April 20, 2012
BERKELEY, Calif.- No. 12 Stanford closed out the regular season with a 5-2 victory over No. 14 California in Berkeley on Friday afternoon, completing a season sweep of the Golden Bears.
Stanford (16-7, 5-2 Pac-12), which defeated Cal 6-1 at Taube Family Tennis Stadium back on Feb. 25, has now won five in a row in the series.
California dropped to 11-10 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
Despite losing the doubles point and later trailing 2-1, Stanford was able to comfortably pull out the match.
Trailing 1-0, Bradley Klahn defeated Nick Andrews 6-3, 6-4 in a battle of top-50 players at the No. 1 spot.
However, Cal's Riki McLachlan put the Golden Bears back in front at 2-1 following a 6-1, 6-2 win over Denis Lin on court six.
Stanford responded by winning the next four matches to secure the contest. Matt Kandath (6-2, 6-4 at No. 3) and John Morrissey (6-4, 6-3 at No. 4) tallied victories at the middle of the lineup before Ryan Thacher outlasted Ben McLachlan 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 2 position for the clincher.
Stanford's second three-set victory- a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (4) triumph from Daniel Ho on court five- rounded out the scoring.
Next up for Stanford is the Pac-12 Championships, which get underway Wednesday, April 25, in Ojai, Calif. As the conference's third-place team, the Cardinal will be seeded No. 3 and receive a first-round bye in next week's tournament. Stanford will face the winner of a match between the No. 6 and 7 seeded teams on Thursday, April 26. Final seedings will be determined over the weekend.
No. 12 Stanford 5, No. 14 California 2
DOUBLES
1) No. 5 Andrews/Konigsfeldt (CAL) d. Lin/Thacher (STAN) 8-4
2) Klahn/Morrissey (STAN) d. No. 47 Cueto/B. McLachlan (CAL) 8-5
3) Bayane/Scholnick (CAL) d. Kandath/Stineman (STAN); 8-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
1) No. 45 Bradley Klahn (STAN) d. No. 48 Nick Andrews (CAL) 6-3, 6-4
2) No. 31 Ryan Thacher (STAN) d. No. 41 Ben McLachlan (CAL) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
3) Matt Kandath (STAN) d. No. 58 Carlos Cueto (CAL) 6-2, 6-4
4) John Morrissey (STAN) d. Christoffer Konigsfeldt (CAL) 6-4, 6-3
5) Daniel Ho (STAN) d. Gregory Bayane (CAL) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4)
6) Riki McLachlan (CAL) d. Denis Lin (STAN) 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 6, 3, 4, 2, 5