Stanford, Cal women fall in NCAA individual finals

North Carolina's Jamie Loeb defeated Stanford's Carol
Zhao for the NCAA title. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   This is getting a bit old for Stanford and Cal women.
   Today in Waco, Texas, they fell to 0-3 in NCAA singles or doubles finals in the past two years.
   In an all-sophomore singles match, second-seeded Carol Zhao of Stanford lost to seventh-seeded Jamie Loeb of North Carolina 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
   Then No. 5-8 seeds Klara Fabikova and Zsofi Susanyi of Cal dropped a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3 decision to top seeds and defending champions Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe of Alabama.
   In last year's singles final in Athens, Ga., Cal's Lynn Chi lost to Danielle Collins of Virginia. Until then, Stanford or Cal women had won the NCAA singles or doubles title for five straight years. In fact, in 2011 and 2012, they swept the crowns.  
   Zhao, whose winning streak was snapped at 15 matches, attempted to become the third Cardinal in four years to earn the NCAA women's singles title. Nicole Gibbs, who lost in her French Open debut today, triumphed in 2012 and 2013. Danielle Collins of Virginia prevailed in 2014.
   Both Zhao and Loeb have had success playing as amateurs in professional tournaments. The 5-foot-5 (1.65-meter) Zhao, from Canada, is ranked No. 289 in the world. The 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) Loeb, from Ossining, N.Y., reached the quarterfinals in the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger last July.
   Jansen and Routliffe became the first women to repeat as NCAA doubles champions since Amanda Augustus and Amy Jensen of Cal in 1998 and 1999. Augustus is now Cal's coach.
   Stanford's Hilary Barte (2011 and 2012) and Mallory Burdette (2012 and 2013) each won back-to-back NCAA doubles crowns but with different partners.
    Fabikova, a junior from the Czech Republic, and Susanyi, a senior from Hungary, tried to become the first Bears to win the doubles title since Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova in 2009. Juricova also won the 2011 singles crown at Stanford.
   In today's men's singles final, eighth-seeded Ryan Shane of NCAA champion Virginia used his massive power to beat No. 7 Noah Rubin of Wake Forest 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1.
   Shane, a 6-foot-4 (1.94-meter) junior from Falls Church, Va., avenged a 7-6 (5), 6-3 loss to the 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Rubin in last month's Atlantic Coast Conference final.
   Rubin would have been just the second player to win the Wimbledon juniors, USTA Boys 18 National Championships and NCAAs, and he would have been the first freshman to accomplish the feat. Only UCLA men's coach Billy Martin has won all three titles.
   Both singles finals were moved indoors because of rain.
   As American NCAA champs, Loeb and Shane will receive wild cards into the main draw of the U.S. Open in August. Loeb, like Rubin a product of the Manhattan-based John McEnroe Tennis Academy, lives only 30 minutes from the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.  
   In an all-Big 12 Conference men's doubles final, Lloyd Glasspool and Soren Hess-Olesen of Texas defeated Hugo Dojas and Felipe Soares of Texas Tech 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Both teams were unseeded.

