Tuesday, 5/20/97 Bruins collared by Bulldogs M. TENNIS:
Defending champs head to finals with win over No. 2 Mississippi
By Mark Shapiro Daily Bruin Staff Another year, another trip to
the finals. Journeys to the NCAA men’s tennis championship match
are becoming old hat for the third-seeded Stanford University men’s
tennis team, which advanced to the finals for the third consecutive
year with a 4-2 victory over second-seeded University of
Mississippi. The Cardinal, the two-time defending champion, is
presented with the opportunity to win a third straight title. "It’s
nice to be in the finals," Stanford head coach Dick Gould said. The
Cardinal started quickly, taking advantage of a Rebel doubles
lineup that has struggled all season, to capture the doubles point.
With the vaunted Mississippi singles lineup, featuring three
players in the top 10, the doubles point proved vital. "You can’t
get too excited about winning the doubles point against
Mississippi," Gould said. "I would have felt pretty uncomfortable
losing the doubles." The Cardinal got all that it could handle in
the singles, but managed to capture the three matches they needed
to advance to the finals. Stanford was able to move out to a quick
3-1 lead as senior Grant Elliot won at No. 6 singles and freshman
Bob Bryan stormed to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Sebastian DeChaunac,
who is ranked second in the country. "Bob Bryan played great,"
Mississippi head coach Billy Chadwick said. "Sebastian couldn’t
find his rhythm, and it resulted in a one-sided match." Stanford
sophomore Ryan Wolters found himself in a slugfest at No. 1 singles
with the Rebels Johan Hede, who is ranked ninth in the nation.
Wolters entered the match in a slump after a poor doubles
performance. After struggling early in the match and facing four
set points in the first set, Wolters righted himself and rallied to
capture a match-clinching 7-5, 6-2 victory. "I was a little down
after (doubles)," Wolters said. "I was a little down after that. I
missed too many at the beginning, but once I got that first set, I
felt I knew how to beat him." Cardinal junior Paul Goldstein lost
at No. 4 singles to Martin Sjoqvist 6-2, 7-5, and Mississippi’s
Vikrat Chada beat Stanford’s Geoff Abrams 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5
singles. The singles action was marred by DeChaunac’s spitting at
Bryan after the doubles play, and a game penalty given to Johan
Lansburg, the Rebels No. 3 singles player, who bumped the umpire
while disputing a call. "These youngsters want to win so bad, it’s
a fine line that one is walking," Chadwick said. "It’s not only in
tennis that you see this. The crowd was riding them the entire
time." PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin Stanford Tennis player Ryan Wolters
overcame his recent slump in the semifinal match Monday. Stanford
will face off against Georgia.