The Stanford women’s tennis team ended its fall tournament season this past weekend without a title but with something much more valuable — match play.

At the 2007 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championships in Columbus, Ohio, junior Jessica Nguyen fell by a score of 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-1 to Cal’s Susie Babos in the second round.

The quarterfinal loss ended her run in perhaps one of the toughest tournaments of the season, which featured the top 32 players in the nation.

Despite her loss, Nguyen showed that she can compete against the best.

“She had a pretty good performance because she beat the top player from William and Mary,” head coach Lele Forood said. “She had her chances against Babos with a triple set point in the first set and lost in three. Babos just won the [ITA] All-American [Championships] a few weeks ago, so it was hardly a bad loss.”

Indeed, Nguyen battled No. 2 Babos until the bitter end. Nearly winning the first set, Nguyen had a chance to steal the match from the Babos, the 2006 NCAA singles champion.

Moreover, Nguyen was the only Cardinal woman at the Indoors, a rare occurrence.

“It’s unusual for us because we usually qualify more people,” Forood said.

With her second appearance at the Indoors in as many years, Nguyen figures to play a prominent role in the Cardinal lineup this year. Earlier this season, she won the singles title of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, qualifying her for the national event.

“It’s nice to see her hit the ball well there and win at Regionals,” Forood said. “Clearly, she’s coming back as one of the higher-ranked players.”

Across the country from Nguyen, senior Whitney Deason and freshman Jennifer Yen competed at the Arizona State University (ASU) Thunderbird Invitational.

Deason, the third seed, won three of her four singles matches over the weekend.

“Obviously Whitney’s a senior, so she’s experienced,” Forood said. “We just needed her to get back up to speed after not playing much this summer, so we’re getting her as many matches as possible.”

Yen advanced further than Deason in the main draw, falling in the quarterfinals and eventually winning two of her four singles matches.

“Jennifer is in a different boat,” Forood said. “She’s a freshman coming in, and we’re trying to get the freshmen as acclimated to college matches as possible.”

In doubles, Deason and Yen salvaged their final match of the invite on Sunday with a 9-8(2) win over Laila Abdala and Micaela Hein of ASU.

Injuries hampered the Cardinal again this past weekend. Scheduled to play in ASU’s Invite, freshman Carolyn McVeigh was sidelined by an abdominal strain.

“We’re recovering from injuries in the fall, and we had a lot of people not play over the summer,” Forood said. “We’re building this year a little bit.”

This season, the Cardinal squad has fallen behind compared to recent years.

Last year, the roster featured only one freshman, Lindsay Burdette. This year, the squad includes three new players, composing over a third of the team.

“We’re just trying to get the freshmen as many looks at the college game as possible quickly,” Forood said. “The three freshmen are just getting started in their careers, and they’re learning as much as possible about what the college game is going to be like.”

In addition, many returning players took a step back from tennis during the summer.

“We have three seniors thinking about their future beyond college — working this past summer — so they have to get back in the fall,” Forood said. “So that’s six of our eight scholarship players — three freshman learning what to do in the college game and three seniors who spent their last summer working on the rest of their lives.”

Over Thanksgiving break, the Cardinal will play against the University of Hawaii before returning to the courts in January at the Freeman Invitational.

All in all, this past weekend gave the Stanford squad exactly what it needed.

“We’re just playing our way back into shape this year,” Forood said. “The more matches, the better for our group.”