A few weeks of rest reenergized the Stanford women’s tennis team (13-1, 2-0 Pac-10) and allowed it to continue its six-match winning streak, recording its first official Pac-10 wins in a sweep of the Arizona schools.
The team came roaring back from finals break with a 6-1 victory over Cal Poly (12-3). Doubles was closely contested before Stanford broke away to make the match a rout. A surprise showing by Cal Poly’s top doubles duo of Brittany Blalock and Suzie Matzenauer led to an upset of Stanford’s No. 2 nationally-ranked junior Hilary Barte and senior Lindsay Burdette. This was their first home loss as a team since Mar. 7, 2009.
“You always have to give the other person credit,” said head coach Lele Forood on the early struggles. “It’s hard to get going again. You can hit fine, but it’s about playing matches well in the end.”
A second victory came when the Cardinal defeated No. 51 Pepperdine (6-11) by the same score of 6-1 to start a three-match road swing. Singles turned in a dominating performance as Stanford won five matches in straight sets. Freshman Mallory Burdette now leads the team with 22 victories after picking up her latest one with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at the No. 4 spot. Barte continued her 15-match winning streak by defeating No. 81 Arianna Colffer 6-1, 6-0.
“Everybody in stride stepped up to the challenge,” said senior captain Lindsay Burdette. “It was one of those matches where fighting through and getting through that set point [against us] helps us get a little bit better just from one match.”
Lindsay Burdette shook off two recent defeats and toughed out a three-set win over No. 78 Kelcy McKenna 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to lead Stanford to its first official Pac-10 win over No. 23 Arizona State (11-3, 3-1 Pac-10). Stanford swept the doubles to go up 1-0. The team experienced a setback, losing at the No. 5 spot when No. 85 Carolyn McVeigh was upset, but won the remaining four matches to coast to victory.
“By the time we got to ASU, we had obviously played Cal Poly and Pepperdine,” Forood said. “It was important to get those matches, but that is the beauty of scheduling. You can set up matches where you play who you need to play at that point in the season.”
Next up was Arizona (10-6, 1-4 Pac-10), the No. 55 team in the nation. The Cardinal again dominated in doubles, sweeping all three matches, and used that momentum to post a 6-1 victory. Stanford clinched the match before Arizona was able to record its first individual victory. That victory came at the expense of Lindsay Burdette, who lost a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Sarah Landsman.
“Us being super positive and imposing our game on them was really important in the win,” Lindsay Burdette said. “It was super windy and the courts were a lot slower so we had longer points and they got more balls back, but we just stayed super positive and pretty loud during the doubles especially.”
One worrying trend since spring break has been the struggles of Lindsay Burdette. She has lost three of her last four matches after winning seven of nine in dual match play before Mar. 6. These losses include a 4-6, 6-1, (10-0) upset by Cal Poly’s Brittany Blalock and a straight sets 6-2, 7-5 defeat at the hands of Pepperdine’s Anamika Bhargava.
“Being aggressive, I try to hit the ball pretty big and come into the net,” Lindsay Burdette said. “When you’re just a little bit off, it’s trouble. Some people who are baseliners, they have less that could go wrong. I think I’ll be right on track after working on a few bad habits that I’ve picked up. It’s just having to compete straight out of break that’s so tough.”
Overall, the team is looking good at this point in the season. None of its wins have been closer than 5-2. Against opponents ranked in the top 60, Stanford is 9-1 this season. When they are playing well, the women can handle anyone, as shown by their upset of then-No. 5 Cal 5-2.
“The team is maturing quickly at this point,” Forood said of her team’s progress. “That’s a big piece of it. We’re finally growing as a group.”
The Cardinal now looks to focus almost exclusively on its Pac-10 opponents. The team puts its record 158-match home winning streak on the line as it welcomes back USC and UCLA. So far, the Cardinal’s only loss came at the hands of UCLA back on Feb. 26. Stanford will be eager to prove itself and avenge its lone defeat this year.