and 34 of 35) NCAA tournament matches. Stanford has won 85-straight matches, dating back to the first match of the 2004 campaign and the Cardinal also owns a 106-match win streak on its home court at the Taube Tennis Center, with the Cardinal's last home loss on Feb. 27, 1999.
Stanford and Miami will face off at noon in the title match on the Taube Stadium Courts. The match will be aired on a tape delayed basis on ESPN next week. Live scoring will be available at GoStanford.com.
Miami advanced to tomorrow's championship match after a rain delay suspended their match against USC for nearly 24-hours. This morning, Miami (24-6) upset third-seeded Southern California (21-4), 4-1, in an NCAA Championship Semifinal. Miami likewise, becomes only the second Atlantic Coast Conference team to reach the NCAA final, joining Duke's 1998 team.
The match, which began at 10:00 a.m. PST Sunday morning after a one-hour rain delay, was halted by rain mid-way through singles play where Miami had won five first sets despite losing the doubles point. After rain washed out the Taube Tennis Center for the remainder of the afternoon and into the evening, the match was postponed for Monday.
Miami will now play Stanford (29-0). Miami has not played Stanford since 1989 when the Cardinal topped the Hurricanes 6-3. Stanford holds a 10-1 lead in the all-time series.
Miami's first and only NCAA Championship final appearance was in 1985 where the Hurricanes fell to USC, 6-3. The Hurricanes are making their 11th-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. In its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance, Miami is 24-20 all-time.