May 29, 2011
STANFORD, Calif.- Stanford will be represented in both tournament finals tomorrow at the 2011 NCAA Tennis Championships, with a shot at the school's first singles crown since 2004 and a possible repeat in doubles on the line.
Sophomore Stacey Tan finds herself playing for the national championship, advancing to Monday's title match after Florida's Lauren Embree retired at the start of the third set during Sunday's semifinal. Embree had taken the first set 7-5 before Tan bounced back with a 6-3 victory in the second frame.
Ranked No. 43 nationally, Tan played 17 of her 23 dual matches this year at the No. 5 spot in the singles lineup for Stanford. That's not to say the Lakewood, Calif., native has been completely off the radar. Riding an eight-match winning streak heading into Monday's final, Tan is now 32-9 overall, 13-2 against nationally-ranked opponents and 11-2 in three-set matches.
Sunday's match was the second of the tournament in which Tan's opponent retired, as she won her first round contest against Clemson's Josipa Bek following a retirement in the third game of the first set. Otherwise, Tan has booked a straight-set win over No. 21 Aeriel Ellis of Texas, and two three-set triumphs after losing the first set both times.
The possibility of an all-Stanford final was eliminated when California's Jana Juricova squeaked past freshman Nicole Gibbs 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (2) in Sunday's other semifinal.
Attempting to upset her third top-10 opponent in as many days, Gibbs nearly pulled off the shocker before the No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Juricova pulled out a third-set tiebreaker thanks to some clutch serving down the stretch.
The 18th-ranked Gibbs concluded her season with a team-leading 46-6 overall record while posting a 21-4 mark against nationally-ranked foes. Unbeaten in 27 dual matches during her rookie year, Gibbs played the bulk of her matches at the Nos. 3 and 4 spots- a perfect example of Stanford's superior depth in its singles lineup.
Gibbs was attempting to become the first Stanford freshman to appear in an NCAA singles final since Amber Liu won the first of her back-to-back titles in 2003.
Tan and Juricova will match up at 12 p.m. on court one.
On the doubles side, the third-ranked tandem of senior Hilary Barte and sophomore Mallory Burdette punched their ticket to Monday's title match with a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over California's No. 1-ranked and top-seeded tandem of Juricova and Mari Andersson.
The familiar Pac-10 foes were meeting for the fourth time this year, and now Barte and Burdette have won three of those contests.
Barte and Burdette improved their record to 29-6 overall and won their 14th consecutive match dating back to March 26.
Monday's doubles final (not to be played before 1 p.m.) will pit Barte and Burdette against Clemson's Josipa Bek and Keri Wong, the country's No. 6-ranked duo. It's a rematch of this year's title bout at the ITA All-American Championships in October, when Barte and Burdette collected a 6-3, 6-3 win.
A four-time All-American in both singles and doubles, Barte is gunning for her second straight NCAA doubles title, claiming last year's trophy with Mallory's sister, Lindsay.
First Round: No. 3 Hilary Barte d. No. 40 Natalie Pluskota (Tennessee) 6-1, 6-1
First Round: No. 18 Nicole Gibbs d. No. 92 Anastasia Putilina (Utah) 6-1, 6-1
First Round: No. 43 Stacey Tan d. No. 11 Josipa Bek (Clemson) 2-0, ret.
First Round: No. 13 Zoe De Bruycker (North Carolina) d. No. 22 Mallory Burdette 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3
Second Round: No. 3 Hilary Barte d. No. 19 Kelcy McKenna (Arizona State) 6-1, 6-3
Second Round: No. 18 Nicole Gibbs d. No. 24 Danielle Lao (USC) 6-2, 6-1
Second Round: No. 43 Stacey Tan d. No. 28 Sanaa Bhambri (NC State) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
Round of 16: No. 3 Hilary Barte d. No. 10 Maria Mosolova (Northwestern) 6-3, 6-2
Round of 16: No. 18 Nicole Gibbs d. No. 7 Allie Will (Florida) 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3)
Round of 16: No. 43 Stacey Tan d. No. 21 Aeriel Ellis (Texas) 6-4, 7-6 (6)
Quarterfinals: No. 18 Nicole Gibbs d. No. 3 Hilary Barte 6-4, 6-1
Quarterfinals: No. 43 Stacey Tan d. No. 49 Nina Secerbegovic (Baylor) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
Semifinals: No. 1 Jana Juricova (California) d. No. 18 Nicole Gibbs 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (2)
Semifinals: No. 43 Stacey Tan d. No. 17 Lauren Embree (Florida) 5-7, 6-3, ret.
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First Round: No. 3 Hilary Barte/Mallory Burdette d. No. 22 Michaela Kissell/Dominica Zaprazna (Marshall) 6-3, 6-0
Round of 16: No. 3 Hilary Barte/Mallory Burdette d. No. 25 Micaela Hein/Kelcy McKenna (Arizona State) 7-5, 6-2
Quarterfinals: No. 3 Hilary Barte/Mallory Burdette d. No. 9 Kate Fuller/Chelsey Gullickson (Georgia) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Semifinals: No. 3 Hilary Barte/Mallory Burdette d. No. 1 Mari Andersson/Jana Juricova (California) 6-1, 6-4