Order Restored: Stanford Women Reclaim Top Spot in ITA Rankings; USC's Sanchez, Johnson No. 1 in Singles; Qualifying Complete in Pelham 25K

After victories over UCLA and USC this past weekend, the Stanford women have finally regained the No. 1 spot in the ITA/Campbell rankings. The only undefeated team in women's Division I, Stanford had inexplicably been relegated to Mo. 2, with Florida, a team they had defeated on a neutral court, ahead of them. Beginning this week, another "best win" is added, until the nine best wins are counted as of April 19th, so the rankings should become more reflective of actual strength with each passing week. Stanford hosts No. 13 Arizona State on Friday, and travels to No. 10 Cal-Berkeley on the 16th, but they aren't likely to stumble in either of those. On April 23rd, the USTA National girls team will come to Palo Alto to compete, and although the junior roster is not yet finalized, it promises to be an interesting encounter. After Stanford and Florida, the women's rankings are North Carolina(3), Duke(4), Miami(5), UCLA(6), Georgia(7), Michigan(8), Baylor(9) and California(10).

The Virginia men remain undefeated and at the top of the rankings, with their toughest conference tests coming up this weekend, when they host No. 9 Duke and No. 15 North Carolina.

That Jaws soundtrack you hear is the music accompanying the approach of two-time defending NCAA champions Southern California. The Trojans are now second in the rankings, after convincing defeats of No. 6 Cal-Berkeley and No. 12 Stanford last weekend. After Virginia and USC, the men's rankings are Ohio State(3), Tennessee(4), Texas A&M(5), California(6), Texas(7), Pepperdine(8), Georgia(9) and Duke(10).

In the individual rankings, USC's Maria Sanchez and Steve Johnson occupy the top spots. Following Sanchez are Jana Juricova of Cal, Kristy Frilling of Notre Dame, Hilary Barte of Stanford and Denise Dy of Washington. That's four of the top five for the Pac-10. After Johnson on the men's side comes Alex Domijan of Virgina, Blaz Rola of Ohio State, Rhyne Williams of Tennessee and Michael Shabaz of Virginia.

In doubles, Boris Conkic and JP Smith of Tennessee hold down the top spot for the men; Josipa Bek and Keri Wong of Clemson are ranked No. 1 for the women.

For the complete rankings, see the ITA rankings page.

Results from the Pelham $25,000 Pro Circuit event's final round of qualifying have been posted. Chichi Scholl, Julia Boserup, Shelby Rogers and Krista Hardebeck are the young Americans who have reached the main draw. Hardebeck, who is the defending champion at the Grade 1 International Spring and Easter Bowl championships next month, will lose a lot of points by not playing those, but if she can keep her WTA ranking above 350 (it's 338 now), she will receive automatic entry into the junior slams.

In the few main draw matches that were played today, wild cards Jan Abaza and Allie Kiick were defeated. Abaza lost to Christina McHale, the No. 4 seed, 6-2, 6-3, while Kiick was beaten by No. 2 seed Evgeniya Rodina of Russia 6-3, 6-3. There are four Top 100 players in Pelham, including No. 1 seed Melanie Oudin, who took a wild card into the event to prepare for next week's Family Circle Cup, also played on Har-Tru. In addition to Oudin, Rodina(76), Czech Renata Voracova(92)(who plays Hardebeck next), and McHale(98) make for a very strong field for a $25,000 prize money tournament.

For complete results and draws, see the Pro Circuit page at usta.com.

It appears that rain and cold prevented any play today at the $15,000 men's Futures in Oklahoma City. Bjorn Fratangelo, who qualified on Monday, will be in action Wednesday, as will wild cards Dane Webb, Mitchell Krueger and Christopher Haworth.

Tags: college tennis, junior tennis, Stanford University, University of Virginia, Steve Johnson, Maria Sanchez, ITA/Campbell rankings, Pro Circuit, Colette Lewis