March 25, 2011
LOS ANGELES- No. 2 Stanford defeated No. 8 UCLA 6-1 on Friday afternoon, remaining unbeaten on the season while moving one step closer to a sweep of its first road trip.
The Cardinal (16-0, 3-0 Pac-10) posted its second victory of the year over the Bruins (11-5, 1-1 Pac-10), having also notched a 5-2 home win back on Feb. 5. However, Friday's match counted in the Pac-10 standings, as Stanford remains tied atop the league with rival California.
The outcome was much different in Stanford's previous visit to the Los Angeles Tennis Center, with UCLA posting a convincing 6-1 victory in late February of last year.
But that turned out to be Stanford's only defeat in 2010, with the Cardinal winning its next 19 matches en route to capturing the NCAA championship. Throw in this year's 16-game unbeaten streak to open the season, and Stanford has now won 35 consecutive contests since last year's loss to UCLA.
During Friday's match, the tone was set in doubles. Stanford picked up wins on all three courts, highlighted by a 9-7 victory at the No. 1 spot, followed up with a 9-8 (5) triumph at the No. 2 position.
Three straight victories in singles clinched the match for Stanford. Stacey Tan and Kristie Ahn followed with the Cardinal's only straight-set victories to make it 3-0.
The clincher was provided by Nicole Gibbs, who shook off a 6-2 first-set loss to Andrea Remynse and rallied back to take the next sets 6-1 and 6-3.
Hilary Barte and Mallory Burdette also earned wins at the top two spots of the lineup before Maya Johansson accounted for UCLA's only point with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 win on court six.
Stanford can complete a three-game road sweep with a victory on Saturday against No. 13 USC. Match time is set for 12 p.m.
No. 2 Stanford 6, No. 8 UCLA 1
DOUBLES
1) No. 2 Barte/Burdette (STAN) d. No. 17 Dolehide/Remynse (UCLA) 9-7
2) Ahn/Gibbs (STAN) d. No. 16 Hickey/Jones (UCLA) 9-8
3) Carolyn McVeigh/Tan (STAN) d. Johansson/Montez (UCLA) 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 2 Hilary Barte (STAN) d. No. 53 McCall Jones (UCLA) 7-6, 3-6, 6-1
2) No. 29 Mallory Burdette (STAN) d. No. 40 Noelle Hickey (UCLA) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6
3) No. 11 Nicole Gibbs (STAN) d. No. 59 Andrea Remynse (UCLA) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
4) No. 21 Kristie Ahn (STAN) d. No. 92 Pamela Montez (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4
5) No. 51 Stacey Tan (STAN) d. No. 102 Courtney Dolehide (UCLA) 6-3, 6-1
6) Maya Johansson (UCLA) d. Veronica Li (STAN) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 3, 1, 2, 6