April 27, 2011
STANFORD, Calif.- Both Stanford tennis teams will shift their focus to individual competition this weekend, as the Pac-10 Championships get underway on Thursday morning in Ojai, Calif.
With the regular season in the books, the Pac-10 Championships serve as the final tune-up before NCAA Tournament first and second round action begins in two weeks. Singles competition begins Thursday and doubles play follows Friday, leading into Sunday's championship matches.
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MEN'S TEAM
Of course, all eyes will be on Bradley Klahn, who two years ago as a freshman became the fourth player in school history to win both the Pac-10 singles and doubles championships in the same year. During his sophomore season last year, Klahn was the singles runner-up and reached the semifinals in doubles with fellow junior Ryan Thacher.
Klahn, Alex Clayton, Matt Kandath, Denis Lin and Ryan Thacher will compete in the singles main draw. Jamin Ball, Daniel Ho, Fawaz Hourani and Walker Kehrer will play in the Invitational division. Doubles teams in the main draw include Klahn/Thacher, Ball/Clayton and Kandath/Lin. The pairing of Ho/Kehrer will participate in the Invitational division.
Meanwhile, Stanford climbed two spots in the latest edition of the national rankings to a season-best No. 6. Riding its longest winning streak since a similar stretch in 2003, the Cardinal (18-5, 5-1 Pac-10) will likely be awarded hosting duties for its first and second matches of the NCAA Tournament thanks to its recent surge.
This week's top-10 includes No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Baylor, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 Kentucky.
Updated singles rankings include Klahn (9), Thacher (46) and Clayton (65). Doubles rankings include Klahn/Thacher (2) and Clayton/Kelly (75).
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WOMEN'S TEAM
It's another week away from dual match competition for Stanford (23-0, 8-0 Pac-10), which has not played a dual since defeating California 5-2 back on Apr. 16 to capture the Pac-10 title. The Cardinal has won the Pac-10 title outright or claimed at least a share of the hardware in every season since 1987, with the exception of 2009.
Kristie Ahn, Mallory Burdette, Nicole Gibbs, Veronica Li and Stacey Tan will represent Stanford in the singles main draw. The Invitational division includes Natalie Dillon, Elizabeth Ecker, Amelia Herring and Carolyn McVeigh. Two doubles teams are in the main draw: Ahn/Gibbs and McVeigh/Tan. In the Invitational doubles division, we'll see Burdette/Dillon and Herring/Li.
It's been another dominating season for the nation's top-ranked team, as the Cardinal is the only unbeaten team in Division I and has won 42 consecutive contests overall dating back to its last loss: a 6-1 setback at UCLA on Feb. 26, 2010.
This week's top-10 after Stanford features No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 North Carolina, No. 5 Miami, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Baylor, No. 8 California, No. 9 Georgia and No. 10 Michigan.
Stanford's entire dual match lineup is nationally-ranked: Hilary Barte (3), Gibbs (18), Burdette (20), Ahn (25), Tan (60) and Li (121). Doubles rankings include Barte/Burdette (2) and Ahn/Gibbs (43).