March 26, 2011
STANFORD, Calif.- No. 8 Stanford cruised past No. 13 UCLA 6-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, snapping a four-match losing streak and rebounding strongly from a loss in yesterday's Pac-10 opener against USC.
The Cardinal (9-5, 1-1 Pac-10) notched its seventh win over a nationally-ranked opponent this year and salvaged a split of its league homestand.
Meanwhile, the Bruins (11-5, 0-2 Pac-10) were swept on their road swing through the Bay Area after dropping a 4-3 decision yesterday to California.
The tone was established in doubles, with Stanford claiming the point thanks to wins at the Nos. 1 and 3 spots.
Alex Clayton tacked on another point for the Cardinal when he overpowered Clay Thompson 6-2, 6-1 on court three to make it 2-0.
UCLA cut the lead to 2-1 following Adrien Puget's 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Denis Lin.
Ryan Thacher gave Stanford some additional breathing room, outlasting Amit Inbar 6-3, 7-6 (2) at the No. 2 position.
Leading 3-1, Stanford was in control of the match with leads on all three remaining courts. Matt Kandath and Bradley Klahn appeared to be the likely candidates to clinch, with both having already recorded first-set victories.
That distinction would ultimately go to Kandath, who won for just the second time in seven tries when he edged Warren Hardie 6-4, 7-5 over on court six. Saturday's victory could prove to be a momentum-building win for Kandath, a fixture in the lower half of Stanford's lineup.
Klahn would eventually go on to win his match over Daniel Kosakowski by a 6-2, 6-3 count.
Greg Hirshman registered a win at the No. 5 spot as well.
Stanford is back in action next weekend, hosting Tulsa (Friday, Apr. 1 - 5 p.m.) before traveling to Arizona (Sunday, Apr. 3 - 12 p.m.).
No. 8 Stanford 6, No. 13 UCLA 1
DOUBLES
1) No. 6 Klahn/Thacher (STAN) d. Brigham/Puget (UCLA) 8-5
2) Inbar/Warren Hardie (UCLA) d. Kandath/Lin (STAN) 9-8
3) No. 79 Clayton/Kelly (STAN) d. Kosakowski/Thompson (UCLA) 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 10 Bradley Klahn (STAN) d. No. 42 Daniel Kosakowski (UCLA) 6-2, 6-3
2) No. 36 Ryan Thacher (STAN) d. No. 61 Amit Inbar (UCLA) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
3) No. 93 Alex Clayton (STAN) d. Clay Thompson (UCLA) 6-2, 6-1
4) Adrien Puget (UCLA) d. Denis Lin (STAN) 6-3, 6-4
5) Greg Hirshman (STAN) d. No. 118 Maxime Tabatruong (UCLA) 6-4, 1-6, 3-0, ret.
6) Matt Kandath (STAN) d. Warren Hardie (UCLA) 6-4, 7-5
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2, 6, 5, 1