A dominant performance against No. 59 Sacramento State (3-2) kicked off a three-game home stand for the newly No. 8 Stanford women’s tennis team (5-0) as it blanked the Hornets 7-0 at Taube Tennis Stadium.
February has been a good month for the women’s team so far. Highlighted by a 5-0 start to the season, the team has also garnered some individual awards. Senior Lindsay Burdette took home the Pac-10 Player of the Week title for the first week of the month after matches against two Texas teams.
Losing only nine games in two singles matches, Burdette defeated No. 67 Kayla Duncan and a day later defeated No. 27 Krista Damico. She is 9-4 overall, 5-0 in duals and is currently on a four match winning streak. Teaming with junior Hilary Barte, she went 2-0 over the weekend in doubles as well. The award was her first career Player of the Week title and the first for Stanford since last April.
“I actually didn’t know about it until other people told me,” Burdette said. “I think it’s an opportunity to look back on what we’ve already accomplished this year as a team and just feel good about the extra work. Obviously, I’m individually proud, but the most rewarding part is that I feel like it’s helping the team out.”
The Cardinal swept the doubles point in the match against Sacramento State to open up a 1-0 lead that it never relinquished. Stanford’s No. 1 duo of junior Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette defeated the Hornets’ Clarisse Baca and Katrina Zheltova 8-0 to start the day off well.
With an 8-3 victory at the No. 2 spot and an 8-5 victory at No. 3, Stanford swept the doubles for the fourth time this season. The team’s one doubles loss came against Texas, when freshmen Stacey Tan and Mallory Burdette lost 9-8 (5) despite being ahead for most of the match.
“[The Hornets] were a lot better than they’ve been in past years,” Lindsay Burdette said. “We all took care of business, but it was great to get in another quality match against a quality opponent before we go down and play in LA. Everyone played really well, and they pushed us in doubles.”
Singles proved to be relatively straightforward as well. Sophomore Veronica Li cruised through her match 6-1, 6-2 over Aileen Tsan to record the first singles victory on the day for the Cardinal, and Barte recorded a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 26 nationally ranked Zheltova. Junior Carolyn McVeigh was pushed in her first set against Baca before winning 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the match at the No. 5 spot.
“I’ve played [Zheltova] the last two years I was here, and I don’t think she’s a huge fan of how our games match up,” Barte said. “She likes to hit the ball really hard when it is in her strike zone. Especially since I’m left handed, I can get it out of her strike zone, so she doesn’t like that very much.”
With the Hornets dispatched and the weather beginning to look better, Stanford looks to welcome No. 35 Boise State to its home court. Boise State has a winning season so far at 3-2, and both losses have come against teams ranked in the top 50. The Broncos were blanked by No. 17 North Carolina at the ITA National Team Indoors before losing again at the same tournament to No. 46 DePaul, a minor upset. Their wins have come against unranked Montana and Montana State and a home-win over No. 60 Colorado.
“I don’t think we’ve played them, at least not since I’ve been here,” Barte said. “I know that their top doubles team and top few singles are great. We’ll handle them, but it will be a good test. It’s just good to keep sharp.”
These few weeks of matches have set a pleasant pace for the team. With only one match a week, the players are using the extra time to catch up on all their activities outside of tennis.
“I appreciate the break,” Barte said. “There is just a ton of work to do and something every hour, but I’d rather have it that way than just be sitting around all day.”
The team plays Boise State today at 1:30 p.m. at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, looking to remain undefeated in dual match play.