STANFORD, USC SPLIT SINGLES & DOUBLES TITLES ON LAST DAY OF PAC-12 TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Written by: Staff on 29th April 2012

STANFORD, USC SPLIT SINGLES & DOUBLES TITLES ON LAST DAY OF PAC-12 TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS |

OJAI, Calif. – USC’s doubles team prevented STANFORD from sweeping the women’s singles and doubles championships on Sunday to conclude the Pac-12 Tennis Championships at the 112th Annual Ojai Valley Tournament in Ojai, Calif.

Stanford sophomore and No. 1 seed Nicole Gibbs rolled to a victory in straight sets (6-0, 6-2) over Cal sophomore Anett Schutting to claim the Pac-12 singles championship. After going three sets in her first-round match on Thursday, Gibbs lost just four games in her final four matches through the rest of the week. A Stanford woman now has won the singles title in consecutive years, with freshman Kristie Ahn winning it all in 2011.

In doubles, USC’s third-seeded pairing of Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria dropped No. 1-seeded Gibbs and Mallory Burdette of Stanford (6-4, 6-4), thanks in large part to a stellar performance by Christian, one of the most dominant doubles players in college tennis. USC now has won the Conference doubles title three of the last five years, with former Trojans Amanda Fink and Gabriela Niculescu taking home the hardware in 2008 and 2009.

The NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship takes place May 17-28 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. A Pac-12 team has won the national championship six of the last 10 years.