[fantic]

from USC website;

" to snap a stretch of six straight losses to the rival Bruins. USC's 6-1 win over No. 1 UCLA also secured at least a share of the Pac-12 Championship for the Women of Troy, who improve to 20-3 overall and hold a 9-1 record in conference play to finish atop the Pac-12 standings.

USC, UCLA, Stanford and California all entered this final week of the regular season with just one Pac-12 loss apiece. The Cardinal (7-1) and the Bears (8-1) will play tomorrow, and regardless of the outcome USC will share the rights to the Pac-12 Championship title with one of those teams thanks to today's win. USC last claimed a conference title in 2009 -- also the last time the Trojans had beaten the Bruins."

(tears of joy)

[tennisbuddy12]

Originally Posted by fantic

'maya girl'? I think she's a medical girl (what's the proper name, can't remember ) she massaged KK's back after her win

Oh and the Israel girl is now playing at Miami, Zimmerman

Thanks! I saw that after I asked haha I thought I saw her in the team pictures so I wasn't sure.

[fantic]

^ no problem

and;

from CAL's website;

"No. 10 Bears Bully Bulldogs on Senior Day"

now that's more like it

CAL girls, give a chance for the CAL writer to be creative

some suggestions;

"Trample the Tree" "Topple the Tree"

[fantic]

again from the CAL website;

"The Bears have beaten the Cardinal just twice in the last 10 meetings; once in 2008 and once in 2009. Both wins were home matches"

"Mallory Burdette who leads all Stanford players with a 30-4 overall record. She is on a 16-match singles winning streak that has produced a 16-0 mark in duals."

"Tan and Tsay form the 29th-ranked pair in the country. They are undefeated in 20 matches and are 15-0 at No. 2 doubles."

so if Jana and Nicole meets at #1, it's 'loser's match' Who will be the 'better' loser? (both lost to Robin)

[urklerlay]

Originally Posted by fantic

are you going their tomorrow? Can we expect another high quality photo of Gibbsy (whining)?

Unfortunately can't make today's match. Too bad, it should be a competitive one, plus it is Senior Day for Veronica Li. I'm glad she had a good season this year.

btw - what ever happened to Logan Hansen and Courtney Clayton. Weren't they both in the same class as VL? Looking back on the archives of the Stanford site, I see Hansen lasted 2 years but Clayton only played 1 year.

[fantic]

Originally Posted by urklerlay

Unfortunately can't make today's match. Too bad, it should be a competitive one, plus it is Senior Day for Veronica Li. I'm glad she had a good season this year.

btw - what ever happened to Logan Hansen and Courtney Clayton. Weren't they both in the same class as VL? Looking back on the archives of the Stanford site, I see Hansen lasted 2 years but Clayton only played 1 year.

Too bad, maybe calbear93 at you-tube will take some HQ videos..

And yeah, I've wondered the same thing about Hansen and Clayton.

[slickshoes510]

Gibbs clinches the win for Stanford at Court 1 over Juricova.

[fantic]

Originally Posted by slickshoes510

Gibbs clinches the win for Stanford at Court 1 over Juricova.

Nobody watched this match?

from STAN website;

"No. 5 Stanford (17-1, 8-1 Pac-12) will now have an opportunity to join USC (20-3, 9-1 Pac-12) as conference co-champions, should the Cardinal defeat Washington State (18-5, 6-3 Pac-12) next week in a neutral site contest at Ojai, Calif., site of the Pac-12 Championships. The Cardinal and Cougars are forced to play a make-up match after their March 24 contest was rained out."

huh?

"Stanford will play Washington State on Wednesday, April 25, at 11:30 a.m. in Ojai, Calif. The Pac-12 Championships get underway the following day, with competition wrapping up Sunday, April 29."

Wednesday? I have no schedule on Wednesday Go Cougars?

[fantic]

No. 5 Stanford 4, No. 10 California 3

DOUBLES
1) No. 2 Burdette/Gibbs (STAN) d. No. 15 Juricova/Susanyi (CAL) 8-6

Close

2) No. 5 Goransson/Schutting (CAL) d. No. 29 Tan/Tsay (STAN) 8-2

3) Dillon/Li (STAN) d. Davis/Alice Duranteau (CAL) 8-2

Davis/Duranteau

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1

SINGLES
1) No. 4 Nicole Gibbs (STAN) d. No. 6 Jana Juricova (CAL) 7-6 (2), 6-2

Jana Too bad, I expected Mal vs Jana match

2) No. 5 Mallory Burdette (STAN) d. No. 11 Zsofi Susanyi (CAL) 6-2, 6-4

Mal, pretty much the hottest player right now. Strong contender for the NCAA.

