Monday, 05/14/2012

STANFORD, Calif.- No. 11 Stanford wasted little time in kicking off the postseason, dispatching unranked Sacramento State 4-0 on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Championships at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

Making its 34th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and seeking its 19th national championship, Stanford (18-8, 5-2 Pac-12) will now play No. 39 Santa Clara on Sunday at 12 p.m. with a berth to next week's round of 16 on the line.

Santa Clara stunned No. 19 Texas 4-1 on Saturday morning in its NCAA Tournament debut, pleasing a large and vocal contingent of Bronco fans.

Ranked No. 11 in the latest edition of the ITA national rankings and seeded No. 11 in the postseason draw, Stanford was playing its first dual match since a 4-0 loss to No. 1 USC back on April 27. The Cardinal showed little signs of rust, overwhelming Sacramento State with dominating doubles and singles play.

The tone was established in doubles, with the Cardinal notching identical 8-1 victories at the top two courts.

Bradley Klahn cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 victory at the No. 1 spot, Daniel Ho matched that same score with a triumph on court four and John Morrissey made the most of his first career postseason outing by providing the 6-0, 6-0 clincher over on court three.

Sunday's contest represents a rematch from earlier this season, with Stanford defeating Santa Clara 6-1 back on Jan. 28.

However, much has changed since then, with the Cardinal welcoming All-American Bradley Klahn back from injury while sporting a shuffled doubles lineup. Meanwhile, the Broncos are enjoying their best season in school history and looked sharp on Saturday in putting away Texas.

No. 11 Stanford 4, Sacramento State 0

DOUBLES
1) Lin/Thacher (STAN) d. Marksoo/Millan (SAC) 8-1
2) Klahn/Morrissey (STAN) d. Kolar/Miller (SAC) 8-1
3) Ball/Stineman (STAN) vs. Brandys/Malko (SAC) abandoned
Order of Finish: 2, 1

SINGLES
1) No. 36 Bradley Klahn (STAN) d. Aliaksandr Malko (SAC) 6-0, 6-2
2) No. 29 Ryan Thacher (STAN) vs. Marek Marksoo (SAC) abandoned
3) John Morrissey (STAN) d. Javier Millan (SAC) 6-0, 6-0
4) Daniel Ho (STAN) d. Sean Kolar (SAC) 6-0, 6-2
5) Robert Stineman (STAN) vs. Roy Brandys (SAC) abandoned
6) Denis Lin (STAN) vs. Tom Miller (SAC) abandoned
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 3