STANFORD ROUNDUP: Scott sweeps national titles in Rolex tennis

by Keith Peters

If Julie Scott's place in Stanford tennis history wasn't already secured, it is now. Scott became only the third player in the 15-year history of the Rolex National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships to sweep the singles and doubles crowns last weekend in Dallas, Texas.

Scott, a native of nearby Austin, set the stage for the rare double when she teamed with fellow senior Ania Bleszynski to capture the doubles crown Saturday with a 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 win over Karen Goldstein and Vanessa Webb of Duke.

On Sunday, Scott earned her niche in tournament history by ousting Lauren Nikolaus of William & Mary, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).

Scott needed only 20 minutes to take the first set, then was broken twice before being forced to the tiebreaker.

"I wasn't worried (in the second set) because I was still playing well," said Scott, ranked No. 14 in the Rolex Collegiate Rankings. "She just happened to pull out two great games on my serve. I just tried to stay focused and come out strong in the tiebreaker."

With the singles crown, Scott became only the third Stanford player to win the Rolex Indoor singles title, joining Heather Willens (1993) and Tami Whitlinger ('89). Scott also is only the second Cardinal to sweep singles and doubles, matching Whitlinger's feat in '89. The only other player to sweep was Florida's Nicole Arendt in 1991.

Elsewhere, Stanford's Teryn Ashley rebounded from an early loss to win the consolation singles final. In men's doubles, the Cardinal tandem of Mike and Bob Bryan fell to Martin Dvoracek and Pavel Kudrnac of Oklahoma State, 6-3, 6-4, in the finals.

Swimming

The top-ranked Stanford men's and women's teams improved their dual-meet records to 6-0 with convincing victories over the weekend.

During a stormy Saturday at deGuerre Pool, the Cardinal women changed their lineup and still dominated 13th-ranked Texas, 141-93. The Longhorns won six of the 14 events, but Stanford's depth was more than enough to make for a comfortable win.

Freshman Misty Hyman had another solid outing, winning the 200 free in a season-best 1:48.35 and coming back to capture the 500 free in 4:48.16, also her best.

Palo Alto High grad Evi-Lynn Byer won the 100 back in 57.68. Stanford will close out its dual-meet season Saturday with a noon home meet against California.

The Stanford men, meanwhile, avenged last year's loss to USC by beating the No. 5 Trojans in their own pool, 145-98. Cardinal freshman Steven Brown won the 200 fly in a season-best 1:47.04 and added a victory in the 500 free (4:27.83), leading a 1-2-3-4 Stanford sweep.

Senior Tom Wilkens also provided a double win, capturing the 200 IM in 1:48.92 and winning the 200 breast in a pool-record and season-best 1:58.86.

Senior Sabir Muhammad won the 50 free (20.30) and led off Stanford's winning 400 free relay team (2:58.63). Junior Tate Blahnik swam well in taking second in the 200 back (1:46.13), losing only to American recordholder Lenny Krayzelburg of USC.

Volleyball

The defending national champion Cardinal continues to roll right along, improving to 5-0 overall with a 15-6, 15-8, 15-0 triumph over visiting Pacific last weekend. The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win improved Stanford's conference mark to 4-0.

Stanford sophomore outside hitter Andy Witt led the way with 14 kills. Senior middleblocker Tad Hoffman hit a phenomenal .846 with eight blocks and two service aces. Freshman Josh Lukens had 46 assists and Keenan Whitehurst contributed 13 kills and hit .579. Stanford hit .489 as a team, including a .765 mark in Game 3.

Water polo The Stanford women's team fashioned a 3-1 record and finished third at the season-opening UCSD Triton Invitational. The Cardinal routed USC, 9-1, and topped UC Davis, 7-2, on the first day. Sunday, Stanford fell to Cal, 7-6, then came back to beat UC Santa Barbara, 9-5, in the third-place game. Ellen Estes tallied 11 goals to pace Stanford in the four matches. Menlo School grad Suze Gardner had three goals.

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