STANFORD, CA— The No. 8 seed and host Stanford won four hotly contested first sets in singles and went on to complete all four matches in straight sets to edge No. 9 seed Texas A&M, 4-2, in the NCAA Round of 16 late Thursday in Stanford, California.
The Aggies were able to secure the doubles point as the No. 1 doubles team of seniors Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo, ranked No. 4 in the rankings, defeated the No. 3 nationally-ranked doubles team of Stanford, Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher, in a tiebreaker, 9-8. The win improved the Aggie tandem’s school-record season to 27-3 in dual matches this spring.
With sophomore Alberto Bautista out with an injury, junior Alexis Klegou stepped in at the No. 3 doubles with fellow junior Colin Hoover to post an 8-6 win over Jamin Bell and Alex Clayton. It was the second straight NCAA win for the Aggie duo as they posted a win last week against LSU to help A&M reach the Round of 16.
Stanford won the No. 2 doubles match, 8-6, as Matt Kandath and Denis Lin edged freshman Junior Ore (OR-ay) and senior Alexey Grigorov.
Ore, from Gaithersburg, Maryland, defeated Daniel Ho of Stanford, 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 6 line. It was Ore’s second straight NCAA victory as he also picked up a win last week against LSU at the No. 6 position.
Texas A&M ends a record-breaking season with an overall record 29-6, the most dual match victories in school history. The Aggies were the 2011 Big 12 Championships victor earning the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA’s.
Stanford moves on to the Elite Eight to face either Virginia or Illinois.
Aggie senior All-Americans Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo will remain in Stanford to compete in both the NCAA Individual and Doubles Championships once the team competition is complete.
#8 STANFORD (21-5) vs. #9 TEXAS A&M (29-6)
Taube Stadium
Doubles
1) No. 4 Dadamo/Krajicek (TAMU) def. No. 3 Klahn/Thacher (STAN)—9-8 (
2) Kandath/Lin (STAN) def. No. 66 Ore/Grigorov (TAMU)—8-6
3) Klegou/Hoover (TAMU) def. Bell/Clayton (STAN)—8-6
Singles
1) No. 9 Bradley Klahn (STAN) def. No. 17 Austin Krajicek (TAMU)—6-4, 6-3
2) No. 46 Ryan Thacher (STAN) def. No. 31 Jeff Dadamo (TAMU)—7-6 (7-5), 6-1
3) No. 71 Alex Clayton (STAN) def. Alexey Grigorov (TAMU)—7-5, 6-3
4) No. 119 Denis Lin (STAN) vs. No. 94 Alexis Klegou (TAMU)– dnf
5) Matt Kandath (STAN) def. Colin Hoover (TAMU)—7-5, 6-0
6) Junior Ore (TAMU) def. Daniel Ho (STAN)—6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish:
Doubles 2, 3, 1
Singles 3,6,5,2,1