Stanford women to face USC for Pac-12 title

Alaina Miller, from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay
Area, slugs her two-fisted forehand en route to the girls
18 title in the 2014 Northern California Sectionals in
Sacramento. She was 15 at the time. Now a freshman at
UCLA, Miller gave the No. 23 Bruins their point in a 4-1
loss at No. 21 USC on Sunday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The No. 17 Stanford women will face No. 21 USC in a make-up match on Wednesday in Ojai, Calif., for the Pacific-12 Conference title.
   The Trojans (12-4, 7-0) forced the showdown by defeating No. 23 UCLA 4-1 at USC on Sunday.
   USC's scheduled match at Stanford on March 11 was rained out.
   The Cardinal (13-5, 8-1) seeks its first Pac-12 title since 2012.
   Ninth-ranked Giuliana Olmos, from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Gabby Smith beat sixth-ranked Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips 6-3 to help USC win the doubles point against UCLA (14-6,
6-3).
   Olmos, ranked No. 24 in singles, trailed No. 17 Harrison 7-6 (2), 2-2 on Court 1 when their match was suspended.
   Alaina Miller, a freshman from Saratoga in the Bay Area, gave UCLA its point by beating No. 99 Smith 6-0, 7-5 on Court 4. Miller, who uses two hands on both sides, did not play doubles.
   The Pac-12 Championships are scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday in Ojai, located northwest of Los Angeles near Santa Barbara.

No. 2 Oklahoma tops No. 1 USC for Indoor title

   Avenging its loss to USC in last year's NCAA final, No. 2 Oklahoma defeated the No. 1 Trojans 4-2 today in Chicago for its first title in the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship.
   No. 63 Alex Ghilea provided the clincher, beating Max de Vroome 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Court 5. De Vroome gave USC a 4-2 victory in the NCAA final by outlasting Andrew Harris 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Court 4.
   Harris won the 2012 Wimbledon and French Open junior boys doubles title with fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios, who has soared to 37th in the men's world rankings at 19 years old. Harris now plays No. 1 singles as a sophomore.
   USC's Connor Farren, a sophomore from Foster City in the San Francisco Bay Area, lost at No. 3 doubles with Nick Crystal. Farren did not play singles.
   John Roddick, Andy's older brother, is in his sixth season as Oklahoma's coach.

No. 2 Oklahoma 4, No. 1 USC 2

Doubles

   1. No. 5 Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb (Oklahoma) def. No. 1 Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz, 7-6 (4).
   2. No. 38 Max de Vroome and Eric Johnson (USC) def. Andrew Harris and Spencer Papa, 6-1.
   3. Jose Salazar and Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) def. Nick Crystal and Connor Farren, 7-5.
   Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles

   1. No. 7 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) vs. No. 26 Andrew Harris, 4-6, 6-4, 4-4, did not finish.
   2. No. 11 Axel Alvarez (Oklahoma) def. No. 24 Roberto Quiroz, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
   3. No. 31 Dane Webb (Oklahoma) def. No. 20 Jonny Wang, 6-0, 6-4.
   4. Eric Johnson (USC) def. Spencer Papa, 6-4, 6-1.
   5. No. 63 Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) def. Max de Vroome, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
   6. No. 49 Nick Crystal (USC) def. Jose Salazar, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
   Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 6, 5*
   *Clinched overall match

Farren, No. 1 USC reach National Indoor final

   The ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships has its dream final.
   Top-ranked USC, with Connor Farren from the San Francisco Bay Area, will face No. 2 Oklahoma today in a rematch of last year's NCAA final. The Trojans won 4-2 for their fifth title in six years.
   On Sunday in Chicago, USC (9-0) outclassed No. 4 Georgia 4-1, and Oklahoma (9-0) topped No. 10 Baylor 4-2.
   Farren, a sophomore from Foster City, lost at No. 3 doubles (with Nick Crystal) in his only action.
   No. 63 Alex Ghilea clinched the match for Oklahoma, winning the last 11 games in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 decision over Mate Zsiga at No. 5.
   Meanwhile, No. 3 Virginia and No. 13 Cal completed play with consolation victories.
   The Cavaliers (7-1), featuring freshman Collin Altamirano of Sacramento, routed No. 7 North Carolina 4-0. The Bears (7-2), with freshmen Billy Griffith of Fresno and JT Nishimura of San Jose, defeated No. 22 Penn State 4-2.
   Altamirano won at No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles. Griffith lost at No. 3 singles, but Nishimura triumphed at No. 4. Neither played doubles.

No. 1 USC 4, No. 4 Georgia 1

Doubles

   1. Austin Smith and Ben Wagland (Georgia) def. No. 1 Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz, 6-4.
   2. No. 38 Max de Vroome and Eric Johnson (USC) vs. Nathan Pasha and Eric Diaz, 5-5, suspended.
   3. Paul Ooosterbaan and Wayne Montgomery (Georgia) def. Nick Crystal and Connor Farren, 6-1.
   Order of finish: 3, 1.