3) No. 54 Stacey Tan (STAN) d. No. 93 Anett Schutting (CAL) 6-3, 6-2

4) No. 57 Tayler Davis (CAL) d. No. 61 Ellen Tsay (STAN) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (7)

Ranking don't lie I guess

5) No. 79 Annie Goransson (CAL) d. Veronica Li (STAN) 6-1, 6-0
6) Cecilia Estlander (CAL) d. Natalie Dillon (STAN) 6-4, 6-2

Order of Finish: 2, 5, 3, 6, 1, 4

[fantic]

Cal title for today;

"No. 10 Cal Drops 4-3 Decision to No. 5 Stanford"

Such a big 'chance' wasted Tennisace

[fantic]

Natalie with Mal? beat Lao/Kinstler at Ojai last year I think..?

Also coach Augustus on Goransson/Schutting;

"They've got a shot at the Pac-12 title and the NCAA championship if they keep playing like they've been playing."

[urklerlay]

Okay, I did end up going to the match, but I was late. I have to admit I was a bit nervous after the loss to the Bruins, and it would be interesting on how the Card would respond.

I walk into Taube and I'm immediately relieved that the Card won the doubles point. Glancing quickly down the courts, Gibbs is down a break, and both Stacy and Mallory are comfortably ahead.

Due to the heat, I stood at the end of court three where there was some shade! From there I had a good view of S Tan dismantling Anett Schutting.

Interesting that Zsofi Susanyi changed tactics after losing the first set...more moon balls. Lots more moon balls. It worked as she jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Let's just say it worked briefly, as Mal broke back, tied it up and eventually won the match.

Nicole fought back to bring the first set to a tie breaker. Winning the tie breaker heavily swung the momentum in her favor where she won the second set fairly easily. I will note that Jana Juricova was a little off today and probably missed more shots than usual. At least she missed more than the last time I saw her, when she won the 2011 NCAA singles championship.

Now on to the bottom half of the singles. Obviously, you can really only watch either the top three or the bottom three over at Taube. Everyone was getting blown out in the first set except Nat Dillon at 6! Tsay and Li going down quickly, just like against UCLA. Me not so happy b/c at that point, the only chance Stanford had to win was the top 3 singles winning all their matches, and as you know, that would be hard to do.

Annie Goransson destroyed Li. I give all the credit to the Bear, but I saw a lot of moon balls over on that court and it wasn't coming from the Stanford side. Whatever it takes to win, right? That beat down wasn't very nice considering it was Stanford Senior Day and the only senior was V Li.

Tsay lost her first set and was up a break in the second, lost it, but then broke again to win the set. By the time that set was over, the Dual was decided so they just played a 10pt tie breaker, where Tayler won the match. Now I admit, I'm terrible at analysis, but here it goes: Tayler played smart, mixing up moon balls (ugh!) and aggressive net play. In order for Tsay to step up her game, I think she needs to hit a bit harder for a more effective approach shot and a better passing shot.

Dillon - I'm not sure what to think of her. She won't blow anyone off the court, but decent enough game I suppose. I think a quality win would do wonders for her mental game.

Here's the bottom line: unless K Ahn comes back, NCAA Championships are up for grabs. If Kristie does come back, it would be an upset if Stanford doesn't win it all. UPDATE on K Ahn: still in a walking boot, but no more crutches. I'd be surprised if she played the Pac 10 Champs, but I expect her back for the NCAA Champs. (sorry for the length of the post, but it was actually kind of nice to watch matches as opposed to watching them thru a camera viewfinder!)

[fantic]

On Ojai;

"Draws will be available at Pac-12.org"

[urklerlay]

Has anyone ever attended the Pac 10 Championships? If so, was it good, bad? Is it well attended? Seems like it is in the middle of...nowhere!

[Amalgamate]

@urklerlay, Thanks for the Kristie update. Glad to hear she isn't on crutches anymore.