Publication Date: Friday, May 20, 2005
Stanford women a step closer to NCAA tennis title
Stanford women a step closer to NCAA tennis title
(May 20, 2005) by Rick Eymer
The Stanford women's tennis team will have Georgia on its mind today in the quarterfinals of the NCAA team tournament at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
After beating Harvard, 4-0, on Thursday, the top-ranked Cardinal (24-0) advanced to meet the host Bulldogs.
Stanford has advanced to the national quarterfinals every year since the NCAA began sponsoring women's tennis in 1982.
Two-time defending NCAA singles champion Amber Liu clinched the victory with a straight set win at No. 1 singles. Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey also recorded singles victories after Stanford won the doubles point.
"We played Harvard in the first round of the Team Indoor tournament and the score was 5-2, so we knew we had to respect them," Stanford coach Lele Forood said. "They've had a great season and they're a good team. They were a little hurt by the two players that had to pull out but they are a deep team and they have a lot of people that can play well."
The Cardinal, winners of 53 straight and 135 of 138 under Forood, recorded their 11th shutout of the year, and third straight during NCAA tournament play. Stanford has won
Eighth-ranked Georgia (18-7) advanced with a 4-2 victory over California on Thursday.
Stanford beat Georgia, 4-0, in the semifinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoors in February.
"We're ready for Stanford," Georgia's Natalie Frazier said. "We played them earlier this year in a match where the score might not reflect how hard we battled. Stanford has a great team but I know we're confident. I am sure we're going to go out and give 100 percent in front of our home crowd."
The Cardinal and Georgia have a long, stories history against each other, dating to the 1987 national championship match which Stanford won, 6-1.
Stanford also beat the Bulldogs, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2003 tournament the last time the two teams met in postseason. Stanford beat Georgia in the semifinals of the 2002 tournament en route to the national title.
Georgia won the national title in both 1994 and 2000, beating Stanford, 5-4, in the championship match each time. The Cardinal hold an 8-2 edge over Georgia in NCAA tournament matches.
"We're confident about playing Stanford," Georgia coach Jeff Wallace said. "Yes, they're a tough team and on paper they're the best in the tournament, but we're ready to play. I have to convince my players that we're playing to win. We played Stanford once already this year and it was a tough match, but we battled the whole way. This time it's different because it's on our courts."
Georgia advances to the quarterfinals for the 17th time in 19 years, including each of the last eight.
Perhaps the premiere matchup of the day will be at No. 1 doubles, where Liu and Yelsey will take on the nation's top-ranked duo of Caroline Basu and Shadisha Robinson, who have won 27 of 30 matches. Liu and Robinson will also meet at No. 1 singles.
Stanford has won nine straight in the postseason dating to the 2003 championship match, and 16 of their last 27.
Softball
Fourth-ranked Stanford (40-14) begins its journey to a possible second straight trip to the College World Series today in Columbia, Mo., at 4 p.m. (PDT) against Robert Morris (29-20).
The Colonials won the Northeast Conference Championship, and are making their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Junior outfielder Catalina Morris leads a list of three players who earned both all-Pacific Region and all-Pac-10 honors. Morris was a first team selection on the all-region team while junior shortstop Lauren Lappin and freshman third baseman Michelle Smith were named to the second team.
All three are all-Pac-10 picks as well. Lappin was honored as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.
Senior catcher Leah Nelson was a second team all-Pac-10 pick, and sophomore outfielder Jackie Rinehart and freshman Becky McCullough were named honorable mention.
(Former Sacred Heart Prep star Haley Woods, who catches for Cal, was a second team selection for both the Pacific region and the Pac-10).
Stanford, seeded sixth nationally, is making its eighth consecutive venture into postseason.
Host Missouri (42-13) meets Southern Illinois (46-12) in the opener at noon (PDT).
Stanford won its own regional last year to advance to its second ever College World Series, and reached the semifinals before losing to eventual national champion UCLA.
