May 23, 2013
First Round (May 10): Stanford Makes Quick Work of Miami (OH)
Second Round (May 11): Stanford Blanks Rice, Moves Into Round of 16
Round of 16 (May 17): Five Hours Later, Tsay Of Relief Beats USC
Quarterfinals (May 19): No Barking Up This Tree: Georgia Stunned
Semifinals (May 20): Lean On Me: Rookie's Clincher Seals Florida Win
Championship (May 21): Women's Tennis Claims 17th NCAA Championship
STANFORD, Calif.- Kristie Ahn started the conversation with an apology.
"Sorry, my voice is kind of shot," she said Wednesday from Urbana, Ill.
Understandable. Tuesday night, the junior from Upper Saddle River, N.J. won the clinching match in Stanford's 4-3 win against Texas A&M to help the women's tennis program capture its 17th NCAA Championship. It capped a remarkable run for the No. 12-seeded Cardinal, which beat Miami (OH), No. 22 Rice, No. 5 USC, No. 4 Georgia, No. 1 Florida and No. 3 Texas A&M en route to the title.
"We realized we were dealt a pretty difficult draw, probably the hardest any collegiate team has ever seen," said a hoarse Ahn, who stayed up late with her teammates to celebrate. "Especially since we had lost to USC - that was the big hurdle that we wanted to get over first. We weren't even thinking about Florida or any of the other teams."
Coming into the championships, Ahn knew there was more riding than an NCAA crown. Stanford's nation-best 36-year streak of winning at least one NCAA title was in jeopardy. Plus, the university has won 18 straight Directors' Cup trophies awarded to the top overall program during the year. The Cardinal is chasing Florida and needs all the points it can earn to extend its streak.
"I was definitely aware of it," Ahn said. "I don't know about some of the other girls, just to keep the pressure off. I think Krista (Hardebeck), when she played against Florida, didn't know this would make a huge impact for the Directors' Cup and she liked it that way. Whereas, I prefer to know what is on the line. We didn't talk too much about it until we saved the streak."
The team received support from many circles. Student-athletes, students, coaches, alums and fans flooded Twitter and Facebook with good-luck wishes throughout the tournament. The football team has been especially supportive during home matches, cheering loudly. Kevin Hogan, Connor McFadden, Kyle Olugbode, Stepfan Taylor, Chase Thomas and David Yankey tweeted well-wishes Tuesday, as did former Stanford star Toby Gerhart.
Fellow student-athletes from all Cardinal sports continued to check in, led especially by those from field hockey, lacrosse, men's basketball, men's volleyball and women's soccer.
Others included John L. Hinds Director of Tennis Dick Gould, former Cardinal tennis player and U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, former Cardinal hoopster and WNBA standout Candice Wiggins and senior class president Christine Kim.
Ahn and Gerhart had the following Twitter exchange Wednesday:
Ahn (@kristieahn): Holy crap. A follow from Toby Gerhart?! Will never forget watching the USC game in 09!!! #heputtheteamonhisback #thisisnotreallife
Gerhart (@Toby_Gerhart): haha. You basically put the Natty on your back last night when it came down to your match. Respect. I was fist pumping with you.
"I don't think the team realized how much support we had or how we were impacting the Stanford community until we started getting tweets and posts on Facebook," said Ahn. "We saw a video of the wrestlers watching match point, all crowded around a little computer. It was really cool to see."
About match point. Life has a way of testing you, and rewards those who persevere. Take Ahn. She won the 2011 Pac-10 singles title and was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and an All-American in singles. But she sustained an ankle injury in May and missed the NCAA Championships.
Last year, Ahn competed in only three matches due to ankle and foot injuries. She also hurt her neck in a bus accident, slowing her recovery.
So naturally Tuesday's team title came down to Ahn.
"I was thinking about how absurd it was," she said.
Playing at No. 2 singles, Ahn calmly defeated Cristina Stancu, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
"At some point, at around 2-2 in the third set, it dawned on me it would be coming down to my match and I actually think the difference was I was just really enjoying myself and really wanted that moment for the 4-3 clinch," said Ahn.
How did Stanford peak when it mattered most?
"Before the matches, we were trying to get our energy up," she said. "Before playing USC, we got in a little huddle and we watched the "I Am Stanford" YouTube video. Tears were shed and it was a very emotional time. Everyone realized we needed to raise our game if we wanted a shot at winning the national championship."
They also borrowed inspiration from the Rose Bowl-champion Cardinal football team.
"We tried something new this postseason with a little rah-rah between singles and doubles, taking a page out of Stanford football's book with a little, "Whose got my back?' '' said Ahn. "We picked a spot in the grass that we adopted as our own and tried to be loud."
They also went to the same restaurant every morning for breakfast, and used ice packs together every night.
"It was cool to see the team getting into a routine," she said.
Ahn admitted the last two years have been challenging.
"I was rehabbing all sorts of things," Ahn said. "It was actually pretty cool when I finally had my last physical therapy session. It felt like graduation."
Ahn has enjoyed a terrific season, posting a 30-7 singles record. She will begin competing in the NCAA Doubles Championships today with Nicole Gibbs.
"I kept telling people I felt like a freshman out there," said Ahn.
As of Wednesday night, Ahn was still processing the words "national champions."
"I still have to sometimes pinch myself and to tell myself, `Yes, we did win the national championship against all odds,' " she said. "It has not completely sunk in."
What has, is that she finally got to compete for an entire season.
"It was definitely all worth it," said Ahn. "We can't control the hands we're dealt, but it's a matter of how we react to them. I think that's what makes this sweeter."
- By Mark Soltau, Stanford Athletics
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Palo Alto native Mark Soltau has spent his whole life and much of his career around Stanford sports. A sportswriter for 35 years, Soltau spent 16 (1981-97) at the San Francisco Examiner, where he covered not only the Cardinal, but all five 49ers Super Bowl-championship teams. Golf always has been his passion and Soltau served as the sport's beat writer for the Examiner, national golf writer for CBS Sportsline, contributing editor to Golf Digest, and since 1997 has been the editor of tigerwoods.com.