May 20, 2013
NCAA Bracket
First Round: Stanford Makes Quick Work of Miami (OH)
Second Round: Stanford Blanks Rice, Moves Into Round of 16
Round of 16: Five Hours Later, Tsay Of Relief Beats USC
Quarterfinals: No Barking Up This Tree: Georgia Stunned
No. 12 Stanford Cardinal (20-4, 8-2 Pac-12)
- vs. -
No. 1 Florida Gators (26-2, 12-1 SEC)
NCAA Women's Tennis Championships - Semifinals
Monday, May 20 - 3 p.m. PT
Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex - Urbana, IL
Weather Forecast: 84 degrees, overcast and humid with scattered thunderstorms
URBANA, Ill.- Back-to-back upset wins over No. 5 USC (4-3) and No. 4 Georgia (4-1) have pushed No. 12 Stanford (20-4, 8-2 Pac-12) through to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships.
The reward? A semifinal contest against two-time defending NCAA champion and No. 1-seeded Florida (26-2, 12-1 SEC) on Monday night.
It's not a total shock to see Stanford, a program that has compiled 16 NCAA titles and 127 postseason victories, one step away from the national championship match. After all, the Cardinal has advanced to the semifinals for the 28th time in 32 years.
However, Stanford has become the lowest-seeded team to reach the semifinals since UCLA advanced to the title match also as a No. 12 seed back in 2007. An incredible accomplishment for a squad which lost its No. 2 player and All-American Mallory Burdette, who in September elected to forego her senior season and begin her pro career. In fact, of Stanford's current six-member singles lineup, only Nicole Gibbs and Stacey Tan had competed in (and finished) more than two NCAA Tournament matches prior to this season.
With that said, here are a few interesting storylines heading into Monday's match:
| Is This The Actual National Championship? Fellow semifinalists UCLA and Texas A&M would clearly beg to differ, as both programs have enjoyed tremendous seasons and one will get a crack at the hardware. However, the buzz surrounding Illinois' Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex has been focused around what has quickly developed into the sport's premier rivalry. Stanford has won 16 NCAA titles while Florida has won six, including two in a row. The Cardinal has won 127 NCAA Tournament matches; the Gators have 98 to their credit. In 2010, Stanford edged Florida 4-3 in Athens, Ga., to claim its 16th NCAA championship. The Gators responded by winning the 2011 NCAA title 4-3, snapping the Cardinal's NCAA-record 184-match home winning streak. Stanford won 5-2 in the 2012 regular season back at Taube before Florida collected a 4-2 victory this year. And this is only a semifinal. |
| Taking A Close Look At Florida After Stanford's three-peat NCAA title run ended in 2006, a different national champion was crowned from 2007-09. However, over the last three seasons, Florida has been a fixture in the national championship match. The Gators blanked UCLA 4-0 last year to defend their 2011 title and have been ranked no lower than No. 5 in the national poll throughout this year. Florida, which has reached the NCAA semifinals 23 times over the last 27 years, captured the SEC Tournament title and joined USC as the only two-loss teams in the draw at the start of the postseason. Head coach Roland Thornqvist has racked up over 300 wins during his tenure in Gainesville and he is trying to squeeze one more NCAA title out of senior Lauren Embree, the nation's No. 1-ranked singles player and MVP of the last two NCAA Championships. |
| So, What Happened Back In February? Stanford is 17-13 all-time against Florida and that includes a 9-3 mark in the postseason (with all of those matchups coming in either the semifinals or final). The Gators won 4-2 in Gainesville back on Feb. 24, but the Cardinal actually won the doubles point that day before a weather delay forced the match indoors with the score tied at 2-2. Courts one, three and four each had to finish indoors and Brianna Morgan's 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Stacey Tan clinched Florida's 112 consecutive home match. Lindsey Kostas competed at No. 6 singles in that match and tonight we'll see Natalie Dillon, who has moved into that spot full-time. Florida's Danielle Collins and Olivia Janowicz played at No. 5 and 6, respectively, in February and tonight it will likely be Janowicz and Caroline Hitimana at the bottom. |
| If You Can Only Live Stream One Court... Crowds will swarm around court one, where Nicole Gibbs and Lauren Embree square off in what should be another exciting battle of the nation's top players. The defending NCAA singles champion, Gibbs is riding a six-match winning streak and hasn't dropped a set in a completed match since April 3, when Santa Clara's Katie Le beat her 6-3 in the second frame. Not to mention, Gibbs is simply money during the month of May, sporting a 22-1 career record that covers all NCAA matches. The nation's top-ranked player, Embree is 26-1 overall this year and undefeated in 20 dual matches. A four-time All-American, Embree boasts a 117-14 career singles ledger and her .892 career winning percentage ranks third all-time in Florida history. Their match in February went unfinished, but Gibbs was in the driver's set during the third set when play was halted. |
| Hardebeck's First NCAA Win Builds Confidence The coaching staff is hopeful that Krista Hardebeck has finally found her groove. The highly-touted freshman clinched Stanford's 4-1 win over Georgia yesterday with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 triumph over fellow rookie Silvia Garcia. Hardebeck labored through the first set before racing out to commanding 3-0 leads in each of the next two frames. It was the first postseason victory for Hardebeck, who lost to USC on Friday and failed to complete her match in both of the first two rounds. Hardebeck is a dynamic player and her team-leading 33-11 overall record is proof. The Santa Ana, Calif., native is also 18-4 in tournament play and has 13 wins over nationally-ranked opponents, meaning she can be relied on when it counts. The consensus is Hardebeck now has the monkey off the back and quickly regaining confidence. |