A successful season will depend on the last weekend for the No. 10 Stanford women’s tennis team (17-1, 6-0 Pac-10), as it hosts Santa Clara (13-5, 3-2 WCC) and then rival No. 12 California (17-4, 5-1 Pac-10) in the final dual matches of the regular season.
With four teams all within one loss of each other, this weekend will prove to be decisive in determining who will gain the Pac-10 title. The Cardinal is in good position to gain a share of the title, as it is undefeated in conference play this season. Stanford’s one loss came against UCLA in a pre-conference match back on Feb. 26. The three other teams still in contention are California, UCLA and USC, all at 5-1 in conference play. So wherever the cards fall, the race to be Pac-10 champion is as close as ever.
Another important part of the Pac-10 race is the unfinished Stanford-USC match, suspended because of rain, which will need to have the doubles point played now.
Fortunately, the women have history on their side. They have not lost a home match at Taube Family Tennis Stadium since Feb. 27, 1999. Since then, they have won 159 consecutive matches on their home courts. The Golden Bears were the last team to upset them, 5-4, but even then, Cal has not won even a share of the conference title since 1987.
First up, though, is Santa Clara. The Broncos recently dropped a tough decision to No. 58 Cal Poly 6-1. Stanford is their first Pac-10 opponent of the season. In doubles, they have a great freshmen duo of Maggie McGeorge and Kelly Lamble, who were responsible for their one doubles victory against Cal Poly. Sophomore captain Kacie Wagner was responsible for the lone singles victory. The team is very young, with only one junior, no seniors and more than half the team freshmen.
“I honestly don’t even know if we’ve played them in the last four years,” said senior Lindsay Burdette. “We’re not really sure what to expect, so we’re just going to go out there and do what we do best.”
Cal will pose more of a problem for Stanford. With three ranked singles players, including No. 2-ranked sophomore Jana Juricova, the team has quality individuals. Juricova has won three Pac-10 Player of the Week awards. On top of that, Juricova combines with Mari Andersson to make up the No. 7 doubles team and the defending NCAA doubles champions. The matchup between them and Stanford’s No. 2-ranked team of Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette may be key to deciding the day.
“The biggest challenge for us going into Cal is making sure our own nerves don’t get in the way of our play,” Lindsay Burdette said. “We’ve proven that we have all the ability to take care of them on our home court. We just have to stay focused.”
On top of that, Burdette’s little sister Mallory will be a big contributor to the team. Mallory leads the team with a record of 28-4 and a 16-2 record in duals. Despite her outstanding freshman season, she refuses to become overconfident.
“It can get in your head,” Mallory Burdette said. “Like, ‘Oh, I’ve won this many matches. I need to continue to win.’ I refuse to let that happen though. I try to build confidence from [my wins], but not become cocky.”
Other players to follow will be sophomore Veronica Li (15-3 dual record) and No. 120 Carolyn McVeigh (13-4 dual record). The two of them have anchored the five and six spots this season and been a major reason behind Stanford’s success at the bottom of the lineup. Finally, No. 69 freshman Stacey Tan is one win away from a 25-win season and is close behind Barte and Mallory Burdette. Switching between the three and four position, she has found a large degree of success at the four spot. There, she has a 9-1 record compared to a 4-4 record at No. 3.
“We’re all doing pretty well,” Tan said. “We’re playing well with one another and the energy we have, bringing it out to different matches home or away, has increased over time. That’s really good because I think pretty much everyone likes the support and the energy we show.
Should Stanford win Saturday against Cal, all doubts from last season will have been answered and the team will be in a great place going into the Pac-10 Tournament to contend for another title. Stanford hosts Santa Clara Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and California Saturday at 12 p.m.