Stanford women edge Kansas, gain NCAA quarters

Janice Shin, shown Sunday against Syracuse, gave third seed and host Stanford
a 4-3 victory over 14th-seeded Kansas today in an NCAA Super Regional.
Photo by Mal Taam

   The third-seeded Stanford women edged 14th-seeded Kansas 4-3 today at Taube Family Tennis Stadium to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships.
   Janice Shin, a sophomore from Houston ranked No. 108, defeated Nina Khmelnitckaia 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Court 5 to lift the defending champion Cardinal (25-1) to its 20th consecutive victory.
   No. 13 Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas (21-5) leveled the match at 3-3 with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 24 Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, on Court 1.
   The Jayhawks, who won the doubles point, were making their first appearance in the round of 16 since 1998.
   Stanford will face sixth-seeded Pepperdine (24-3) next Friday at a time to be determined at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. The Waves beat Central Florida 4-2 in Malibu, Calif.
   It will be the first meeting between Stanford and Pepperdine this season.