College previews: Stanford, Cal, Sac State, UC Davis, etc.

Nicole Gibbs lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the
second round of the Bank of the West Classic on Gibbs' home
court at Stanford last July. Gibbs returns to the Farm for her
junior year after sweeping the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   For a while, it appeared the Stanford women would have one of the greatest college teams of all time this season.
   Now, the Cardinal will have to settle for being a strong contender for its record 17th NCAA team title.
   After winning two pro tournaments in singles, including the $100,000 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, and reaching the third round of the U.S. Open before losing to Maria Sharapova last summer, Mallory Burdette decided to forgo her senior season on the Farm.
   All Burdette did at Stanford was win the last two NCAA doubles titles and advance to last year's NCAA singles final, losing to teammate Nicole Gibbs.
   Shed no tears for Stanford, though. The Cardinal has three players with world rankings -- No. 225 Gibbs (who also won last year's NCAA doubles crown with Burdette), No. 308 Krista Hardebeck and No. 561 Kristie Ahn -- plus Stacey Tan, the 2011 NCAA singles runner-up, and Ellen Tsay, ranked No. 55 in college.
   Following are capsules of Northern California college teams:

STANFORD WOMEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 5. 
   Spring season opener -- Today at Freeman Invitational in Las Vegas and National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Indian Wells.
   Coach -- Lele Forood (13th year, 308-19, .942).
   Last season -- 21-2 (9-1 Pacific-12 Conference), lost in quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament.
   Key player lost -- Mallory Burdette, two-time reigning NCAA doubles champion, 2012 NCAA singles runner-up.
   Key returning players -- Junior Nicole Gibbs (Santa Monica), defending NCAA singles and doubles champion; senior Stacey Tan (Lakewood), 2012 All-Pac-12 second team, 2011 NCAA singles runner-up; junior Kristie Ahn (Upper Saddle River, N.J.), semifinalist in $25,000 Redding Challenger last September, 2010-11 All-American in singles; sophomore Ellen Tsay (Pleasanton), ranked No. 55 in preseason singles.
   Key addition -- Freshman Krista Hardebeck (Santa Ana), ranked No. 2 in preseason singles.
   Outlook -- The Cardinal is loaded, even without Burdette.

 STANFORD MEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 10.
   Spring season opener -- Defeated Sacramento State 7-0 on Tuesday.
   Coach -- John Whitlinger (ninth year, 134-67, .667).
   Last season -- 20-9 (5-2 Pac-12), lost in quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament.
   Key players lost -- Bradley Klahn, NCAA singles champion in 2010, quarterfinalist in 2011 and semifinalist in 2012; NCAA doubles runner-up in 2011, semifinalist in 2010 and quarterfinalist in 2012; Ryan Thacher,  NCAA doubles runner-up in 2011, semifinalist in 2010 and quarterfinalist in 2012.
   Key returning players -- Sophomore John Morrissey (Ireland), ranked No. 39 in preseason singles; senior Matt Kandath (Gansevoort, N.Y.); junior Daniel Ho (Rosemead); sophomore Robert Stineman (Winnetka, Ill.); junior Jamin Ball (Palo Alto), ranked No. 57 in preseason doubles with freshman Trey Strobel. 
   Key additions -- Freshmen Nolan Paige (Fairfield, Conn.), Maciek Romanowicz (Poland), Strobel (Bradenton, Fla.) and Anthony Tsodikov (San Francisco). 
   Outlook -- The Cardinal faces a rebuilding year. 

CAL WOMEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 7.
   Spring season opener -- Went 25-0 in singles and 10-2 in doubles in the Weinman Foundation Invitational in Honolulu from Saturday through Monday.
   Coach -- Amanda Augustus (sixth year, 96-31, .756).
   Last season -- 20-7 (8-2 Pac-12), lost in quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament.
   Key player lost -- Jana Juricova, NCAA singles champion in 2011, runner-up in 2010 and quarterfinalist in 2012; NCAA doubles champion in 2009.
   Key returning players -- Zsofi Susanyi (Hungary), ranked No. 7 in preseason singles; Anett Schutting (Estonia), ranked No. 9 in singles and No. 32 in doubles; Annie Goransson (Sweden), ranked No. 110 in singles and No. 32 in doubles; senior Tayler Davis (San Jose); sophomore Cecilia Estlander (Finland); junior Alice Duranteau (France), ranked No. 59 in doubles with sophomore Laura Posylkin (Novato).
   Key additions -- Freshmen Lynn Chi (Weston, Fla.), ranked No. 109 in preseason singles, and Klara Fabikova (Czech Republic), who lost 7-6 in third set to second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg in the $25,000 Redding Challenger.
   Outlook -- Juricova was a big loss, but the Bears return the rest of their top seven players.

CAL MEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 14.
   Spring season opener -- Today at National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Indian Wells.
   Coach -- Peter Wright (20th season, 255-187, .577).
   Last season -- 14-12 (4-3 Pac-12), lost in round of 16 in NCAA Tournament.
   Key players lost -- Nick Andrews, 2012 All-American in doubles; Carlos Cueto, 2012 All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
   Key returning players -- Junior Ben McLachlan (New Zealand), ranked No. 7 in preseason doubles with older brother Riki McLachlan and No. 66 in singles; Christoffer Konigsfeldt (Denmark), ranked No. 42 in singles; redshirt sophomore Chase Melton (Santa Barbara), ranked No. 92 in singles; sophomore Gregory Bayane (France).
   Key additions -- Freshman Mads Engsted (Denmark), ranked No. 93 in preseason singles; freshmen Wyatt Houghton (Westlake Village), Stuart Miller (Napa) and Jordan Smith (Mercer Island, Wash.); sophomore Nikhil Jayashankar (Saratoga, transfer from Northwestern); junior Campbell Johnson (Rancho Santa Fe, transfer from Georgia).
   Outlook -- This is a typical Cal men's team: good but not great. 

