Stanford women rout Georgia for 20th NCAA title

Melissa Lord, shown on May 5, helped No. 3 Stanford beat No. 1 Georgia 4-0
today in the final of the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla. Photo by Mal Taam

   The Stanford women emphatically avenged their only loss of the season to win their 20th NCAA team title.
   The No. 3 Cardinal routed No. 1 Georgia 4-0 today at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., for their second consecutive NCAA crown and third in four years.
   Stanford coach Lele Forood matched her predecessor, Frank Brennan, with 10 NCAA titles. No other school approaches the Cardinal's total. Florida ranks second with seven titles, and Georgia is tied for third with three other schools at two.
   The Cardinal (28-1), playing in its fourth straight NCAA final, ended the season with 23 victories in a row. Stanford lost to Georgia 4-3 in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle in February.
   In today's deciding doubles match, No. 29 Emily Arbuthnott and Michaela Gordon, a sophomore from Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area, beat Georgia's Elena Christofi and Vivian Wolff 7-5 on Court 2.
   Three Stanford players followed with 6-2, 6-4 victories. In order, No. 66 Caroline Lampl won on Court 3, No. 29 Melissa Lord triumphed on Court 2, and No. 108 Janice Shin prevailed on Court 5.
   On Court 1, No. 2 Katarina Jokic of Georgia (28-2) led No. 24 Gordon 7-5, 3-2 when the match was abandoned.
   The No. 2 Texas men beat No. 4 Wake Forest, the defending champion, 4-1 for its first NCAA team title.
   Longhorns head coach Michael Center was fired on March 13 amid the college admissions cheating scandal and was replaced on an interim basis by associate head coach Bruce Berque.
   Center has pleaded guilty to fraud after allegedly accepting a $100,000 bribe. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 30. Prosecutors recommend a term of 15 to 21 months.