Feb. 7, 1998

DALLAS- Stanford seniors Julie Scott and Ania Bleszynski today successfully defended their Rolex National Intercollegiate Indoor Tennis Championships doubles title with a grueling 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 victory over Karen Goldstein and Vanessa Webb. The seventh-ranked Stanford duo had a tough road to the title, with three of their four matches going to three sets, including one over two-time defending NCAA champions Dawn Buth and Stephanie Nickitas of Florida.

"We ran into a lot of tough matches - some very good teams," said Scott, the 1998 Stanford team captain. "We had to play three three-setters, but we got better and much more confident as we went along. Our first match of the tournament was a little shaky, but we settled in and picked it up from there."

Scott, a native of nearby Austin, Tex. (Stephen F. Austin HS), also has the opportunity to capture a rare double - claiming both the singles and doubles titles in the same year. She avenged an early season loss to No. 11 Zuzana Lesenarova of the University of San Diego with a 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3 victory over in the singles semifinals to reach the championship match. She will face William & Mary's Lauren Nickolaus, currently ranked 31st in the nation, tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. (CST) in the final. Scott could become the third Stanford player to win the Rolex Indoor singles title, joining Heather Willens ('93) and Tami Whitlinger ('89). The Cardinal have finished runner-up four times. As for the double, Scott would become just the third player in history to win both titles and the second Cardinal. The most recent occurance came in 1991 by Florida's Nicole Arendt. Stanford Tami Whitlinger also accomplised the feat in 1989.

Scott and Bleszynski weren't the only Cardinal to fare well in the tourney. Stanford sophomore Teryn Ashley (Chestnut Hill, MA/Brookline HS), currently ranked 10th in the country, captured the singles consolation title with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Texas' Sandy Sureephong, currently ranked sixth in the nation. Ashley, who was upset in the first round of the main draw, won four consecutive matches in the back draw for the title, meanwhile running her season record to 20-3.

Stanford was also represented in the men's doubles championship match by twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan. The duo came up short with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Martin Dvoracek and Pavel Kudrnac of Oklahoma State.

Overall, in a tournament featuring the top players in the nation, Stanford will have placed a competitor or competitors in four of the eight title matches (main and back draws).

Stanford Results:

Men's Doubles Final
Dvoracek/Kudrnac (Oklahoma State) d. Bryan/Bryan (Stanford) 6-3, 6-4

Women's Doubles Final
Scott/Bleszynski (Stanford) d. Goldstein/Webb (Duke) 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5

Women's Singles Consolation Semifinal
Teryn Ashley (Stanford) d. Dawn Buth (Florida) 6-4, 6-1

Women's Singles Consolation Final
Teryn Ashley (Stanford) d. Sandy Sureephong (Texas) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4)