SACRAMENTO STATE WOMEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 56.
   Spring season opener -- Feb. 1 at Arizona, 12:30 p.m.
   Coach --Dima Hyrnashka, seventh year (112-45, .713, overall; 47-0 in Big Sky Conference).
   Last season -- 17-10 (8-0 Big Sky), lost in first round of NCAA Tournament.
   Key players lost -- Tatsiana Kapshai, three-time Big Sky MVP; Clarisse Baca, three-time All-Big Sky first-team selection; Maria Meliuk, second-team All-Big Sky.
   Key returning players -- Senior Rebeca Delgado (Mexico), three-time All-Big Sky first-team selection; junior Sophie Lohscheidt (Germany); junior Katharina Knoebl (Austria).
   Key additions -- Freshmen Saskia Angerer (Austria), Olivia Boija (Sweden), Jennifer Nguyen (Australia) and Siobhan Ryan-Bovey (Ireland).
   Outlook -- The rebuilding Hornets seek their 12th consecutive Big Sky regular-season championship, conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. They have won 92 straight conference matches.

SACRAMENTO STATE MEN

   Spring season opener -- Lost to Stanford 7-0 on Tuesday.
   Coach -- Slava Konikov, eighth year (108-71, .603, overall; 50-3, .943, in Big Sky Conference).
   Last season -- 11-13 (7-1 Big Sky), lost in first round of NCAA Tournament.
   Key player lost -- Javier Millan, second-team All-Big Sky.
   Key returning players -- Senior Aliaksandr Malko (Belarus), first-team All-Big Sky; sophomore Marek Marksoo (Estonia), first-team All-Big Sky; sophomores Sean Kollar (Loomis), Roy Brandys (Poland) and Tom Miller (Great Britain).
   Key addition -- Redshirt freshman Niranjan Ram (India).     
   Outlook --The experienced Hornets eye their fifth consecutive Big Sky tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. 

UC DAVIS WOMEN

   Spring season opener -- Today vs. Northern Arizona in Tempe, Ariz., 1 p.m
   Coach -- Bill Maze, 18th year (193-160, .547, overall; 60-20, .750, in conference matches).
   Last season -- 12-12 (6-2 Big West Conference), lost in semifinals of Big West tournament.
   Key players lost -- Dahra Zamudio, second-team All-Big West; Kelly Chui.
   Key returning players -- Junior Megan Heneghan (Tustin), two-time All-Big West first-team selection; senior Lauren Curry (Walnut Creek); sophomore Layla Sanders (El Cerrito), second-team All-Big West in doubles; junior Nicole Koehly (Santa Ana); senior Ellie Edles (Costa Mesa). 
   Key additions -- Freshmen Claire Jaramishian (Fresno) and Tiffany Pham (Elk Grove).
   Outlook -- Led by Heneghan, the Aggies could contend for the Big West regular-season and tournament titles.

UC DAVIS MEN 

    Spring season opener -- Saturday at Santa Clara, 10 a.m.
   Coach --Eric Steidlmayer, first year.
   Last season -- 6-16 (1-4 Big West Conference), lost in quarterfinals of Big West tournament.
   Key players lost -- Chris Aria; Josh Albert, All-Big West honorable mention in doubles.
   Key returning players -- Senior Toki Sherbakov (Mountain View), All-Big West first team in singles, honorable mention in doubles; junior Kyle Miller (Pacific Grove), All-Big West honorable mention in doubles; senior Hugo Verdi-Fortin (Canada), All-Big West honorable mention in doubles; junior Alec Haley (Woodside); senior George Horowitz (Atherton).
   Key additions --Freshmen Brett Bacharach (Newcastle), Adam Levie (Solana Beach) and Mitch Thorp (Kent, Wash.).
   Outlook --Led by Sherbakov, the experienced Aggies should improve upon last season. 

ALSO

   Other national rankings and player notes:
   Women's team -- No. 42 Saint Mary's, No. 68 UC Irvine (with sophomore twins Kat and Ali Facey of Cameron Park), No. 72 Syracuse (with sophomore Breanna Bachini of Roseville).
   Women's singles -- No. 26 Katie Le (Santa Clara junior from Milpitas), No. 64 Jenny Jullien (Saint Mary's junior from France).
   Men's team -- No. 36 Santa Clara (with senior Matt Kecki of Sacramento).
   Men's singles -- No. 65 John Lamble (Santa Clara junior from Saratoga).
   Notes -- As a qualifier in her first pro tournament, Le stunned Cepede Royg, a Paraguayan then ranked No. 216 in the world, to reach the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Redding Challenger last September. Le, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year, then lost to Sachie Ishizu of Japan. ...
   Kecki, an Australian Open junior doubles semifinalist in 2006 and 2007, transferred to Santa Clara after helping USC win two NCAA team titles and sitting out last season. ...
   Bachini went 4-5 in singles, primarily at No. 3 and No. 4, and 1-5 in doubles, mainly at No. 1, during her injury-plagued freshman year. Syracuse is coached by Luke Jensen, who won the French Open men's doubles title with his brother, Murphy, 20 years ago. The Orange coach, who was known as "Dual Hand Luke" because he's ambidextrous, teaches his players to hit with each hand.

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.