Stanford women to begin NCAA title defense at home

   The third-seeded Stanford women (22-1) will open their NCAA title defense on Saturday at noon against New Mexico State (15-9) at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, the NCAA announced today.
   At the same site, Syracuse (13-12) will play Wisconsin (18-5) on Saturday at 9 a.m., and the winners will meet on Sunday at noon. The Cardinal has won 59 of its last 62 matches at home.
   The Cal women (12-8) will face Long Beach State (17-5) on Friday at 10 a.m. in Malibu, Calif. Host Pepperdine (21-3), seeded sixth, will play Fairfield (14-7) at 1 p.m.
   In the NCAA Men's Championships, 12th-seeded Stanford (17-6) will open against Fresno State (18-10) on Friday at 2 p.m. at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Texas Tech (15-11) will play UC Santa Barbara (16-6) at 11 a.m., with the winners meeting on Saturday at 3 p.m.
   Cal (14-12) will face Drake (19-13) on Friday or Saturday in Urbana, Ill. Host Illinois (18-8), seeded 15th, will play Western Michigan (18-8).
   The men's and women's tournaments feature 64 teams. In a format change this year, second-round winners advance to the Super Regionals on May 10-11 at campus sites. The rest of each tournament is scheduled for May 17-19 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
   The USTA National Campus also will host the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments on May 20-25.
   Stephens engaged -- Sloane Stephens, a 26-year-old Fresno product, and Jozy Altidore, an American professional soccer player, announced their engagement.