David Ryan's win at No. 6 singles clinched the match for Stanford as the Cardinal beat Oregon 5-2 today in Eugene. It was Stanford's third straight win and fourth in its last five outings and it improved the Cardinal's record to 7-11 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10.
The match was certainly in doubt as the Nos. 4-6 singles matches each went into a third set. The Cardinal lead 3-1 after Richard Wire's win at No. 1, but Kevin Kaiser, Jeff Zeller and David Ryan, playing Nos. 4-6, were locked in tight three set matches. Oregon closed the gap to 3-2 when Mike Myrhed beat Zeller 6-4 in the third set and both Kaiser and Ryan went to tie-breakers to decide the match.
Ryan, playing No. 6, won his tie-breaker 7-5 to win the match and give Stanford the win. Ryan beat Francisco Gallardo 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 for the match clincher. Moments later, Kaiser closed out his tie-breaker, 7-3, and Stanford had itself a much needed conference road win.
Matt Bruch, who has played doubles for the past five matches, teamed with Blake Muller to give Stanford a 1-0 lead by recording the clinching match victory in doubles, an 8-5 win over Marcos Verdasco and Francisco Gallardo.
The Cardinal's other win in singles came at No. 3 as Eric McKean beat Ric Mortera in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
Stanford plays at Washington tomorrow in a match that begins at 1:30 pm. Live stats and live video are available at www.gohuskies.com.
Pac-10 Conference: Stanford 5, Oregon 2
April 6, 2007
Student Tennis Center
Eugene, OR
Doubles (Stanford wins doubles point)
1. No. 27 Matt Bruch / Blake Muller (S) d. Marcos Verdasco / Francisco Gallardo (O), 8-5
2. Geoff Embry / Alexander Cornelissen (O) d. Richard Wire / Paul Morrissey (S), 8-6
3. Eric McKean / Kevin Kaiser (S) d. Ric Mortera / Stephen Wiechert (O), 8-4
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. Richard Wire (S) d. Marcos Verdasco (O), 6-4, 6-1
2. Alexander Cornelissen (O) d. Blake Muller (S), 6-2, 6-1
3. Eric McKean (S) d. Ric Mortera (O), 6-3, 6-2
4. Kevin Kaiser (S), d. Geoff Embry (O), 5-7, 6-2, 7-6
5. Mike Myrhed (O) d. Jeff Zeller (S) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
6. David Ryan (S) d. Francisco Gallardo (O), 6-2, 2-6, 7-6
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, 4
Records: Stanford (7-11, 2-1), Oregon (9-10, 0-3)