Feb. 23, 2013
GAINESVILLE, Fla.- No. 13 Stanford opened its challenging road trip with a 5-2 neutral-site victory over No. 18 Clemson on Saturday afternoon.
With Sunday's highly-anticipated matchup against No. 4 Florida on tap, it would have been easy for Stanford to look ahead. Coming off only its third home loss in 14 years, the Cardinal entered Saturday's contest searching for a momentum shift.
The Cardinal (4-1, 0-0 Pac-12) quickly locked up the doubles point, built a 3-0 advantage and ultimately clinched the match on the back courts.
Stanford dominated doubles, surrendering only six games combined while receiving an impressive 8-0 victory from its No. 3 team of Natalie Dillon and Krista Hardebeck.
Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs followed with victories at the Nos. 2 and 1 spots, respectively.
Trailing 3-0, Clemson (3-4, 1-0 ACC) picked up its first point when Beatrice Gumulya upended Krista Hardebeck 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 3 position.
Ellen Tsay then provided the clincher, cruising past Ani Miao 6-0, 6-2 on court five.
The stage is now set for Sunday's clash against No. 4 Florida (5-1, 0-0 SEC) at 8 a.m. PT. It's the first time Stanford and Florida, which owns a 111-match home winning streak, have squared off in a regular-season match in Gainesville in 20 years. The Cardinal leads the all-time series 17-12.
Three years ago, Stanford edged Florida in Athens, Ga., to claim its 16th NCAA championship. The powerhouses squared off again in the 2011 NCAA title match, with the Gators claiming the hardware and snapping the Cardinal's NCAA-record 184-match home winning streak.
During last year's first regular-season matchup of the home-and-home series, Stanford knocked off Florida 5-2 at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. However, the Gators blanked UCLA 4-0 to claim its second straight NCAA championship and earn final bragging rights.
Tomorrow's match can be heard live on www.RadioTennis.com.
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No. 13 Stanford 5, No. 18 Clemson 2
DOUBLES
1) Ahn/Gibbs (STAN) d. Dewar/Koroleva (CLEM) 8-4
2) Tan/Tsay (STAN) d. Gumulya/Jeukeng (CLEM) 8-2
3) Dillon/Hardebeck (STAN) d. Kolzer/Miao (CLEM) 8-0
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
1) Nicole Gibbs (STAN) d. No. 26 Yana Koroleva (CLEM) 6-2, 6-2
2) No. 68 Kristie Ahn (STAN) d. Liz Jeukeng (CLEM) 6-0, 6-2
3) No. 67 Beatrice Gumulya (CLEM) d. No. 10 Krista Hardebeck (STAN) 6-3, 6-2
4) No. 98 Stacey Tan (STAN) d. Romy Kolzer (CLEM) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
5) No. 33 Ellen Tsay (STAN) d. Ani Miao (CLEM) 6-0, 6-2
6) Tristen Dewar (CLEM) d. Lindsey Kostas (STAN) 7-5, 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6