University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Upsets Top-Ranked Stanford
February 09, 2002 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 9, 2002
MADISON, WIS. - Fifth-ranked Georgia snapped top-ranked Stanford's 35-match winning streak with a 4-3 victory Saturday to advance to the finals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Lady Bulldogs (6-0) won the doubles point and then captured three singles matches to clinch the victory at 4-0 before retiring in the final three matches giving the Cardinal (5-1) three points for a 4-3 final. In past tournament play, the match was stopped after a team had clinched but this year, the format calls for teams to play out the match. However, Georgia opted to default the last three contests to rest up for Sunday's final against either second-ranked Duke or fourth-ranked Vanderbilt. The Duke/Vanderbilt match was being contested late Saturday. Georgia's win over Stanford was a rematch of last year's indoor final that saw the Cardinal win 4-3. Stanford had won 63 of its last 64 matches coming into Saturday's semifinal. Prior to the latest setback, Stanford's last loss came to Georgia in the 2000 NCAA national championship match. "We played an outstanding match and showed true Bulldog spirit tonight," said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace. "After we clinched the match, we decided to rest everybody up for the final so the final was 4-3 instead of 4-0. This was a great win for Georgia, and now we've got to focus on playing for the title." Georgia advances to its fourth USTA/ITA indoor final. They won the title in 1994 and 1995 and were finalists last season. Georgia's No. 2 team of Mariel Verban and Tina Hojnik clinched the doubles point with a 9-8(4) win over Stanford's Gabriela Lastra and Keiko Tokuda. Georgia's other win came in the No. 1 match as Agata Cioroch and Lori Grey upset the sixth-ranked duo of Lauren Barnikow and Erin Burdette 8-2. In singles, Cioroch, Nguyen and Grey notched wins to lead Georgia to victory. Cioroch, ranked 18th nationally, posted a 6-2,6-0 upset over 11th-ranked Lastra. Nguyen defeated Barnikow 6-1,6-1 while Grey clinched the victory with a 6-4,6-3 win over Emilia Anderson. Cioroch and Nguyen are 3-0 this week at the tournament. Georgia's road the final has included wins over Baylor, Tennessee and Stanford. In the win over Tennessee Friday, Georgia overcame a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3.
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