ATHENS – Mallory Burdette is playing for history. She’s also trying to avoid psychology.
The Stanford junior, from Jackson in central Georgia, will play Monday for the NCAA women’s tennis singles title against teammate Nicole Gibbs, just the fourth time teammates have faced off in the women’s singles final. They’ll also play Georgia’s Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist for the doubles title. Then Gibbs and Burdette will fly back to Stanford, where Burdette has a psychology paper due Tuesday that she hadn’t started writing as of Sunday afternoon.
“Nothing’s worse, even if I lose [Monday], than going back to school after NCAAs,” said Burdette, a psychology major who wants to go to medical school. “I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”
Stanford arrived two weeks ago for the team tournament, in which the Cardinal reached the quarterfinals. By reaching the finals in singles and with Gibbs in doubles, they’ve each played 13 singles and doubles matches in Athens, nine in the past five days. They mowed down Tennessee’s Natalie Pluskota (Northgate High) and Kata Szekely. Burdette, the No. 5 seed, eliminated Zsofi Susanyi of California in a 6-2, 6-2 pasting at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Gibbs, the No. 3 seed, took out top-seeded Allie Will of Florida, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. It’s the first time in NCAA history, men’s or women’s, that singles finalists have also reached the doubles finals together. The two have been sharing a suite at a downtown Athens hotel.
“Gibbsy and I have played before,” she said. “I don’t think it will be awkward.”
For Burdette, hectic is the operative word. Her brother Andy and sister Erin, herself a 2005 NCAA doubles champion at Stanford, both graduated from UGA’s veterinary school earlier this month. (Her other sister Lindsay also won the 2010 doubles title at Stanford.) After Burdette returns to Stanford, she’ll fly to New York Thursday for her brother’s wedding. Then she’ll fly back west on Sunday for final exams. Most of Stanford’s tournament competition has been out of school at least a week or two.
Gullickson and Gilchrist will have little sympathy. The two Georgia seniors are playing their final collegiate match. Gullickson is completing a career that includes an NCAA singles title in 2010 and eight All-America citations (four each in singles and doubles). Gilchrist and Gullickson would become Georgia’s first NCAA women’s doubles champions with a win.
Sunday, they defeated Courtney Dolehide and Pamela Montez of UCLA in the semifinals 7-6 (5), 6-4.
On the men’s side, USC’s Steve Johnson and Kentucky’s Eric Quigley advanced out of the semifinals with wins over Stanford’s Bradley Klahn and Ohio State’s Blaz Rola, respectively. Johnson is the defending champion and Quigley is trying to become Kentucky’s first NCAA champion. In doubles, Texas Tech defeated Mississippi in one semifinal and Ohio State beat Oklahoma.
Singles matches begin Monday at noon followed by doubles.
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