I sat down to write this column about all of Stanford women’s tennis extraordinary accomplishments over the years. I could throw a lot of pretty mind-boggling statistics at you — Stanford has won 15 of the 25 NCAA women’s tennis championships; the team is 30-0 on the season and 86-0 stretching back to the 2003 NCAA finals match; the team hasn’t lost at home since Feb. 27, 1999 — no matter which way you slice it, the women’s tennis team is an absolute beast, a true sports dynasty.

But anyone could give you those numbers. They’re easily accessible online, and every GoStanford press release about the team includes some new stat. What I’m in a unique position to offer, however, is insight into what truly makes this team remarkable, what makes it tick and why it is so much bigger and more special than the numbers could begin to suggest.

This team has heart.

Bear with me here. I may be a bit sappy, having just watched some of my closest friends win a third-straight national championship at the close of our senior year. But the numerous feats of the team bear witness to the spirit and resolve of Cardinal women’s tennis.

How else to explain yesterday’s compelling comeback by the top-ranked doubles team of Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey? Though Yelsey was too injured to play singles, she stuck it out for doubles, knowing how crucial that doubles point has been in the past for the Card. The pair was down 3-7 at one point, but then won six straight games to clinch the doubles point for the team. That’s heart.

How else to explain that Amber Liu, down 2-5 in her second set after dropping her first yesterday, steadfastly refused to relinquish her match? With her neighboring teammates on courts two and three both a game away from clinching the NCAA title, she held on fiercely, if ultimately unsuccessfully. You could see the determination in her eyes. From the beginning of her freshman year, she has epitomized grit. This is, after all, the girl who won the NCAA singles title her freshman and sophomore years.

How else to explain the fact that in every single “Through My Eyes” interview I’ve conducted, the players have emphasized that this is the closest tennis team in the country, that everyone always gets along — embracing personality differences (with some amount of affectionate teasing) rather than being competitive or cliquey? A team can have an amazing record and a legendary legacy, but it means nothing if the players don’t mesh. I think everyone on the team would agree that they were attracted to Stanford in large part because on their recruiting trips they saw how much the girls on the team truly got along.

And I will vouch for these claims of closeness. Fate assigned me a freshman roommate on the team who has remained my roommate every year I’ve been at Stanford. I’ve watched the team closely and personally over the past four years. They really do all get along.

But beyond that, and perhaps even more impressively, they’re incredibly down-to-earth and unassuming. We’re talking about some of the best tennis players in the country, and they never once seemed to question my inclusion in team events. Even as a freshman, I was always welcome at dinners, Yumi Yougurt runs and movie nights with the team. The team organized and co-hosted a surprise birthday party for me last year — and even team alums showed up. In fact, the entire team always shows up to my birthday party. And yet, if I marvel to one of them about what an amazing player she is, she will invariably shrug it off and change the subject.

I don’t think this modesty and generosity is necessarily unique to the women’s team. I do think it’s a credit to Stanford Athletics that our athletes are by and large just another one of us Stanford students. But these women are Stanford students who win national titles year after year. And that is a credit to their superlative coaching staff of Lele Forood, Frankie Brennan and Julie Scott-Thu — and their heart.

So Nuge, Megan, Lejla, Whit, Seal, T, Anne, Amber, Jess, Al and Jo — congratulations. You are all exceptional people and you deserve this.

I love you girls.