April 17, 2012
STANFORD, Calif.- The Stanford tennis teams will be in action this week, representing their final appearances at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium before the postseason gets underway next month.
The men host Pacific on Wednesday, April 18, at 1:30 p.m. in a non-conference match. The Cardinal wraps up the week two days later against No. 14 California in Berkeley at 3 p.m.
The women have just one match left, hosting No. 10 California on Saturday, April 21, at 12 p.m. as part of the Spring Smash, presented by Zoom Marketing. The contest will also include a Senior Day tribute honoring Veronica Li.
The Pac-12 Championships are slated for April 25-29.
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MEN'S TEAM
No. 12 Stanford (14-7, 4-2 Pac-12) must use the season's final week to refocus and build momentum heading into the postseason.
Back-to-back road losses against No. 1 USC and No. 6 UCLA last weekend eliminated Stanford from Pac-12 title contention, however there is still plenty to play for with one week remaining.
After squaring off against Pacific on Wednesday, Stanford still has an opportunity to sweep the season series against California. The Cardinal has won four straight over the Golden Bears dating back to 2010, including a 6-1 victory at Taube Family Tennis Stadium back on Feb. 25.
Stanford and California have emerged as the conference's best teams after the L.A. schools, and the Cardinal can lock up third place and pocket another quality victory over a ranked team in the process with a sweep of the Golden Bears.
This week's top-10 features: No. 1 USC, No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 8 Duke, No. 9 Mississippi State and No. 10 Florida.
Keep an eye on: Robert Stineman (team-best 21-13 overall record, 13-8 in duals), Ryan Thacher (19-11 overall, 10-7 in duals) and John Morrissey (19-10 overall, 15-5 in duals, 10-5 at the No. 4 spot).
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WOMEN'S TEAM
An undefeated season is no longer a possibility. The 157-match regular season home winning streak is also history.
Then again, that may be a good thing.
No longer having to embrace the pressure that comes along with being the nation's last remaining undefeated team, No. 5 Stanford (16-1, 7-1 Pac-12) can now also refocus its efforts and take a "fresh" approach the rest of the year. In fact, several players have recently commented about how playing better as a unit heading into the postseason offers more value than attempting to maintain an undefeated record.
Even with Saturday's 5-2 home loss to top-ranked UCLA, nothing has really changed. The Cardinal remains a top-10 rankings fixture and national championship contender while the regular season Pac-12 title is still up for grabs. Stanford, California, UCLA and USC each have one league loss, so this weekend's matchup against the 10th-ranked Golden Bears is of critical significance within the conference race.
More importantly, the match represents yet another chance for Stanford to improve as a team.
This week's top-10 features: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 USC, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 9 Miami and No. 10 California.
Leading the way are: Mallory Burdette (team-best 30-4 overall record, 16-0 in duals, 16-match winning streak), Nicole Gibbs (24-5 overall, 15-2 at the No. 1 spot) and Ellen Tsay (21-5 overall, 15-2 in duals, 12-1 at No. 4 spot).