Thursday, February 9, 2012

College capsules: Stanford women seek redemption

   The second-ranked Stanford women's tennis team has plenty of incentive this season.
   Florida edged the host Cardinal 4-3 in last year's NCAA final as Lauren Embree overcame a 4-0 third-set deficit to beat Mallory Burdette 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6) at No. 2 singles in the deciding match. The loss ended Stanford's 12-year home winning streak.
   Burdette, now a junior, is ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles (with sophomore Nicole Gibbs). The Gators head the team rankings.
   The Cal women, led by defending NCAA singles champion Jana Juricova, are ranked seventh. Sacramento State is No. 49 and UC Davis No. 64. On the men's side, Stanford is No. 9 and Cal No. 13.
   Following are capsules of Northern California college teams:  
STANFORD WOMEN
   2012 record, ranking -- 2-0, No. 2.
   Last season -- 28-1 overall, 8-0 Pacific-10 Conference. Lost to No. 2 Florida 4-3 in final of NCAA Tournament at Stanford.
   Coach -- Lele Forood (12th year, 289-17 overall, 49-3 Pac-10), 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, six NCAA team championships.
   Key players lost -- Hilary Barte, four-time All-American in singles and doubles, two-time NCAA doubles champion; Carolyn McVeigh.
   Key returners -- Junior Mallory Burdette (Jackson, Ga.), reigning NCAA doubles champion; sophomore Nicole Gibbs (Santa Monica), ranked fifth (tie) in singles, 2011 NCAA singles semifinalist; junior Stacey Tan (Lakewood), 2011 NCAA singles runner-up; sophomore Kristie Ahn (Upper Saddle River, N.J.), first-team All-Pac-10, 2011 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. 
   Key addition -- Freshman Ellen Tsay (Pleasanton), ranked 31st in NCAA.
   Note -- Stanford's loss in the NCAA final, which came without the injured Ahn, ended Cardinal streaks of 47 consecutive victories overall and 184 home wins spanning 12 years.
STANFORD MEN
   2012 record, ranking -- 5-2, No. 9.
   Last season -- 21-6 overall, 5-1 Pac-10. Lost to top-ranked Virginia 4-3 in quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament.
   Coach -- John Whitlinger (eighth year, 119-70 overall, 30-16 Pac-10), six NCAA Tournament appearances.
   Key players lost -- Alex Clayton, NCAA singles semifinalist as freshman, NCAA singles quarterfinalist as sophomore; Greg Hirshman.
   Key returners -- Senior Bradley Klahn (Poway), 2010 NCAA singles champion, 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up, 2011 All-Pac-10 first team; senior Ryan Thacher (Studio City), ranked 37th in singles, 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up, All-Pac-10 second team; Denis Lin (Thousand Oaks); junior Matt Kandath (Gansevoort, N.Y.), ranked 75th in singles.
   Freshmen -- John Morrissey (Ireland), Robert Stineman (Winnetka, Ill.), Georgy Zerkalov (Moscow).
   Note -- Stanford has won 15 NCAA team titles, more than twice as many as any other school, but none since 2000. ... Klahn has missed the Cardinal's first seven matches because of an undisclosed injury.
CAL WOMEN
   2012 record, ranking -- 4-0, No. 7.
   Last season -- 18-7 overall, 6-2 Pac-10. Lost to No. 8 Georgia 4-3 in round of 16 of NCAA Tournament.
   Coach -- Amanda Augustus, fifth year.
   Key players lost -- Mari Andersson, 2009 NCAA doubles champion with Jana Juricova, 2011 NCAA singles quarterfinalist, All-Pac-10 second team (2009, 2010, 2011); Marina Coussou.
   Key returners -- Senior Juricova (Slovakia), ranked tied for fifth in singles, 2011 NCAA singles champion, All-Pac-10 first team (2009, 2010, 2011); sophomore Anett Schutting (Estonia), ranked No. 74; junior Annie Goransson (Sweden), ranked No. 81; Tayler Davis (San Jose), ranked No. 32, lost in first round of singles in 2011 NCAA Tournament.
   Freshmen -- No. 21 Zsofi Susanyi (Hungary), No. 64 Cecilia Estlander (Finland).
   Note -- All six of Cal's singles players are ranked, but the Bears do not have a ranked doubles team.
CAL MEN
   2012 record, ranking -- 4-2, No. 13.
   Last season -- 14-8 overall, 3-3 Pac-10. Lost to No. 3 Tennessee 4-2 in round of 16 of NCAA Tournament.
   Coach -- Peter Wright (19th year, 245-177 overall), 12 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 17 in 18 years, NCAA round of 16 five times.
   Key players lost -- Pedro Zerbini (Brazil), 2011 All-Pac-10 first team; Bozhidar Katsarov (Ojai).
   Key returners -- Junior Carlos Cueto (Spain), 2001 All-Pac-10 second team, ranked No. 27 in doubles with Ben McLachlan; senior Nick Andrews (Folsom), ranked No. 5 in doubles with Christoffer Konigsfeldt; junior Konigsfeldt (Denmark); sophomore Ben McLachlan (New Zealand), ranked No. 42 in singles; junior Riki McLachlan (New Zealand). 
   Key additions -- Senior Ahmed Ismail (Egypt), transfer from UCLA;  freshman Gregory Bayane (France).
   Note -- Cal reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 2003.
SACRAMENTO STATE WOMEN
   2012 record, ranking --1-2, No. 49.
   Last season -- 19-9 overall, 8-0 Big Sky Conference. Lost to Arkansas in first round of NCAA Tournament.
