May 4, 2000
STANFORD, Calif. - The top-ranked Stanford University men's and women's tennis teams both received No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, which will begin next weekend at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium on the Stanford campus.
The Stanford men will host two first round matches on Saturday and a second round match on Sunday. Men's play opens with No. 33-49 seed California (12-10) taking on No. 17-32 seed Auburn (14-9) on Saturday at 9 a.m., and top-seeded Stanford (22-1) meeting No. 49-64 seed Northwestern (11-11) at noon. The California/Auburn and Stanford/Northwestern winners will then meet on Sunday at noon.
Stanford enters the NCAA Tournament with a 13-1 record against schools in the 64-team field, including two wins over second-seeded UCLA. The Cardinal enters the postseason with the top-ranked doubles team in the nation (Geoff Abrams/Alex Kim) and three of the top 11 singles players (#5 Abrams, #7 Kim, #11 K.J. Hippensteel) in the country. The 56th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats advanced to the semifinals of the Big 10 Tournament last weekend before falling to 18th-ranked Minnesota 4-1. Thirty-fifth ranked California, which is led by its 22nd-ranked doubles team of Erik Dmytruk and Scott Kintz, suffered five of its 10 losses against teams ranked among the top 10 nationally. Auburn, which is ranked 31st in the nation, has three players ranked among the top 100 nationally (#35 Stephen Huss, #75 Georges Matijasevic, #89 Tiago Ruffoni).
The Stanford women will host two first round matches on Friday and a second round match on Saturday. On Friday, No. 29-32 seed Clemson (15-6) takes on No. 33-48 seed Fresno State (15-8) at 10 a.m. followed by the top-seeded Cardinal (25-0) against No. 49-64 seed Weber State (16-7) at 1 p.m. The Clemson/Fresno State winner will then face the Stanford/Weber State winner on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the NCAA Championships in Malibu, California on May 18-21.
The 2000 Pac-10 Champion and defending NCAA Champion Cardinal has won 42 straight dual matches dating back to last year. The Cardinal is led by the nation's top-ranked singles player - Marissa Irvin - and third-ranked Laura Granville. Weber State qualified for the NCAA Tournament after posting victories over Montana (5-1), Idaho State (5-0) and Northern Arizona (5-2) in the Big Sky Tennis Championships on Apr. 20-22 in Pocatello, Idaho. Clemson was a semifinalist in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, and is led by No. 1 singles player Carmina Giraldo. Fresno State, which lost at Stanford 5-1 on Feb. 9, is coming off a third place finish at the Western Athletic Conference Championships.
NCAA Tennis Tournament
At Stanford University (Taube Family Tennis Stadium)
Women
Friday, May 12
Clemson (15-6) vs. Fresno State (15-8), 10:00 a.m.
Weber State (16-7) vs. Stanford (25-0), 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 13
Clemson/Fresno State winner vs. Weber State/Stanford winner, 2:30 p.m.
Men
Saturday, May 13
Auburn (14-9) vs. California (12-10), 9:00 a.m.
Northwestern (11-11) vs. Stanford (22-1), noon
Sunday, May 14
Auburn/California winner vs. Northwestern/Stanford winner, noon