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Sunday, May 19
Updated: May 22, 2:21 AM ET
 
Stanford wins third title in four years

Associated Press

STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford successfully defended its NCAA women's tennis title Sunday, beating top-seeded Florida 4-1.

Freshman Erin Burdette beat Alexis Gordon 7-6, 6-2 in the No. 4 single matches to give third-seeded Stanford (27-1) its third NCAA title in four years and 12th overall.

"When I saw the girls run on the court at me I knew we had finally done it," Burdette said.

Stanford, which won its last 23 matches, is 5-1 against Florida in national championship matches.

"It was an unbelievable season," said coach Lele Forood, 12-0 in the NCAA tournament in her two years at the school. "We had to get some experience this year and it worked out in the end."

Stanford won the doubles point when seniors Lauren Kalvaria and Gabriela Lastra rallied from a 5-3 deficit to beat Lindsay Dawaf and Jessica Lehnhoff 8-6.

"It's really an emotional moment for me," Kalvaria said. "This was my last team match and to end on our home court with a win was really special."

Keiko Tokuda and Emilia Anderson also won singles matches for Stanford, with Tokuda beating Annika Bengtsson 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5, and Anderson defeating Julia Scaringe at No. 6.

Florida freshman Zerene Reyes won at No. 3 singles, beating Lauren Barnikow 6-0, 6-2.

The Nos. 1 and 2 singles matches were not completed.




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