May 7, 2013
Tournament Central
No. 12 Stanford Cardinal (16-4, 8-2 Pac-12)
- vs. -
Miami (OH) RedHawks (13-12, 7-1 MAC)
NCAA Women's Tennis Championships - First Round
Friday, May 10 - 2 p.m.
Taube Family Tennis Stadium - Stanford, CA
Weather Forecast: 72 degrees, mostly sunny with broken clouds
STANFORD, Calif.- Stanford (16-4, 8-2 Pac-12) will be making its 32nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance when first round competition gets underway this weekend.
Ranked No. 12 in the latest national poll and seeded No. 12 overall in the postseason draw, the Cardinal owns a 123-16 record since the NCAA Tournament went to its present format in 1982. During that time, Stanford has won 16 NCAA team titles, most recently capturing the 2010 crown with a 4-3 victory over Florida in Athens, Ga.
Stanford hosts Miami (OH) on Friday at 2 p.m., following the first match of the day between No. 22 Rice or No. 53 Pepperdine at 11 a.m. The winners hook up on Saturday at 1 p.m. with a berth in the round of 16 on the line.
With that said, here are five storylines heading into this weekend's competition:
| Embracing The Underdog Role Again? Three years ago, Stanford won it all despite being seeded No. 8 in the NCAA draw and finding itself four years removed from a dominant three-peat title run that spanned 2004-06. The "under-the-radar" approach in 2010 greatly benefited Stanford, which knocked off three higher-seeded opponents along the way. This year's team checks in at No. 12, representing its lowest seed since being tabbed No. 13 in 2009. Stanford has been curiously ranked just outside the top-10 since peaking at No. 5 during the season's opening week. Not even a seven-match winning streak in March that included victories over California, Texas and UCLA was enough to push Stanford into the top-10. That being said, it would be foolish to dismiss an experienced, tradition-rich program like Stanford from national title contention. |
| Quick Glance At The Visitors So, what do we know about the three other programs visiting The Farm this weekend? Miami (OH) is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance, joining back-to-back efforts in 2009 and 2010. The senior-less RedHawks (13-12, 7-1 MAC) are led by junior Nimisha Mohan (team-best 23 wins). Rice (20-4, 2-1 Conference USA) looks like an intriguing team. Winners of 15 in a row, the Owls return all but one player from last year's club that made surprise run to the round of 16. Natalie Beazant and Dominique Harmath are top-60 players who form a solid 1-2. Pepperdine's story might be the best yet. After starting the year 0-9, the Waves stormed (too easy...) back to finish 12-11 and capture their 23rd all-time WCC championship. Not to mention, Pepperdine gave Stanford a fight back in February, falling 5-2 in Malibu. |
| Firepower At The Top Spot Entering the 2012 postseason, Nicole Gibbs was 31-5 overall, 21-2 in duals and riding a seven-match winning streak that included the Pac-12 championship. She piled up 10 more victories after that, including six in a row down the stretch to capture the NCAA singles title. Gibbs opens this year's NCAA Tournament at 13-4 overall, with all but one of those matches coming during dual match play after missing pretty much the entire fall season. Has it been a challenging, and at times, admittedly frustrating season for Gibbs? Yes. Is there anyone who really wants to face her in the postseason? Probably not. Gibbs is more than capable of locking it in for a two-week stretch and a defense of her NCAA crown would come as a surprise to nobody. If she starts building that momentum during the team portion, the Cardinal becomes even scarier. |
| Hardebeck Makes Postseason Debut It's the postseason debut for freshman Krista Hardebeck, who is wrapping up what has been an impressive first season at the college level. Hardebeck owns a team-best 32-10 overall record and is 14-6 in duals, primarily holding down the No. 3 spot. One of the top rookies in the country, Hardebeck gives the Cardinal a formidable 1-2-3 punch at the top of the lineup along with All-Americans Gibbs and Kristie Ahn. Hardebeck followed an impressive quarterfinal run at the ITA All-American Championships with her first collegiate title by winning the ITA Northwest Regional Championships two weeks later. She's coming off a runner-up effort at the Pac-12 Championships, but what better way to get erase that memory by getting hot again following the two-week break leading into NCAA's? Expect Hardebeck to be a threat. |
| Tan, Tsay Experienced In Doubles Stanford has excelled in doubles all season long, having dropped the doubles point only twice in 20 contests. The Cardinal boasts three strong teams capable of getting the job done both quickly and convincingly. We'll focus on Stacey Tan and Ellen Tsay, who in their second year of playing together represent Stanford's longest-running duo. And they've been terrific. Entering this weekend, Tan and Tsay have combined for a 50-10 overall record and 36-3 dual match mark over the last two seasons. The experienced tandem has earned a second straight invitation to the NCAA doubles competition. Tan and Tsay have pocketed three doubles titles since pairing up, nearly missing a fourth after reaching the semifinals of the Pac-12 Championships two weeks ago. The duo has also risen in the rankings (finally), climbing to No. 28. |