May 23, 2004
ATHENS, Ga. - The top-ranked Stanford women's tennis team capped off a perfect 29-0 season by tallying its 13th all-time NCAA title after downing UCLA 4-1 in the championship match on Sunday at the University of Georgia's Henry Field Stadium. Head coach Lele Forood has led the Cardinal to three national titles during her four years at Stanford's helm.
"When you play a team for the fourth time in a year, you know each other pretty well and UCLA came out fired up," Forood said. "We knew each match would be a grind and it was a tight match all the way through, but everyone stepped up and played very well."
This year marks Forood's second unblemished season and is the 10th all-time for Stanford. She boasts a 111-3 record during her Cardinal head coaching tenure.
Sophomore Alice Barnes was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team at the No. 2 spot and was honored as the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Freshman Theresa Logar earned All-Tournament Team honors at the No. 5 position, and the Cardinal duo of Lauren Barnikow and Erin Burdette earned accolades at the No. 1 doubles spot.
The Cardinal duo of Amber Liu and Barnes recorded Stanford's first win of the day with an 8-3 victory over UCLA's Jackie Carleton and Feriel Esseghir. Barnikow and Burdette, ranked the No. 1 doubles team by the ITA, clinched the doubles point for the Cardinal with an 8-6 win over Daniela Bercek and Lauren Fisher.
"The momentum is big when you win the doubles point," Forood said. "We came out of the locker room to start singles feeling good and ready to go."
Barnes was first off the court in singles, defeating Carleton in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot. Cardinal Logar improved her perfect singles dual record to 27-0 with the 6-4, 6-3 downing of Fisher of UCLA at the No. 5 position. Junior Burdette at the No. 3 spot, clinched the title for Stanford with a commanding overhead smash. She took a 7-6, 6-3 win over Bruin Esseghir.
UCLA's Sarah Gregg provided the lone win for the Bruins, 6-3, 6-3, over Barnikow at No. 4.
Second-seeded Stanford was playing in its sixth-straight final. Stanford's 13 national titles are a record, nine more than next-best Florida's four. The Cardinal has also appeared in 18 of the 23 NCAA finals. The Cardinal posted five shutouts en route to the final and out-scored six opponents 24-1 during its championship run.
The NCAA singles and doubles tournaments begin Monday, May 24, at the University of Georgia. Stanford's Burdette and Barnikow are No. 1-seed in doubles.
Stanford 4, UCLA 1
Doubles
1-*(1) Barnikow/Burdette (Stan) def. Bercek/Fisher (UCLA) 8-6
2-Liu/Barnes (Stan) def. (43) Carleton/Esseghir (UCLA) 8-3
3-(56) Anderson/Yelsey (Stan) vs. Gordon/Gregg DNF
Order of Finish: 2, 1
* Clinched doubles point
Singles
1-(7) Amber Liu (Stan) vs. (31) Daniela Bercek (UCLA) DNF
2-(10) Alice Barnes (Stan) def. (18) Jackie Carleton (UCLA) 6-2, 6-1
3-**(23) Erin Burdette (Stan) def. Feriel Esseghir (UCLA) 7-6 (5), 6-3
4-Sarah Gregg (UCLA) def. (56) Lauren Barnikow (Stan) 6-3, 6-3
5-(40) Theresa Logar (Stan) def. Lauren Fisher (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3
6-(60) Emilia Anderson (Stan) vs. Laura Gordon (UCLA) DNF
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 4, 3
** Clinched match