NCAA TENNIS : Upset Helps Stanford Stop Notre Dame for Title, 5-0

Alex O’Brien upset David DiLucia, the nation’s top-ranked player, as second-seeded Stanford defeated Notre Dame, 5-0, in the finals of the NCAA men’s tennis tournament Tuesday at Athens, Ga., the first shutout in the 16-year history of the NCAA team championships.

The title was the Cardinal’s fifth of the academic year, equaling the NCAA record. UCLA won five championships in 1981-82.

It is Stanford’s fourth men’s tennis championship in the past five years and 12th overall, third on the all-time list behind UCLA (15) and USC (13).

Stanford (25-3) took a 3-0 lead as Michael Flanagan, Vimal Patel and Jason Yee all won in straight sets. Cris Cocotos defeated Chuck Coleman, 7-5, 5-7, 6-1, at No. 3 singles and O’Brien followed with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over DiLucia at No. 1.

O’Brien, a senior and third on the Volvo Tennis/Collegiate rankings, improved to 18-0 in NCAA team play. DiLucia lost for the first time in 22 dual matches.

Notre Dame (23-4) was among four schools seeded alphabetically from ninth to 12th and was the lowest-ranked team to reach the final. The Fighting Irish had upset fourth-seeded Georgia in the quarterfinals and top-seeded USC in the semifinal.

The individual portion of the tournament begins today. DiLucia is seeded first and Jose Luis Noriega of University of San Diego is second. Jon Leach and Brian MacPhie of USC are seeded first in doubles.

Mamie Ceniza and Iwalani McCalla of UCLA advanced to the doubles quarterfinals of the NCAA women’s tennis championships at Stanford with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) second-round victory over Cinda Gurney and Alisha Portnoy of North Carolina. Ceniza had lost a third-round singles match to Julie Shiflet of William & Mary, 6-3, 6-2.