   Coach -- Dima Hrinashka (sixth year, 96-38 overall, 39-0 Big Sky Conference).
   Key players lost -- Milica Zivanovic.
   Key returners -- Senior Tatsiana Kapshai (Belarus), Big Sky MVP; junior Rebeca Delgado (Mexico), first-team All-Big Sky; senior Maria Meliuk (Belarus), first-team All-Big Sky; senior Clarisse Baca (Mexico), first-team All-Big Sky; sophomore Sophie Lohscheidt (Germany), second-team All-Big Sky; sophomore Katharina Knoebl (Austria).
   Freshmen -- Chyna Brown (Oakland), Andrea Gomez Canus (Mexico), Jackline Kraiouchkina (Russia), Mariam Samkanashvili (Georgia), Gina Zambemardi (Mexico).
   Notes --Sac State returns its top five singles players and all three doubles teams after winning its 10th consecutive Big Sky title and making its 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. ... Kapshai reached second round of NCAA singles. ... Kaphai and Delgado are ranked 38th nationally in doubles.
SACRAMENTO STATE MEN
   2012 record -- 0-3.
   Last season -- 14-14 overall, 10-0 Big Sky. Lost to eventual champion USC in first round of NCAA Tournament.
   Coach -- Slava Konikov (seventh year, 97-61 overall, 43-2 Big Sky).
   Key players lost -- Kiryl Harbatsiuk, a three-time Big Sky MVP; Marco Starcevic, honorable mention All-Big Sky; Josh Lorentzen.
   Key returners -- Seniors Jason Smith (Davis) and Javier Millan (Mexico), both first-team All-Big Sky; Aliaksandr Malko (Belarus).
   Freshmen -- Roy Brandys (Poland), Jonathan Hultkrantz (Sweden), Sean Kolar (Loomis), Marek Marksoo (Estonia), Joaquin Marquez (Mexico), Tom Miller (England), Niranjan Ram (India).
   Note -- Since joining the Big Sky in 1996-97, the Hornets have won 10 regular-season titles (1998-99, 2001-03, 2007-11) and nine tournament championships (1998-99, 2001-03, 2007, 2009-11) and qualified for the NCAA Tournament eight times (1999, 2001-03, 2007, 2009-11).
UC DAVIS WOMEN
   2012 record, ranking --2-5, No. 64.
   Last season -- 17-7 overall, 6-2 Big West Conference. Reached quarterfinals of Big West tournament.
   Coach -- Bill Maze (16th year, fourth in Division I, 166-146 overall, 48-16 Big West), 2011 Big West Coach of the Year.
   Key players lost --None.
   Key returners -- Sophomore Megan Heneghan (Tustin), 2011 All-Big West first team, 2011 Big West Freshman of the Year; sophomore Kelly Chui (Milpitas), 2011 All-Big West second team; senior Dahra Zamudio (Orange), 2011 All-Big West honorable mention; junior Ellie Edles (Costa Mesa); sophomore Nicole Koehly (Santa Ana); junior Lauren Curry (Walnut Creek). 
   Freshman -- Layla Sanders (El Cerrito).
   Note -- Maze, a former three-time All-American at Stanford, played No. 1 doubles with John McEnroe as a senior.
UC DAVIS MEN
   2012 record --2-3.
   Last season -- 5-13, lost in the first round of the Big West tournament.
   Coach -- Daryl Lee (18th year, 133 victories), six seasons in double-figure victories, fourth official season in NCAA Division I, nine appearances in NCAA Division II Tournament.
   Key players lost -- Nick Lopez, 2011 All-Big West first team in singles and doubles.
   Key returners -- Junior Toki Sherbakov (Mountain View), 2009-10 All-Big West second team in singles; junior Connor Coates (Roseville), All-Big West first team in doubles with Lopez; sophomore Kyle Miller (Pacific Grove); senior Chris Aria (Alameda); sophomore Alex Haley (Woodside).  
   Key addition -- Junior Hugo Verdi-Fortin (Canada), transfer from Fresno State.
   Note -- Sherbakov takes over at No. 1 singles after battling injuries last season.
ALSO
   Other national rankings:
   Women's team --No. 34 Saint Mary's, No. 73 Santa Clara.
   Women's singles -- Washington senior Denise Dy (San Jose), No. 10; Santa Clara sophomore Katie Le (Milpitas), No. 37; Saint Mary's sophomore Jenny Julien (France), No. 68; Saint Mary's junior Catherine Isip (Anaheim); Saint Mary's sophomore Jade Frampton (St. George, Utah), No. 116.
   Men's team -- No. 49 Santa Clara, No. 65 Saint Mary's.
   Men's singles -- USF senior Thai Tu (Vietnam), No. 114.
   Notes -- Senior Artem Ilyushin of Granite Bay is 3-1 at No. 1 singles and 4-1 at No. 2 doubles for the Mississippi State men (5-2), tied for No. 14 nationally. ...
   Freshman Breanna Bachini of Roseville is 1-0 at No. 4 singles for the Syracuse women (3-3), coached by former French Open men's doubles champion Luke Jensen. Bachini has not played doubles. ...
   Junior Mike Facey of Cameron Park is 0-2 at No. 4 singles and 0-2 at No. 2 doubles for the Montana men (1-1). His sisters, freshman twins Kat and Ali Facey, play for UC Irvine (2-2). Kat is 2-2 at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, and Ali is 0-1 at No. 4 singles. With separate partners at No. 3 doubles, Ali is 1-1 and Kat 0-1. ...
   Junior Heather Davidson of Rocklin is 0-4 at No. 1 singles and 1-3 at No. 1 doubles for the Montana women (2-2). ...
   Granite Bay, Roseville, Cameron Park and Rocklin are suburbs of Sacramento.

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