After a weekend of emotionally charged matches against two top-10 teams in Los Angeles, the Stanford men’s tennis team (13-5, 2-1 Pac-10) returned to the Farm for a five-game homestand against somewhat easier competition.
The Cardinal got off to a good start on Tuesday with a 6-1 thrashing of No. 53 UC-Irvine (13-8). Head coach John Whitlinger mixed up the lineup against the Anteaters and watched all of his substitutes coast to victory.
Junior Ted Kelly and freshman Walker Kehrer played doubles together for the first time in the dual match season and did not disappoint. The pair thumped Irvine’s Sam Gould and Fabian Matthews, 8-2—an impressive victory considering that Gould and Matthews played No. 1 and 2 singles respectively on Tuesday.
“It’s nice to get those guys in the lineup,” Whitlinger said. “You never know when someone is going to get injured, so you need them to be ready to go.”
Stanford’s two other doubles teams rolled with similar ease. The nation’s top doubles team of sophomores Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher handled Steven Henderson and Zac Tsai, 8-3. The No. 31-ranked pair of senior Richard Wire and junior Alex Clayton dominated Khunpol Issara and Jon Kazarian, 8-1.
In singles, Whitlinger’s other sub, freshman Matt Kandath, impressed. Kandath had not played in a singles match since losing to USC’s Daniel Nguyen on Feb. 27. The freshman defeated Irvine’s Ryan Mayer in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
No. 5 Klahn breezed past Gould 6-1, 6-1 in the top singles match. Klahn has turned himself into a legitimate contender for the NCAA individual title with a 23-5 record this year against some of the best competition in the country.
No. 45 Alex Clayton couldn’t capitalize on the momentum generated by his dramatic three-set victory on Saturday against UCLA to clinch the match for the Cardinal. Clayton fell to Matthews 6-3, 7-6.
Thacher shut out Tsai in consecutive sets, 6-0, 6-0. Junior Greg Hirshman clinched the team match with a straight set victory over Issara, 6-0, 6-1. Hirshman is now 12-2 in dual matches this season.
Wire was challenged by Henderson, but pulled out a victory 6-4, 7-6. The tennis program will be honoring Wire and fellow senior Paul Morrissey with a Senior Day celebration before Stanford’s match against Oregon on Saturday afternoon.
Morrissey, who grew up in Dublin, Ireland, has been unable to play this year after tearing his ACL.
“Both guys are going to be missed,” Whitlinger said. “Paul hasn’t been able to play but he’s been doing a great job helping out at practice.
“Richard has been a real pleasure to coach,” he continued. “He fights until the bitter end and really puts the work in.”
Before Senior Day, the Cardinal will take on No. 22 Washington (16-3, 1-2) on Friday at the Taube Family Tennis Center.
Washington boasts a 6-1 road record in dual matches this season. The Huskies’ diverse roster includes players from Hungary, South Africa, Norway, India, Austria, Thailand and Canada.
“Any Pac-10 match is going to be a tough one,” Whitlinger explained. “We know them and they know us.”
Washington starts a freshman, Kyle McMorrow (14-4), at the second singles slot. McMorrow was a high school classmate of Stanford freshman Denis Lin at Thousand Oaks High School in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Everyone in the Pac-10 is chasing USC, the defending national champion, who leads the conference with a 4-0 record. Stanford will have to beat Washington, Oregon and California to have a chance at the Pac-10 title. However, it is highly unlikely that USC will stumble and lose both of its remaining Pac-10 matches.
Stanford’s main priority now might be making sure that it can play at home in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. If Stanford wins its remaining five matches, it will likely be one of the 16 first round hosts.
“Every match we play is a preparation for the NCAA Tournament down the road,” Whitlinger said. “We want to be playing our best tennis before the tournament.”
Stanford will try to extend a two-match winning streak against Washington on Friday at 1:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Cardinal will square off against No. 72 Oregon at 1 p.m. Both matches will be held at the Taube Family Tennis Center.