Cal, Stanford women reach last 16 in NCAA singles

   Two women from Cal and one from Stanford reached the round of 16 on Thursday in the NCAA Singles Championships in Waco, Texas.
   Advancing on a chilly day, in contrast to Wednesday's heat and humidity, were fourth-seeded Maegan Manasse and unseeded Zsofi Susanyi of the Bears and second-seeded Carol Zhao of the Cardinal.
   Falling in the second round were No. 9-16 seed Giuliana Olmos of USC and Fremont and unseeded Caroline Doyle of Stanford and San Francisco.
   Manasse eliminated Alabama's Erin Routliffe, the defending champion in doubles with Maya Jansen, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1. Susanyi, a semifinalist as a freshman, upset No. 9-16 seed Julia Jones of Mississippi 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
   Susanyi, a senior from Hungary, became an All-American for the fifth time (three in singles and two in doubles) by reaching the round of 16 as an unseeded player. All seeds automatically earn All-America status.
   Susanyi will face Zhao, who crushed Sophie Watts of Fresno State 6-0, 6-2. Zhao, a sophomore from Canada, has lost only four games in two matches.
   Unseeded Chanelle Van Nguyen, a 2014 quarterfinalist from UCLA, demolished sixth-seeded Julia Elbaba, the 2014 National Indoor champion from Virginia, 6-2, 6-0.
    Olmos lost to Natalie Beazant of Rice 6-2, 6-4, and Doyle succumbed to top-seeded Robin Anderson of UCLA by the same score.
   Meanwhile, the top two men's seeds lost. Top-seeded Axel Alvarez Llamas of Oklahoma fell to Tony Lupieri of Baylor 6-4, 6-4, and No. 2 Julian Lenz of host Baylor was ousted by Jonny Wang, who walked on at USC, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.
   Also, Cameron Norrie of Texas Christian surprised No. 6 Soren Hess-Olesen, a 2014 semifinalist from Texas, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
   After two rounds, No. 5 Sebastian Stiefelmeyer of Louisville is the highest remaining seed.
   All four women's doubles teams from Cal and Stanford reached the second round. Moving on were No. 2 Taylor Davidson-Zhao, Doyle-Ellen Tsay (Pleasanton), No. 5-8 Manasse-Starr and No. 5-8 Klara Fabikova-Susanyi. Also advancing was the USC team of Olmos and Zoe Scandalis.
   In men's doubles, No. 5-8 seeds John Morrissey and Robert Stineman of Stanford lost to Marko Krickovic and Lukas Ollert of Auburn 7-5, 6-3. And UCLA's Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont and Martin Redlicki fell to Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle of LSU 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4.
   Second-seeded Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz of USC lost to Lloyd Glasspool and Hess-Olesen of Texas 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, and No. 3 Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane of NCAA champion Virginia dropped a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 7-5 decision to Harry Jadun and John Patrick Mullane of Michigan State.

Defending champ Gibbs moves into NCAA quarters

   Nicole Gibbs of Stanford stayed alive in her quest to repeat as the NCAA women's singles champion.
   Gibbs, seeded 9-16, defeated fourth-seeded Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar of Texas A&M for the second time in three days, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday in the round of 16 in Urbana, Ill. 
   Gibbs had beaten Sanchez-Quintanar 0-6, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles on Tuesday in Stanford's 4-3 victory in the NCAA team final. Gibbs won the final 12 games in a row.
   "It was definitely a weird match the last time we played," Gibbs, a 5-foot-6 (1.68-meter) junior from Santa Monica in the Los Angeles area, said on gostanford.com. "I didn't really have any expectations coming into this match other than it would be gritty out there. She makes a lot of balls and makes you do some weird things to win points. I think both of us are pretty effective at using the short court and drop shots and slices, so there were a lot of really fun points, really long points, too."
   Gibbs is the only remaining player, man or woman, from a Northern California school in NCAA singles or doubles. Cal sophomore Zsofi Susanyi, seeded fifth, and Stanford freshman Krista Hardebeck, seeded 9-16, lost in the round of 16.
   Gibbs is trying to become the first repeat champion in NCAA women's singles since Stanford's Amber Liu in 2003-04. Liu is married to International Tennis Hall of Famer Michael Chang.
   The last woman to play on the championship team and win the singles crown in the same season was Duke's Mallory Cecil in 2009 at College Station, Texas.
   Gibbs, who won last year's doubles title with Mallory Burdette, lost in the first round of that event this year with Kristie Ahn. Burdette turned pro last September after reaching the third round of the U.S. Open, forgoing her senior year.
   The last man or woman to win the "Triple Crown" -- team, singles and doubles titles -- was Matias Boeker of Georgia in 2001.
   Gibbs is scheduled to face Clemson's Yana Koroleva, a 7-5, 7-6 (6) winner over Susanyi, in the quarterfinals today at 10 a.m. PDT. The match will be streamed live at www.ncaa.com.
   Gibbs beat Koroleva, a 6-foot (1.83-meter) sophomore from Moscow, 6-2, 6-2 in Stanford's 5-2 victory over Clemson on Feb. 23 in Gainesville, Fla.
   Susanyi, who battled injuries this season, earned All-America status for the second straight year by reaching the round of 16. She advanced to last year's semifinals.  
   Hardebeck appeared to run out of gas after helping Stanford capture the team title and winning 6-4 in the third set in the first two rounds of singles. She fell to sixth-seeded Lauren Herring of Georgia 6-0, 6-2.
   In addition to earning All-America honors this season, Hardebeck was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team at No. 3 doubles and to the All-Pacific-12 Conference second team. She also won the deciding match in Stanford's 4-3 victory over two-time defending champion Florida on Monday in the NCAA semifinals.

