April 7, 2012
STANFORD- No. 11 Stanford notched its second straight shutout on Saturday afternoon, blanking No. 22 Washington 7-0 at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Remaining unbeaten in conference play, the Cardinal (14-5, 4-0 Pac-12) has now equaled its season-high winning streak at four consecutive matches.
Washington (12-7, 0-4 Pac-12) has dropped four in a row and five of its last six overall.
The Cardinal was especially strong in the lower half of the singles lineup, registering wins at the Nos. 3-6 spots before Ryan Thacher and Bradley Klahn closed out their matches on the stadium courts.
Saturday's victory was made even more memorable with a Senior Day ceremony honoring Klahn and Thacher following the doubles competition. During their time on The Farm, Klahn and Thacher have won eight doubles titles since pairing up as freshmen while also directing the Cardinal to a share of the 2010 Pac-10 championship and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a quarterfinal finish last year.
Stanford grabbed a 1-0 lead after winning a hard-fought doubles point. With matches on the first two courts already split, the point was to be decided on court three. The freshman duo of John Morrissey and Robert Stineman hung on for a 9-8 (5) victory over Washington's team of Jeff Hawke and Max Manthou, winning six of the tiebreaker's first eight points.
Matt Kandath started the scoring with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Marton Bots at the No. 3 position, handing Stanford a 2-0 advantage.
The lower half of the lineup then secured the match. John Morrissey prevailed 6-4, 6-1 on court four, Daniel Ho added the clincher with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph on court six and Robert Stineman added to the lead with a 6-2, 6-4 victory at the No. 5 spot.
After Thacher edged Emmett Egger 6-4, 7-5 on court two, Klahn outlasted Kyle McMorrow 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in a battle of ranked players at the top spot.
Stanford hits the road next weekend for a pivotal conference road trip, facing UCLA (April 13 at 1:30 p.m.) and USC (April 14 at 1 p.m.). The Bruins are currently ranked No. 5 while the Trojans are No. 1.
No. 11 Stanford 7, No. 22 Washington 0
U>DOUBLES
1) No. 9 Klahn/Thacher (STAN) d. Egger/McMorrow (WASH) 8-2
2) Bots/Stith (WASH) d. Kandath/Denis Lin (STAN) 8-5
3) No. 53 Morrissey/Stineman (STAN) d. Hawke/Manthou (WASH) 9-8 (5)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
1) No. 84 Bradley Klahn (STAN) d. No. 14 Kyle McMorrow (WASH) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
2) No. 25 Ryan Thacher (STAN) d. Emmett Egger (WASH) 6-4, 7-5
3) Matt Kandath (STAN) d. Marton Bots (WASH) 6-3, 6-2
4) John Morrissey (STAN) d. Max Manthou (WASH) 6-4, 6-1
5) Robert Stineman (STAN) d. Viktor Farkas (WASH) 6-2, 6-4
6) Daniel Ho (STAN) d. Nicholas Kamisar (WASH) 6-2, 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 4, 6, 5, 2, 1