Singles

   1. No. 17 Wayne Montgomery (Georgia) vs. No. 7 Yannick Hanfmann, 6-4, 3-6, 4-1, suspended.
   2. No. 24 Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. No. 21 Austin Smith, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
   3. No. 15 Nathan Pasha (Georgia) vs. No. 20 Jonny Wang, 3-6, 6-2, 3-3, suspended.
   4. Eric Johnson (USC) def. Nick Wood, 6-1, 6-1.
   5. Max de Vroome (USC) def. Ben Wagland, 7-5, 6-1.
   6. No. 49 Nick Crystal (USC) def. Paul Oosterbaan, 6-2, 6-3.
   Order of finish: 4, 6, 5, 2.

Farren, USC men top Oklahoma for NCAA title

Connor Farren, shown in the 2012 Australian Open
junior boys tournament, and USC beat Oklahoma
for the NCAA men's title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Connor Farren became an NCAA champion today. 
   Not an individual champion, but he'll take it.
   The freshman from Foster City in the San Francisco Bay Area lost his only match, but the  top-seeded USC men rallied to beat second-seeded Oklahoma 4-2 for the title in Athens, Ga. The Trojans (32-3) overcame a 2-0 deficit.
   Max de Vroome, a sophomore from the Netherlands, provided the clincher with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Andrew Harris at No. 4 singles. Harris, a freshman from Melbourne, Australia, is ranked No. 53, and de Vroome is No. 91.
   The title was the Trojans' fifth in six years and ninth overall. Stanford holds the men's and women's records with 15 and 17, respectively.
   Farren and Roberto Quiroz lost to Guillermo Alcorta and Harris 8-5 at No. 2 doubles.
   Oklahoma (28-4) made its first appearance in the final. The Sooners' John Roddick, Andy's older brother, was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Coach of the Year, the ITA announced today.
   USC's victory completed Southern California's first sweep of the NCAA titles. Fifth-seeded UCLA edged No. 7 North Carolina 4-3 for its second NCAA women's tennis championship and the Bruins' record 111th team title in any sport.
   The Bruins, who finished 27-2, clobbered Sacramento State 4-0 in the first round at UCLA.

Kyle McPhillips, shown in the 2012 Australian Open
junior girls tournament, gave UCLA its second NCAA
women's tennis title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Kyle McPhillips, ranked 38th, clinched the victory over North Carolina (29-6) with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 decision over No. 59 Caroline Price at No. 3 singles.
   The No. 1 singles match featured the top two players in the nation. UCLA junior Robin Anderson, ranked second, dominated freshman Jamie Loeb 6-2, 6-2 to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
   The 5-foot-3 (1.61-meter) Anderson reached two Challenger finals in Northern California last year, one in doubles and one in singles.
   Playing as an amateur, the Matawan, N.J., resident lost with Lauren Embree of Marco Island, Fla., to Naomi Broady of Great Britain and Storm Sanders of Australia in the $50,000 FSP Gold River Women's Challenger in the Sacramento area in July.
   Anderson also fell to Adriana Perez of Venezuela in the $25,000 Ascension Project Women's Challenger in September.
   UCLA won its first women's tennis title in 2008 with the help of sophomore Yasmin Schnack, from the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove. Schnack played professionally for two-plus years, climbing as high as No. 140 in the world in doubles, before starting nursing school in Phoenix in January.
   The 64-player NCAA men's and women's singles tournaments begin Wednesday, and the 32-team doubles tourneys start on Thursday. All finals are scheduled for Monday.

   Following are first-round matchups of players with Northern California connections:

Women's singles

   Kristie Ahn (3), Stanford, vs. Stephanie Nauta, Virginia.
   Krista Hardebeck, Stanford vs. Julia Elbaba (4), Virginia.
   Carol Zhao, Stanford, vs. Georgiana Patrasc, Mississippi State.
   Taylor Davidson, Stanford, vs. Pleun Burgmans, Auburn.
   Ellen Tsay, Stanford, vs. Quinn Gleason, Notre Dame.
   Caroline Doyle, Stanford vs. Stefanie Tan, Texas Christian.
   Anett Schutting (9-16), Cal, vs. Saska Gavrilovska, Texas A&M.
   Denise Starr, Cal, vs. Ester Goldfeld, Duke.
   Zsofi Susanyi, Cal, vs. Cristina Stancu (9-16).
   Lynn Chi, Cal, vs. Emina Bektas (9-16), Michigan.
   Jenny Jullien (9-16), Saint Mary's, vs. Ronit Yurovsky, Michigan.
   Katie Le, Santa Clara, vs. Olivia Janowicz (9-16), Florida.
   Guiliana Olmos (Fremont resident), USC, vs. Loreta Alonso, South Florida.

Women's doubles

   Kristie Ahn and Carol Zhao, Stanford, vs. Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine, Louisville.
   Giuliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis, USC, vs. Stefanie Hristov and Cristina Stancu, Texas A&M.

Men's singles    

   Ben McLachlan, Cal, vs. Jared Hiltzik (8), Illinois.

   Mackenzie McDonald (Piedmont resident), UCLA, vs. Mitchell Frank (4), Virginia. 

Men's doubles

   Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton, Cal, vs. Becker O'Shaughnessey and Daniil Proskura (5-8), Alabama.
   Marcos Giron and Mackenzie McDonald (Piedmont resident), UCLA, vs. Casey MacMaster and Denis Nguyen, Harvard.