NCAA TENNIS: STANFORD WINS ITS 13TH TITLE.

Byline: Daily News

Erin Burdette won the deciding match for Stanford for the second time in three years and the Cardinal earned the NCAA women's tennis championship Sunday with a 4-1 victory over UCLA in Athens, Ga.

Winning its third championship under fourth-year coach Lele Forood, Stanford (29-0) went unbeaten for the second time since 2001. Alice Barnes dominated Jackie Carleton in No. 2 singles for a 6-2, 6-1 victory over her Pacific-10 Conference rival.

The national title was Stanford's 13th.

Leading the final game 15-40, Burdette hit an overhead smash down the left sideline, out of Fereil Essenghir's reach. The 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory in No. 3 singles was played in front of several of Burdette's family members and friends from the junior's hometown of Jackson, Ga.

``It was a fairy tale ending to come back home, in a sense, with family and friends,'' Burdette said. ``I didn't play as well as I wanted to, but we got it done.''

As a freshman, Burdette beat Florida's Alexis Gordon in No. 4 singles to clinch the Cardinal's last national title.

Burdette and No. 1 partner Lauren Barnikow, playing their last team match, beating Daniela Bercek and Lauren Fisher 8-6 to clinch the doubles point for Stanford.

``There's certainly a lot of momentum going into the locker room when you do win the doubles point and you're up 1-0,'' Forood said after improving her career record to 111-3. ``We knew, having played this team three times before, that they were not going to lay down or anything.''

--USC men reach semifinals: The USC men's tennis team swept 10th- seeded Stanford 4-0 in the NCAA quarterfinals at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Ruben Torres' come-from-behind victory and Johan Berg's near-perfect match powered the second-seeded Trojans.

USC moves on to face third-seeded Baylor at noon today.

--UCLA men advance to semis: The fourth-seeded UCLA men's tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row with a 4-0 decision over Clemson at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

The Bruins (22-5) will face top-seeded Illinois (32-0) in the second semifinal at 2 p.m. today.

Sunday's match began outdoors but was delayed more than an hour because of heavy thunderstorms. The Bruins finished the match indoors but were already in control, having won the first set in all six singles matches before the delay.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.