Stanford knocks out A&M women's tennis team in second round of NCAAs

Published Sunday, May 11, 2008 6:23 AM

Special to The Eagle

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STANFORD, Calif. -- Texas A&M senior Anna Blagodarova posted her 100th-career singles victory for the only point the Aggies could score against fourth-seeded Stanford, which cruised to a 4-1 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

"We came here to win the match, so we are disappointed right now," A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "When you stop and take a look back and see what we've accomplished this year, we are going to be able to walk off the court holding our heads high. We gained a lot this year with a young team, and I think the future bodes well for us."

Stanford (21-4) won the doubles point and took a 2-0 lead when Hilary Barte beat Elze Potgieter 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.

Blagodarova then beat Celia Durkin 6-2, 6-1 on the third line to cut Stanford's lead to 2-1, but the Cardinal closed out the match with straight-set victories at Nos. 5 and 6 singles.

Blagodarova became the third Aggie to win 100 singles matches in the program's history.

The Cardinal (21-4), who have won five of the last seven national championships and 15 of 26 total, advance to the round of 16 and will face No. 13 seed Clemson May 15 in Tulsa, Okla.

A&M (17-9) showed some life in doubles. Potgieter and Christi Liles beat Whitney Deason and Jessica Nguyen 8-6 at No. 2 doubles after Stanford had won on the first line. In the deciding third-line match, A&M's Stephanie Davidson and Morgan Frank rallied from three games down to tie Durkin and Carolyn McVeigh at 6-all, but the Stanford duo eventually won 7-2 in a tiebreaker.

The third-line doubles match lasted for 1 hour, 42 minutes.

"At No. 3 we were a little unlucky," Kleinecke said. "I thought we played a great match and had a great opportunity. We had some leads early in it and then had to fight from being behind. That was crucial. We just didn't play a good tiebreaker. Up until that point, I thought we were in great shape. We had some game points to go up 7-6 and just couldn't capitalize on them."

Stanford 4, Texas A&M 1

Singles

(ITA rankings in parantheses)

1. (3) Hilary Barte, STAN., def. (104) Elze Potgieter 6-0, 6-2

2. (13) Jessica Nguyen, STAN., led Christi Liles 7-5, 5-0

3. Anna Blagodarova, A&M, def. (65) Celia Durkin 6-2, 6-1

4. (66) Lindsay Burdette, STAN., led Morgan Frank 6-4, 5-2

5. (68) Whitney Deason, STAN., def. Tiffany Clifford 6-3, 6-3

6. (95) Carolyn McVeigh, STAN., def. Stephanie Davidson 6-3, 6-0

Doubles

(Stanford wins the point)

1. (9) Barte/Burdette, STAN., def. (51) Blagodarova/Clifford 8-1

2. Liles/Potgieter, A&M, def. (49) Deason/Nguyen 8-6

3. Durkin/McVeigh, STAN., def. Davidson/Frank 9-8 (2)

ORDER OF FINISH: D1, D2, D3, S1, S3, S6, S5* (*clinched match)

RECORDS: A&M (17-9), Stanford (21-4)

ITA TEAM RANKINGS: No. 4 Stanford, No. 31 A&M



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Posted by: jp On: 5/11/2008

Comment Title: Good Job Ags
I thought you guys did a good job. Very young team but very much mature.
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