Feb. 21, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- Stacey Tan's three-set victory powered No. 1 Stanford to a 4-2 win over No. 2 Florida on Monday morning in the championship match of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Stanford (9-0, 0-0 Pac-10) captured its first indoor tournament title since 2006, when the Cardinal blanked Texas 4-0 in Madison, Wis.
Stanford and Florida were facing off for the first time since last year's NCAA Championship match, which the Cardinal won 4-3 in Athens, Ga.
The Cardinal was unstoppable throughout its tournament run over the weekend, receiving contributions at essentially every position of its loaded singles and doubles lineups. Only Florida and No. 8 Michigan (4-1) managed to come away with points in their match, as No. 19 Arkansas and No. 4 North Carolina were both defeated 4-0.
The elite competition Stanford faced at this weekend's indoor event should serve as valuable preparation for another challenging Pac-10 season, which gets underway this Friday at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
In a reversal of last year's NCAA title match, Stanford won the doubles point on Monday and started out with a 1-0 lead. After the first two matches split, the No. 3 pairing of Carolyn McVeigh and Stacey Tan grinded out an 8-6 win over Alex Cercone and Olivia Janowicz to claim the point.
Florida (10-1, 0-0 SEC) bounced back quickly in singles play, collecting a pair of straight-set victories on courts two and six to grab a 2-1 lead.
Lauren Embree booked a 6-4, 6-4 victory at the No. 2 spot over Mallory Burdette, last year's NCAA Tournament MVP after she provided the clincher in Stanford's victory over Florida in the final.
The Gators earned their second point when Olivia Janowicz put away McVeigh 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 6 spot.
Meanwhile, Stanford freshmen Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs have proven to be consistent winners early on this year despite alternating at the middle spots of the lineup. The rookies were impressive once again on Monday, with both players winning in succession as the Cardinal retook control of the match at 3-2.
Ahn breezed past Sofie Oyen 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot before Gibbs bested Joanna Mather 7-6 (2), 6-3 at the No. 4 position.
That left two matches remaining on court. Second-ranked Hilary Barte was battling seventh-ranked Allie Will at No. 1, and Tan was squaring off against Cercone at No. 5. The first two sets were split in both contests.
Barte held leads of 5-4 and 6-5 against Will, but was unable to close out. Meanwhile, Tan was up 5-4 in her match and with Barte racing out to a 5-2 lead in her tiebreaker against Will, things were looking good for Stanford.
Tan then closed out the third set at 6-4, securing the match and tournament title.
Stanford is back in action on Friday, Feb. 25, against Oregon at 1:30 p.m.
No. 1 Stanford 4, No. 2 Florida 2
DOUBLES
1)No. 3 Barte/Burdette (STAN) d. No. 1 Will/Oyen (FLA) 8-5
2)No. 30 Embree/Mather (FLA) d. Ahn/Gibbs (STAN) 8-2
3)McVeigh/Tan (STAN) d. Cercone/Janowicz (FLA) 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
1)No. 2 Hilary Barte (STAN) vs. No. 7 Allie Will (FLA) aban.
2)No. 36 Lauren Embree (FLA) d. No. 22 Mallory Burdette (STAN) 6-4, 6-4
3)No. 20 Kristie Ahn (STAN) d. Sofie Oyen (FLA) 6-4, 6-2
4)No. 21 Nicole Gibbs (STAN) d. No. 19 Joanna Mather (FLA) 7-6 (2), 6-3
5)No. 87 Stacey Tan (STAN) d. No. 40 Alex Cercone (FLA) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
6)No. 31 Olivia Janowicz (FLA) d. Carolyn McVeigh (STAN) 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 2, 6, 3, 4, 5