Saturday, May 12, 2012

Stanford's Gibbs named Pac-12 Player of Year

   In a vote by the league's 11 coaches, Stanford's Nicole Gibbs was named the Women's Singles Player of the Year in the Pacific-12 Conference on Friday.
   Gibbs, a sophomore from Santa Monica in the Los Angeles area, went 17-2 at No. 1 singles in dual matches and breezed to the singles title in the Pac-12 Championships.
   After needing three sets to win her opening match in the Pac-12 tournament, Gibbs lost only four games in her subsequent four contests. From the quarterfinals through the final, she won four consecutive sets 6-0.
   Gibbs will be a strong contender for the singles and doubles titles in the NCAA Individual Championships, May 23-28 in Athens, Ga. Playing at home in last year's NCAAs, Gibbs fell to eventual champion Jana Juricova of Cal 6-7 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (2) in the semifinals. Gibbs is ranked third and Juricova, now a senior, eighth.
   Stanford senior Bradley Klahn, the 2010 NCAA singles champion, was named to the men's first team for the fourth year.
   See below for all Pac-12 honors.
   NCAA Team Championships -- The No. 9 Cal women pounded No. 57 Sacramento State 4-0 in Berkeley in the first round of the NCAA Team Championships.
   Playing their final matches for the Hornets (17-10) were seniors Tatsiana Kapshai, the reigning three-time Big Sky Conference MVP; Clarisse Baca, a three-time All-Big Sky first-team selection; and Maria Meliuk, an All-Big Sky second-team pick this year.
   Cal (18-6) will face No. 41 Pepperdine (16-8), which surprised No. 22 Purdue (18-7) 4-0, in the second round today at 3 p.m. in Berkeley.
   The No. 5 Stanford women coasted to a 4-0 victory over Stony Brook (14-8) at Stanford in the opening round. The Cardinal (19-1) will meet No. 29 Yale (20-3), a 4-0 winner over No. 42 Saint Mary's (14-8), today at 3 p.m. at Stanford.
   ATP World Tour in Madrid -- Unseeded Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Jean-Julien Rojer, a member of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis from the Netherlands Antilles, had their six-match winning streak in doubles stopped.
   They lost to seventh-seeded Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, both of India, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open after winning last week's Estoril (Portugal) Open. Qureshi and Bopanna played together until the end of last year.
   Men's Challenger in Busan, South Korea -- Fourth-seeded John Paul Fruttero, a former Cal All-American living in San Jose, and Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus fell to Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan, both of India, 7-5, 7-5 in the semifinals of the Busan Open.
   Women's Challenger in Raleigh, N.C. -- Top-seeded Alexandra Mueller of Abington, Pa., and Asia Muhammed, a Capital from Henderson, Nev., downed unseeded Americans Alexandra Aiello and Simone Kalhorn 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Raleigh Women's Challenger.   
PAC-12 WOMEN'S AWARDS
   Singles Player of the Year -- Gibbs.
   Doubles Team of the Year -- USC sophomore Kaitlyn Christian and freshman Sabrina Santamaria.
   Freshman/Newcomer of the Year -- UCLA's Robin Anderson.
   Coach of the Year -- Washington State's Lisa Hart.
   First team -- Gibbs, Juricova, Anderson, Stanford junior Mallory Burdette, Cal freshman Zsofia Susanyi and USC freshman Zoe Scandalis.
   Second team -- Santamaria, Cal sophomore Anett Schutting, Stanford junior Stacey Tan, Arizona State sophomore Jacqueline Cako, Washington senior Denise Dy, USC junior Danielle Lao and Washington State junior Liudmila Vasilieva.     
   Honorable mention -- Christian, Cal junior Annie Goransson, Arizona sophomore Lacey Smyth and Utah senior Anastasia Putilina.
PAC-12 MEN'S AWARDS
   Singles Player of the Year -- USC senior Steve Johnson.
   Doubles Team of the Year -- Johnson and USC freshman Roberto Quiroz.
   Freshman/Newcomer of the Year -- USC's Yannick Hanfmann.
   Coach of the Year -- USC's Peter Smith and UCLA's Billy Martin.
   First team -- Klahn, Johnson, UCLA senior Nick Meister, Washington junior Kyle McMorrow, USC sophomore Ray Sarmiento and USC senior Daniel Nguyen.
   Second team -- Hanfmann, Cal sophomore Ben McLachlan, Cal senior Nick Andrews, Stanford senior Ryan Thacher, UCLA sophomore Clay Thompson, UCLA sophomore Adrien Puget, Utah freshman Slim Hamza.
   Honorable mention -- Cal senior Carlos Cueto, USC sophomore Emilio Gomez, UCLA freshman Marcos Giron, Oregon sophomore Robin Cambier and Utah junior Dmytro Mamedov.
WEEKEND TV SCHEDULE
   Today -- Madrid (women), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 2-6 a.m. (live), 12:30-4:30 p.m. (repeat), 9:30-11:30 p.m. (repeat). Madrid (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 6-8:30 a.m. (live), 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (live), 4:30-9:30 p.m. (repeat). 
   Sunday -- Madrid (women), final, Tennis Channel, 6:30-8:30 a.m. (live), noon-2 p.m. (repeat), 4:30-6:30 p.m. (repeat). Madrid (men), final, Tennis Channel, 9:30 a.m.-noon (live), 2-4:30 p.m. (repeat), 6:30-9 p.m. (repeat).
CALENDAR
   Today -- NCAA Division I Women's Team Championships, second round: Yale at Stanford, 3 p.m; Pepperdine at Cal, 3 p.m.
   NCAA Division I Men's Team Championships, first round: Santa Clara vs. Texas at Stanford, 9 a.m.; Sac State at Stanford, noon; Texas Tech vs. Cal Poly at Cal, 9 a.m.; Texas-San Antonio at Cal, noon.
   Sunday -- NCAA Division I Men's Team Championships, second round: Santa Clara/Texas vs. Sac State/Stanford, noon; Texas Tech/Cal Poly vs. Cal/Texas-San Antonio at Cal, 1 p.m.
   May 17-22 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Team Championships, Round of 16 through finals, Athens, Ga.
   May 23-28 -- NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Individual Championships, Athens, Ga.
   MAY 27-JUNE 10 -- FRENCH OPEN.
   May 28-June 3 -- $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger, Gold River Racquet Club, 2201 Gold Rush Drive, Gold River.

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