Friday, April 25, 2014

Stanford men upset in Pac-12 tourney

   So much for momentum.
   The No. 27 Stanford men had won five straight matches, including last weekend's upset at No. 16 Cal, and jumped 25 places in the rankings in three weeks entering the Pacific-12 Conference Championships in Ojai.
   But the third-seeded Cardinal lost to seventh-seeded Oregon, ranked 49th, 4-2 on Thursday in the Pac-12 quarterfinals after receiving a first-round bye.
   In the clinching match, No. 78 Robin Cambier defeated No. 103 John Morrissey 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.
   Meanwhile, fourth-seeded and 19th-ranked Cal coasted to a 4-0 victory over fifth-seeded and 59th-ranked Utah. The Bears will meet USC, seeded and ranked No. 1, today for a berth in the final.  
   Stanford (14-5), despite losing to Oregon, likely will receive an at-large berth in next month's NCAA Championships. The field will be announced Tuesday.
   The Cardinal has won a record 15 NCAA men's team titles (USC is next with eight) but none since 2000. Stanford lost in the first round of the NCAAs last year for the first time in its 35 appearances.
   Women in the Pac-12 Championships play as individuals in singles and doubles rather than as teams. Three players from Cal and one from Stanford each won two singles matches to reach the quarterfinals. Advancing for the Bears were third-seeded Anett Schutting, No. 5 Lynn Chi and No. 7 Denise Starr, and moving on for the Cardinal was No. 4 Carol Zhao.
   Both of last year's freshman finalists, champion Kyle McPhillips of UCLA and Krista Hardebeck of Stanford, lost in the first round. Hardebeck fell to second-seeded Chanelle Van Nguyen of UCLA 6-3, 7-5.  
   The Cardinal's Ellen Tsay and Taylor Davidson exited in the second round.
   UCLA's Robin Anderson, ranked second nationally, is not playing singles or doubles. Stanford's Kristie Ahn, ranked third, is playing doubles only. She is seeded first with Zhao.
   The doubles tournament begins today.
OTHER COLLEGE TOURNAMENTS
   West Coast Conference
Quarterfinals
   In San Diego
   Men: Pacific (7) def. Portland (3), 4-3; Santa Clara (4) def. USF (8), 4-0.
   Women: Saint Mary's (3) def. USF (6), 4-0; Santa Clara (4) def. San Diego (5), 4-3.
Big West Conference
Quarterfinals
In Indian Wells, Calif.
   Men: UC Davis (4) def. UC Irvine (5), 4-0.
   Women: UC Davis (4) vs. UC Santa Barbara (5), today, 11 a.m.
 Big Sky Conference
Quarterfinals
At Gold River (Calif.) Racquet Club
   Women: Sacramento State (3) vs. Northern Colorado (6), today, 10 a.m.
   Men: Sac State (5) vs. Montana State (4), today, 2 p.m. 
Mountain West Conference
Quarterfinals
At Sierra Sport & Racquet Club in Fresno
   Women: San Jose State (6) vs. San Diego State (3), today, 2 p.m.

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