University of Washington
Stanford
Dy And Chan Continue To Roll At No. 1 Stanford
April 09, 2011 | Women's Tennis
April 9, 2011
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Denise Dy and Venise Chan proved their mettle once again today as the two each defeated Top-25 singles players on the home courts of No. 1-ranked Stanford, though the Cardinal would get the team win by a 5-2 count. Still, Washington ended the regular season with its All-American top two having posted positively amazing 20-1 records.
The Huskies conclude the regular season with a 12-10 record and 2-6 mark in Pac-10 play. Eight of the losses came against Top-20 teams, and down the stretch the Huskies were bit by the injury bug. But UW will now have two weeks off before the Pac-10 Championships, with NCAA Regionals another two weeks after that. UW should be assured of its fourth-consecutive NCAA tournament bid, as the Dawgs were ranked 23rd this week with several big wins throughout the year.
All season long though the Huskies have been able to count on Dy and Chan at the top of their lineup through thick and thin. Although the top-ranked Cardinal had already clinched the win, Dy and Chan remained focused on the task at hand, sending UW home on a positive note with clutch victories.
The No. 1 singles match was a battle of top-five players, as fifth-ranked Dy challenged fourth-ranked Hilary Barte. The Cardinal senior was honored as part of Senior Day before the match. Barte is a three-time All-American, NCAA Doubles Champion, former Pac-10 Player of the Year and reigning ITA All-American Championship winner. But she is now 0-3 over the last two years against Dy, as the Husky junior pulled out a 7-6, 7-6 victory, winning both tiebreaks, 8-6. Dy is now 29-5 on the year, needing one more win to become the fifth Husky to win 30 in a season.
Chan had a tough task of her own, going against 22nd-ranked Mallory Burdette at second singles. The 20th-ranked senior out of Hong Kong rallied after losing the first set in a tiebreaker to force a third with a 6-4 second set win. The two played a 10-point tiebreak in lieu of a full third set, and Chan won the final two points to conclude a 6-7 (5), 6-4, (10-8) victory, her second over a Top-25 player this weekend and sixth of the season. Yesterday Chan rolled past 18th-ranked Mari Andersson, 6-2, 6-1. Chan now has 97 career victories, needing just three more to reach triple digits and tie Dea Sumantri for second on the UW career list.
"They have both been such rocks for us at the top two spots, with everything we've gone through we've been able to count on them," said head coach Jill Hultquist. "Both 20-1? I don't think you'll find many ones and twos in the nation with that kind of a mark. Both of their matches were fun to watch today, back and forth, with a lot of intensity."
The Cardinal have not lost on their home courts since the 1999 season, and are undefeated on the season, thus despite Washington's outstanding showing at the top, it could not compete with Stanford's overall depth. The Cardinal have two more Top-25 players at the third and fourth singles spots, and both earned straight set wins. Junior Samantha Smith lost the first set, 6-1, to 17th-ranked Kristie Ahn, before fighting to 5-5 in the second, but Ahn grabbed the final two games to finish off the win. UW wasn't able to get much headway in the fourth through sixth matches.
Washington Women's Tennis
April 9, 2011 - Palo Alto, Calif.
Taube Tennis Stadium
No. 1 Stanford 5, No. 23 Washington 2
Doubles
2. (30) Ahn/Gibbs (Stan) def. Dy/Krsljanin (UW), 8-4
3. McVeigh/Tan (Stan) def. Pavlovic/Radunovic (UW) 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. (5) Denise Dy (UW) def. (4) Hilary Barte (Stan), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6)
2. (20) Venise Chan (UW) def. (22) Mallory Burdette (Stan), 6-7 (5), 6-4, (10-8)
3. (17) Kristie Ahn (Stan) def. Samantha Smith (UW), 6-1, 7-5
4. (12) Nicole Gibbs (Stan) def. Aleksandra Krsljanin (UW) 6-2, 6-0
5. (55) Stacey Tan (Stan) def. Vanja Radunovic (UW) 6-1, 6-0
6. Carolyn McVeigh (Stan) def. Adrijana Pavlovic (UW) 6-0, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 5, 6, 3, 2, 1
Players Mentioned
