Stark, Palmer Win Pacific Coast Doubles Tournament Title

The crowd at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club was a little more reserved than Stanford and USC are probably used to. But the laid-back atmosphere at the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles finals didn’t seem to have an adverse affect on the tennis.

Stanford’s Jared Palmer and Jonathon Stark and USC’s Byron Black and Brian MacPhie put on a shot-making exhibition Sunday that brought to mind previous winners of the 102-year-old tournament.

After losing a first-set tiebreaker, defending champions Stark and Palmer came back and took the last three sets to defeat the top-seeded team of Black and MacPhie, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (11-9), 6-2. The Stanford duo became the first team to repeat since Rick Leach and Tim Pawsat’s won in 1982 and 1983.

Palmer and Stark started out a little shaky, but once they found the rhythm, their play began to resemble that of former Cardinal John McEnroe, who won here in 1978 with Bill Maze.

In the first set, Palmer and Stark, both sophomores, seemed to be a step slow on the big points as Black and MacPhie came up with big serves and crisp volleys.

After leading the tiebreaker, 5-4, Palmer and Stark dropped the last three points and the first set.

But Palmer and Stark, who were seeded third, quickly broke the serves of MacPhie and Black to take a 3-0 lead in the second set.

“We both played really lose in the second set,” Black said. “We relaxed and our morale went down after we lost that second set.”

But their morale got a boost in the third set. Black and MacPhie took a 5-4 lead, and had a set point in the tiebreaker. But each time they needed a big shot, it seemed Palmer or Stark were the ones making them.

Black and MacPhie continually fired rocket returns back at the charging Stark and Palmer. But usually Palmer and Stark’s soft hands redirected the shots to spots where Black and MacPhie could not get reach.

Palmer and Stark closed out the third set when Black’s backhand return of Stark’s serve went into the net.

Black and MacPhie didn’t put up much of a fight in the fourth set.

Although Palmer and Stark are No. 1 in the NCAA’s latest doubles rankings, they have not played together in about six months. Stark is coming off a broken toe injury that sidelined him for the summer and most of the fall.

“It’s unbelievable that they can come back like that,” said Black, a senior.