March 1, 2008

LOS ANGELES- 24 hours after dropping a hard-fought 4-3 loss at No. 11 UCLA, No. 6 Stanford rebounded with a 4-3 victory at No. 11 USC to salvage a split on its key Southern California trip and conclude a five-match road swing.

Sophomore Lindsay Burdette picked up her ninth win of the year when she outlasted USC's Sarah Fansler 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 at the No. 3 spot to provide the clincher with the Cardinal leading 4-2.

Stanford improves to 7-3 while USC falls to 9-3. The Women of Troy have not defeated the Cardinal since April 4, 1986.

Despite a late charge from USC, Stanford captured the doubles point and locked up victories at the top three spots in the singles lineup.

The Cardinal's No. 2 tandem of senior Whitney Deason and junior Jessica Nguyen cruised past Lindsey Nelson and Maria Sanchez 8-3 before USC's Amanda Fink and Gabriela Niculescu posted an 8-6 win at the No. 1 spot. The doubles point came down to court No. 3, where senior Celia Durkin and freshman Carolyn McVeigh pulled out a tiebreaker 9-8 (5) victory.

Niculescu evened the match at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 upset of Durkin at the No. 4 position. Teammate Leyla Entekhabi followed with a 6-1, 6-3 win at the No. 6 spot to give the Women of Troy a 2-1 advantage.

Freshman Hilary Barte wrapped up a terrific week with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) upset of three-time All-American Lindsey Nelson at the No. 1 position to knot the contest at 2-2. Barte, coming off a 7-5, 6-1 upset of UCLA's Riza Zalameda yesterday, is now 12-5 on the year and has won four consecutive matches.

Nguyen then gave Stanford the lead back at 3-2 with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Amanda Fink at the No. 2 position.

That left Stanford a match away from clinching, up 4-2 with the three-setters still in progress on courts Nos. 3 and 5. Burdette then secured the victory with a 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 decision at the No. 3 slot before USC won the final match of the day at No. 5.

Back home for the first time since Feb. 14, Stanford hosts William & Mary on Tuesday, Mar. 4, at 1:30 p.m.

No. 6 Stanford 4, No. 11 USC 3

DOUBLES
1) No. 5 Fink/Niculescu (USC) d. Barte/Burdette (STAN) 8-6
2) No. 27 Deason/Nguyen (STAN) d. No. 39 Nelson/Sanchez (USC) 9-7
3) Durkin/McVeigh (STAN) d. Fansler/Kinstler (USC) 9-8(5)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

SINGLES
1) No. 49 Hilary Barte (STAN) d. No. 68 Lindsey Nelson (USC) 6-2, 7-6 (2)
2) No. 9 Jessica Nguyen (STAN) d. No. 17 Amanda Fink (USC) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
3) Lindsay Burdette (STAN) d. Sarah Fansler (USC) 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4
4) No. 97 Gabriela Niculescu (USC) d. No. 54 Celia Durkin (STAN) 6-4, 6-1
5) Maria Sanchez (USC) d. No. 45 Whitney Deason (STAN) 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (3)
6) Leyla Entekhabi (USC) d. No. 31 Carolyn McVeigh 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 1, 2, *3, 5
Denotes clinching match