Aug. 11, 1997
Former Cal Tennis Stars Combine to Capture Stead Open
Former Golden Bears Lisa Albano and Keirsten Alley, who were collegiate doubles partners at Cal in 1992, captured the doubles final of the $25,000 Stead Open Sunday at the Moraga Country Club.
The tournament's No. 1 seed, Albano and Alley defeated the second-seeded pair of Lisa Alipaz and Iwaladi McCalla, 6-4, 6-2.
In the singles draw, Albano, who is the No. 2 seed, will meet the tournament's No. 3 seed, Sylvia Schenck, in Monday's women's singles final. Albano bested Tracy Houk of San Francisco, 6-2, 6-3, in one of the semifinal matches on Saturday to advance to the championship round. Alley, who was the top-seeded women's singles player entering the tournament, lost to Elizabeth Cameron of Mill Valley, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, in Friday's quarterfinals.
Considered one of the best to have ever played at Cal, Albano was named Cal's tennis Athlete of the Decade for 1986-96. She remains the only Golden Bear ever to reach the NCAA singles final (1991) and capped an outstanding collegiate career as a finalist for the Honda Sports Award after being named to the NCAA singles All-American team four consecutive years. Albano was also selected the ITA Regional Senior Player of the Year in 1992.
Alley, who also earned All-American honors in each of her four years at Cal, starred for the Bears from 1992-95 and was named to the All-Decade Team.
