NCAA Women’s Tennis : Stanford Hands USC a 9-0 Loss

After suffering the worst defeat in his 13-year coaching career at USC Thursday, one might have thought Dave Borelli would have little to offer for the record.

One might even have thought that he’d make a quick getaway from the scene, UCLA’s L.A. Tennis Center, to start erasing the 1987 NCAA women’s tennis tournament from his mind.

But no. There was Borelli, calmly discussing the loss to No. 4-seeded Stanford, and the entire season. Anyone else might have had difficulty with it.

Consider:

--The 9-0 loss to Stanford was the first time USC has been beaten in the NCAA’s first round. Previously, the Trojans’ worst NCAA finish was in 1982, when they were fourth.

--Stanford handed USC its 13th defeat of the season. The Trojans hadn’t ever lost more than seven matches in a season, and that happened just once, in 1984. Furthermore, USC lost just five matches combined in 1985 and 1986.

--The Cardinal clinched the victory, appropriately, when No. 2 singles player Stephanie Savides aced Stephanie Harges on match point. In all, USC managed to win two sets in nine matches. It was also the first time the Trojans had lost a match, 9-0, under Borelli.

“I was pleading for a point somewhere,” Borelli said. “Listen to this. I’ve coached here for 13 years, we were seeded 13 and we had 13 losses this year. Thirteen is not a lucky number for the Bo.”

Certainly, there are a number of reasons for the Trojans’ free fall from the elite. One of them, the injured Caroline Kuhlman, was sitting on the sideline Thursday. Kuhlman had compiled a 33-2 record at No. 1 singles last year. This season, chronic knee injuries knocked her out of the lineup.

And, like most teams, USC’s other players suffered their share of injuries throughout the season. Oddly enough, some observers had figured that 1987 would be the year of the Stanford decline. But Eleni Rossides at No. 5 singles and Leigh Anne Eldredge at No. 6 surprised everyone by managing to recover from injuries.

Without Rossides and Eldredge, it might have been another match. So much for wishful thinking.

“They are the best team,” Borelli said. “They are better than anyone else. With those two kids (Eldredge and Rossides) healthy, now that they’ve won some matches, they’re not going to lose to anybody.”

UCLA, seeded fifth, won its match with No. 12-seeded Kentucky, 8-1. The Bruins clinched it by winning five of the six singles.

UCLA’s Joni Urban and Jennifer Fuchs won their matches in third-set tiebreakers. Sonia Hahn recorded Kentucky’s lone victory, defeating Jane Thomas, 6-4, 7-5, in No. 1 singles.

NCAA Tennis Notes Georgia provided the first major upset of the tournament, defeating second-seeded Miami, 5-4, in another first-round match. The Bulldogs, seeded No. 15, will meet Trinity (Tex.) in today’s quarterfinals. Top-seeded Florida, which beat No. 16 Harvard, 8-1, plays ninth-seeded Northwestern. Northwestern upset Big Ten champion Indiana, 5-4. Other teams advancing to the quarterfinals were No. 3 California and No. 11 SMU.