This year, the tournament features a new format, with 16 regional sites of four teams instead of eight sites of eight teams. The winners of each regional site (the winner of the Missouri regional will meet the winner of the Tennessee regional) will advance to eight Super Regionals where the winners will play a best of a three-game series.
The remaining eight teams will advance to the CWS, an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. The championship final also is different this year, with the two teams playing a best-of-three series.
Robert Morris is led by NEC Player of the Year Keri Meyer (.425, 13 doubles, .634 slugging percentage, .480 on base percentage) and Pitcher of the Year Danielle Cohen (14-5, 1.37, 133 strikeouts in 122 innings).
Stanford's 62 home runs this season is a single-season school record, and is second in the conference. Stanford also set a school mark with 14 triples.
Wrestling
Stanford coach Steve Buddie announced his resignation to pursue a career in the private sector and spend more time with his family.
"I feel very proud of what Stanford wrestling has accomplished in recent years," Buddie said. "I've had the chance to work with some of the finest young men in college sports, an incredible coaching staff, and some very special people at Stanford. I am grateful to have had this opportunity and will miss it tremendously, but my wife and I are exhausted. We both work full time, have two small children, and the pace of our current life has caught up to us."
Buddie, who graduated from Stanford in 1991, spent four years at Stanford, winning 28 dual meets and qualifying 12 wrestlers for the NCAA tournament. He was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 2004.
Track and field
Stanford freshman jumper Erica McLain was named USA Track & Field Athlete of the Week after twice setting an American junior record in the women's triple jump, and winning the long jump at the Pac-10 Championships.
McLain went a Pac-10 meet record 45-2 1/2 to win the triple jump and bettered Brittany Daniels' American junior record of 44-11 3/4 set at last year's USA Junior Track & Field Championships. McLain broke the record with an opening jump of 45-0 1/4 before hitting 45-2 1/2 on her third attempt.
During the outdoor season, McLain recorded nine of the top 11 American junior jumps ever, and during the Pac-10 Championships, four of those jumps made the all-time American junior list.
McLain became the first Pac-10 athlete to win the long jump and triple jump conference titles in the same year after going 21-2 1/2 in the long jump, which is also a freshman school record and the second-best in the Cardinal record book.
Men's golf
Stanford continues to host the NCAA West Regional through Saturday on the par 70 Stanford Golf Course.
Stanford is paired with Texas-Arlington and Colorado State to open play. The Cardinal teed off at 11:51 a.m. from the 10th tee today.
Ten teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from each regional to the championship finals.
Crew
Stanford received an at-large bid for the NCAA Division I women's rowing championships to be held May 27-29 at CSUS Aquatic Center in Sacramento.
The team championships consists of 12 teams, with each team required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers.
Women's lacrosse
Stanford freshman goalkeeper Laura Shane was named to the IWLCA/US Lacrosse South All-Regional Second Team on Wednesday.
Shane finished the regular season ranked sixth in the nation with a .560 save percentage and posted a 9.27 goals against average. Her 206 saves is the second highest single-season total at Stanford.
Shane is now eligible for selection to the IWLCA/US Lacrosse All-American Team that will be announced on May 22.
Football
Paul Wiggin, a two-time All-American at Stanford, was inducted into the College
Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Wiggin, a defensive tackle who played for Stanford between 1953-56, becomes the 15th player in school history to be selected to the Hall of Fame.
"I was being recruited heavily by everyone," Wiggin said. "But Stanford stuck
out in my mind. I've made a few great decisions in my life and Stanford University was clearly one of them."
Wiggin earned All-America and All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in 1955 and 1956, and then went on to an 11-year career in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. He played in three world championship games with the Browns and was a member of the Browns' 1964 NFL title club.
Wiggin coached in the NFL for 12 years, including head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs from 1975-77. He returned to Stanford in 1980 as the 27th head football coach in school history.
He is currently Director of Pro Scouting for the Minnesota Vikings.
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