University of Oregon
Stanford
No. 1 Cardinal Downs Ducks, 7-0, in Pac-10 Opener
02/26/11 | Women's Tennis
STANFORD, Calif. – The Oregon women's tennis team found itself another victim of an uncanny streak.
The Ducks (6-3) dropped their Pac-10 opener at No. 1 Stanford, 7-0, giving the Cardinal 170 consecutive home dual victories dating back to 1999.
Friday's dual began with singles play and Stanford's nationally ranked top five took No. 1-5 singles in straight sets.
Oregon's No. 106 Pavlina Smatova held her own at times in a two-set battle against No. 2 Hilary Barte, but ultimately fell 6-3, 7-5 at No. 1 singles. Over at No. 6, Lana Buttner forced Jennifer Yen to three sets, but dropped that battle, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2.
Stanford swept the doubles point and handed the Ducks' top duo of Smatova and Patricia Skowronski (No. 45 in the country) its first loss in dual play. The Cardinal's top team of Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs defeated the Ducks' top pairing, 8-1. Caroline McVeigh and Stacey Tan clinched the doubles point at No. 3 with an 8-4 win over Rabea Stuckemann and Pascale Neubert while Mallory Burdette and Jennifer Yen downed Trudie du Toit and Julia Metzger, 8-4, at No. 2 for the sweep.
Stanford posted quick wins at No. 4 and No. 2 to start the day, with 20th-ranked Kristie Ahn and No. 22 Mallory Burdette defeating Stuckemann (6-1, 6-0) and Skowronski (6-2, 6-1), respectively. The Cardinal clinched the match with wins by No. 87 Stacey Tan (6-1, 6-4 over Neubert) at No. 5 and No. 21 Nicole Gibbs (6-0, 6-2 over Metzger) at No. 3.
“We had a couple kids play well, but you play the number one team in the country they are there for a reason,” head coach Paul Reber said. “I was hoping we would battle a little harder in some of our spots, but we're taking this as a learning experience and we'll go forward from here.
“Pavlina held her own at No. 1 singles. She had seven break points, which would've given her a chance to serve for the win in the second set, but she couldn't break through. Stanford played well in the big points in that match and hopefully we can learn from that going into tomorrow.”
Oregon returns to action on Saturday when it takes on No. 6 California at noon.
No. 1 Stanford 7, Oregon 0
SINGLES
No. 1: No. 2 Hilary Barte (STAN) def. No. 106 Pavlina Smatova (ORE) 6-3, 7-5
No. 2: No. 22 Mallory Burdette (STAN) def. Patricia Skowronski (ORE) 6-2, 6-1
No. 3: No. 21 Nicole Gibbs (STAN) def. Julia Metzger (ORE) 6-0, 6-2
No. 4: No. 20 Kristie Ahn (STAN) def. Rabea Stuckemann (ORE) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5: No. 87 Stacey Tan (STAN) def. Pascale Neubert (ORE) 6-1, 6-4
No. 6: Jennifer Yen (STAN) def. Lana Buttner (ORE) 6-0, 4-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 5, 3, 6, 1
DOUBLES
No. 1: Ahn/Gibbs (STAN) d. No. 45 Smatova/Skowronski (ORE) 8-1
No. 2: Burdette/Yen (STAN) d. du Toit/Metzger (ORE) 8-4
No. 3: Carolyn McVeigh/Tan (STAN) d. Neubert/Stuckemann (ORE) 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Players Mentioned
