May 17, 2000
The 2000 NCAAs: The Cardinal women's tennis team visits the NCAA Championships for the 19th consecutive time. Last season, the team defeated No. 1 Florida 5-2 in the Championship match to win the NCAA Title. The squad returns All-Americans Marissa Irvin and Teryn Ashley from the 1999 Championship team. Stanford will take on No. 14 Northwestern on Thursday, May 18 at 5 p.m.
Regular Season Report: Stanford clinched its 13th consecutive Pac-10 title after finishing the season with a perfect 8-0 Conference record. The Cardinal has not lost a Pac-10 match in six years for a 54-0 record during that span. Stanford captured the title with a 7-2 win over No. 8 UCLA at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Stanford finished the regular season with a 25-0 record, which marks the fifth time the Cardinal enter the postseason unbeaten. The weekend sweep of UCLA and USC extended Stanford's win streak to 43 matches, dating back to a 7-2 win over Arizona on March 5, 1999. The last loss came at the hands of California, 5-4, on February 27, 1999 in a non-conference match.
500: Stanford head coach Frank Brennan captured his 500th career win on April 8 at USC. Brennan, who is currently in his 21st season with the Cardinal, has a 507-49 (.911) all-time record and 10 NCAA Championships with the Cardinal. His 500th win makes him only the third coach in women's tennis history to reach that plateau on the all-time list, and second on the active coaching list (Lin Loring, Indiana 575-160). During his time at Stanford, Brennan has coached 10 national singles and doubles champions, while leading the Cardinal to 76 straight dual match victories from 1988-90.
Pac-10 Honors: Stanford head coach Frank Brennan was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the eighth time in his 21 seasons on The Farm. In the 1999-2000 season, Brennan led the Cardinal to its fifth undefeated season and 13th consecutive Pac-10 title. Sophomore Marissa Irvin was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year for the second consecutive season . Irvin has posted a 20-1 record for the Cardinal and is ranked No. 1 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Irvin also secured a spot on the All-Conference first team with freshman Laura Granville. Sophomore Lauren Kalvaria and senior Teryn Ashley were each named All-Conference second team, and sophomores Keiko Tokuda and Gabriela Lastra garnered honorable mention honors.
Quick Notes: Freshman Laura Granville has a 37-3 overall and 17-0 dual record this season. Sophomore Marissa Irvin holds an overall record of 20-1. She went into the NCAA Regionals undefeated, but lost her first match of the season to No. 41 Kim Niggemeyer of Fresno State (6-4, 4-6, 6-2). Irvin is ranked No. 1 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and has been as high as No. 81 in the WTA world rankings. Between Granville, Irvin and senior Teryn Ashley, Stanford has a record of 26-1 at No. 1 singles. The Cardinal has shut out 12 opponents in dual matches and has held nine other teams to just one point. Stanford has dominated in doubles competition, taking 44 of 48 matches in duals. California took two of three doubles matches from the Cardinal on April 11, the only team this season to have an advantage over Stanford in doubles.
Ranking Report: Stanford has been ranked No. 1 in all 13 polls released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association this year. The Cardinal finished the regular season as the only undefeated Division I team in the nation and has a commanding 15.41 point lead over No. 2 Georgia. The ITA rankings are based on an average point per match computer formula. Sophomore Marissa Irvin secured the No. 1 singles position for the first time this season. Freshman Laura Granville is No. 3, with sophomores Lauren Kalvaria and Keiko Tokuda at No. 9 and No. 32. Senior Teryn Ashley is ranked No. 38. Sophomore Gabriela Lastra rounds out the singles rankings at No. 60. Three Cardinal doubles teams remained in the Top 50. Ashley and Irvin are ranked No. 4, and Granville and Tokuda are ranked No. 13 . Lastra and Kalvaria dropped four spots to No. 28.
Repeat Winner: Senior Jennifer Heiser successfully defended her Pac-10 Invitational singles title at the 2000 Pac-10 Championships in Ojai, Calif. April 27-30. Heiser advanced through the bracket winning five singles matches, topped off by a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elizabeth Schmidt of UCLA in the final. Heiser improved her record to 30-8 in singles. She also had a successful run in the doubles invitational draw, as she advanced to the finals with junior partner Sarah Pestieau.
Senior Salute: Seniors Teryn Ashley and Jennifer Heiser will hope to go out on top as the Cardinal makes its 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Since arriving on The Farm, Ashley and Heiser have been part of two NCAA Championship teams, and have won a combined 248 singles matches. Ashley's 84 career dual victories ranks seventh on the all-time list, while Heiser's 68 career victories places her 17th on the all-time list. In her freshman campaign, Ashley had a perfect 23-0 record, followed by back-to-back 22 win seasons. Heiser's 25 wins in 1998 ranks her with sixth other Stanford greats for fifth on the single season list.
Stellar Rookie Campaign: Freshman Laura Granville (Chicago, Ill.) has had a strong first season with the Cardinal, going 37-3 overall and 17-0 in duals. One of the highlights of her season came at the 2000 Rolex National Indoor Championship when she defeated No. 42 Kristina Kraszewski of Washington 6-3, 6-1 for the title. Granville, the tournament's second seed, followed in the footsteps of Marissa Irvin and Julie Scott to become the third consecutive Stanford player to win the Indoor event. The Indoor title marked the second major singles title for Granville, as she captured the Northwest Regional Championship last November. Granville would later hold the No. 1 ranking in the ITA singles poll.
Break-Out Season: The 1999-2000 season has been a break-out year for sophomore Lauren Kalvaria (Indialantic, FL). In her second season on The Farm, Kalvaria has surpassed her rookie record of 27-7 by posting a team-leading 38-8 record. Kalvaria posted a solid 21-2 record in dual matches, playing the No. 2-4 spots in the lineup. She won nine straight matches and 17 of her last 20 to close out the season. Kalvaria reached the singles final of the Northwest Regional Championships and for the first time, she took part in the ITA National Indoor Championships where she reached the semifinals.
Probable Line-up Singles No. 1 #1 Marissa Irvin So. 5-7 Santa Monica, CA (Harvard-Westlake HS) No. 2 #3 Laura Granville Fr. 5-9 Chicago, IL (The Latin School) No. 3 #38 Teryn Ashley Sr. 5-9 Chestnut Hill, MA (Brookline HS) No. 4 #9 Lauren Kalvaria So. 5-4 Indianlantic, FL (Boca Raton Prep) No. 5 #60 Gabrielle Lastra So. 5-6 Reno, NV (Reno HS) No. 6 Jennifer Heiser Sr. 5-3 Stockton, CA (Lincoln HS) Alt. 1 #32 Keiko Tokuda So. 5-2 Clifton, NJ (Clifton HS) Alt. 2 Sarah Pestieau Jr. 5-6 New York, NY (Lycee Francais de New York)
Doubles No. 1 #4 Ashley/Irvin No. 2 #13 Tokuda/Granville No. 3 #28 Lastra/Kalvaria