Defending champ Gibbs advances in NCAA singles

   One day after helping the Stanford women win the NCAA team title, Nicole Gibbs successfully began the defense of her singles crown.
   The junior from Santa Monica defeated Yang Pang of Arkansas 7-5, 6-4 in the first round today in Urbana, Ill.
   Gibbs is seeded only 9-16 because she played professional tournaments in the fall as an amateur. That reduced her chances to beat top college players, the basis for the collegiate rankings.
   Also advancing today were Stanford freshman Krista Hardebeck of Santa Ana, Cal sophomore Zsofi Susanyi of Hungary, Cal freshman Klara Fabikova of the Czech Republic and Santa Clara junior Katie Le of Milpitas.
   Susanyi, who reached last year's semifinals, is seeded fifth, and Hardebeck is No. 9-16. Le earned the first NCAA singles victory in school history.
   Falling in the first round were eighth-seeded Anett Schutting of Cal, Kristie Ahn of Stanford, Klaudia Boczova of San Jose State and Jenny Jullien of Saint Mary's. Ahn had clinched Stanford's dramatic 4-3 victory over Texas A&M in Tuesday's NCAA team final.
   Jacqueline Cako of Arizona State upset top-seeded Lauren Embree of Florida 6-3, 6-2.
   All three men from Northern California schools -- Ben McLachlan and Campbell Johnson of Cal and John Morrissey of Stanford -- lost in the first round.
   The top two men's seeds also fell. Mitchell Frank, the hero of Virginia's 4-3 victory over UCLA in Tuesday's NCAA team final, routed No. 1 Mikelis Libietis of Tennessee 6-2, 6-1. Tsvetan Mihov of South Carolina ousted No. 2 Alex Domijan of Virginia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.   
   Men's and women's second-round singles and first-round doubles matches are scheduled for Thursday.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

In Urbana, Ill.
(Matches involving players from Northern California schools only)

Women's first-round singles

   Stephanie Wagner, Miami, def. Klaudia Boczova, San Jose State, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

   Petra Niedermayerova (9-16), Kansas State, def. Kristie Ahn, Stanford, 6-2, 6-1.

   Nicole Gibbs (9-16), Stanford, def. Yang Pang, Arkansas, 7-5, 6-4.

   Zsofi Susanyi (5), Cal, def. Caroline Rohde-Moe, Mississippi, 6-3, 6-0.

   Yana Koroleva (9-16), Clemson, def. Jenny Jullien, Saint Mary's, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

   Krista Hardebeck (9-16), Stanford, def. Pleun Burgmans, Auburn, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

   Klara Fabikova, Cal, def. Whitney Kay, North Carolina, 7-5, 6-2.

   Katie Le, Santa Clara, def. Emina Bektas, Michigan, 7-6 (3), 7-5.

   Natalie Beazant, Rice, def. Anett Schutting (8), Cal, 7-5, 6-3.

Men's first-round singles

   Guillermo Alcorta, Oklahoma, def. Campbell Johnson, Cal, 6-2, 6-4.
   Anthony Rossi (4), Kentucky, def. John Morrissey, Stanford, 6-2, 6-2.
   Blaz Rola (9-16), Ohio State, def. Ben McLachlan, Cal, 6-2, 7-6 (4).