May 11, 2007
STANFORD, Calif.- No. 1 Stanford began its quest for a fourth consecutive national championship with a 4-1 victory over No. 58 Sacramento State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
The Cardinal (21-1, 8-0 Pac-10) has now won 18 in a row overall since a 4-3 loss to then-No. 6 Georgia Tech back on Feb. 3 snapped an NCAA record 89-match winning streak.
Stanford's next test will take place on Saturday at noon, as the Cardinal squares off against No. 28 BYU in a second round match that will earn the winner a berth into next weekend's NCAA Round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
On Friday afternoon, Stanford looked sharp in singles and doubles even with a shuffled lineup. With Celia Durkin unavailable due to illness, Lejla Hodzic paired up with Jessica Nguyen at No. 2 doubles while Megan Doheny played in just her third career dual match at No. 6 singles.
The result turned out to be the same: a convincing Cardinal victory in the postseason. Stanford extended its NCAA winning streak to 19 matches, dating back to its last loss against Florida in the 2003 national championship.
Not to mention the dominating home court advantage. In addition to a 95-match regular season home winning streak, Stanford has won 25 consecutive NCAA Tournament matches played at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. That means the Cardinal has not been defeated on its home court in the last 120 contests since suffering a 5-4 upset to California back on Feb. 27, 1999.
Stanford captured the doubles point with victories at Nos. 1 and 2. After the top duo of Lindsay Burdette and Anne Yelsey posted its team-best 19th victory, the No. 2 team of Hodzic and Jessica Nguyen cruised to an 8-2 triumph.
Anne Yelsey's overwhelming 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles increased Stanford's lead to 2-0. But Sacramento State got on the board with a similar win at No. 6 singles as Cecilia Helland downed Stanford's Megan Doheny, playing in just her third career dual match.
Leading 2-1, Nguyen and Burdette followed with wins at Nos. 4 and 5 to ice the match. Nguyen, who had played only three singles matches since Mar. 2, picked up her first dual match win since Feb. 24 with a 6-1, 6-0 trouncing of Luba Schifris. That's an encouraging sign for the Cardinal, which has been hampered by injuries throughout the year.
Burdette followed with a 6-0, 6-2 clincher at No. 5, registering her 27th win of the year to represent a team best.
No. 1 Stanford 4, No. 58 Sacramento State 1
DOUBLES
(1) No. 21 Burdette/Yelsey (STAN) d. Zheltova/Schifris (SAC) 8-4
* (2) Hodzic/Nguyen (STAN) d. Martinez Gutierrez/Jarlkaganova (SAC) 8-2
(3) Tsan/Lyssenko (SAC) led Deason/Logar (STAN) 5-4, aban.
Order of Finish: 1, 2
* denotes clinched doubles point
SINGLES
(1) No. 8 Theresa Logar (STAN) led No. 111 Katrina Zheltova (SAC) 7-5, 2-3, aban.
(2) No. 17 Anne Yelsey (STAN) d. Anastassia Lyssenko (SAC) 6-1, 6-0
(3) No. 96 Whitney Deason (STAN) led Aileen Tsan (SAC) 6-1, 5-3, aban.
(4) No. 20 Jessica Nguyen (STAN) d. Luba Schifris (SAC) 6-1, 6-0
* (5) No. 41 Lindsay Burdette (STAN) d. Joyce Martinez Gutierrez (SAC) 6-0, 6-2
(6) Cecilia Helland (SAC) d. Megan Doheny (STAN) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 2, 6, 4, 5
* denotes clinched match