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May 19, 1997
Stanford Advances to NCAA Championship Finals
LOS ANGELES - Stanford sophomore Ryan Wolters won the clinching match on court one for the second day in a row, beating Mississippi's John Hede (7-5, 6-2), as Stanford (25-2) advanced to the finals of the NCAA Championships at UCLA.
Stanford took the doubles point, and freshman Bob Bryan quickly dispatched Mississippi's Sebastien DeChaunac, the No. 2 player in the nation (6-1, 6-3), to give the Cardinal to an early 2-0 lead. Missippi (24-4) proceeded to battle back, winning the No. 4 and No. 5 singles matches. But Cardinal senior Grant Elliot beat Robert Abendroth (6-2, 7-5) to give Wolters the opportunity to clinch.
The victory puts Stanford University one step closer to setting a new record for NCAA titles in a season. The previous record of five was set by UCLA in 1981-82 and tied by Stanford in 1994-95. Stanford faces the winner of this evening's UCLA/Georgia match tomorrow at 6 p.m. at UCLA.
Results
Singles
No.1 Ryan Wolters (SU) def. John Hede (M) 7-5, 6-2
No.2 Bob Bryan (SU) def. Sebastien DeChaunac (M) 6-1, 6-3
No.3 Mike Bryan SU) def. Johan Landsberg (M) DNF
No.4 Martin Sjoqvist (M) def. Pual Goldstein (SU) 6-2, 7-5
No.5 Vikrant Chada (M) def. Geoff Abrams (SU) 6-2, 6-3
No.6 Grant Elliot (SU) def. Robert Abendroth (M) 6-2, 7-5
Doulbes
No.1 Landsberg/Sjoqvist (M) vs. Goldstein/Wolters DNF
No.2 Bryan/Bryan (SU) def. Abendroth/DeChaunac (M) 8-5
No.3 Abrams/Elliot (SU) def. Hassell/Hede (M) 8-2
Post Game Quotes:
Ryan Wolters: "I got off to a slow star in doubles and was a little upset going into my singles match. But once I got into the match and won the first set, I got my confidence up and got my serve going."
Head coach Dick Gould: "What you saw out there was a great lesson for any athlete. Ryan couldn't buy a shot at the beginning of his first match. But he stuck with it and finally got his serve going. You have to play the best you can given the circumstances. These guys have done a great job this year competing in that context."Bobby (Bryan) had a great match. He did a very good job putting his opponent away. He lost to DeChaunca in his very first college match. It was clear today that Bob has developed his game tremendousl over the course of the season."
Post Game Notes
- Stanford is the two-time defending NCAA Champion, and head coach Dick Gould's teams have won 14 NCAA team titles during his 30 years as the Cardinal mentor.
- The Cardinal have won four NCAA titles in the 1990s.
- Stanford University teams have won a record-tying five NCAA titles already this year (men's and women's x-country, men's and women's volleyball, women's tennis).