Irreplaceable.

That’s what Theresa Logar ‘07 and Anne Yelsey ‘07 were as Stanford women’s tennis players the last four years. The Cardinal women were the anchors to a squad that engineered three national titles and an unfathomable 89-match win streak.

With their departure, however, the team’s dominant 1-2 punch is missing at the start of this season.

“Theresa and Anne were two of the most competitive people I have ever witnessed in my entire life,” sophomore Lindsay Burdette said. “Theresa was much more outspoken and goofy at times, and that brought such an element to the team. Meanwhile, Anne’s ability to lead and to be stern and confident really helped us at times as well.

“They just complemented each other so well and they were great leaders and seniors.”

In addition to leading the squad, Logar and Yelsey have left a permanent mark on the program.

“You could never replace Theresa or Anne,” said senior Celia Durkin. “They were such unique personalities and they’ve always been role models to me. But, our team will definitely build in different ways as it grows.”

Despite losing Logar and Yelsey, the team’s goal remains the same: reclaim the national championship that slipped away from them last year.

“We almost went undefeated last year except for two losses,” Durkin said. “And I think we can go undefeated this season.”

This year’s team is younger than in year’s past. Last year, Burdette was the only freshman on a mature Cardinal squad. This year, there are four new players, three of them freshmen.

“It’s good having a lot of freshman on the team because there’s so much energy,” Durkin said. “The new freshmen have a very all-court game which is great for singles and doubles. They are adding a ton to the team and they’re already fitting right in.”

But, with new players comes adjustment, according to head coach Lele Forood.

“We have a lot of turnover on this year’s team,” Forood said. “Right now, it’s all about getting the new players up to speed not only with adjustment to college but also with practices and their game. We like to see what they do well and what they need to work on in the fall.”

While the newest members of the Stanford team acclimate themselves, the burden of carrying on the winning tradition has fallen on the shoulders of returning players like Durkin, who is ranked ninth in the ITA preseason rankings.

“Celia spent this past summer academically in Europe for her German Studies major,” Forood said. “She took a step back from her tennis this summer but now she’s really revved up for the start of her senior year.”

Returning with Durkin are fellow seniors Whitney Deason and Lejla Hodzic who will also provide much-needed leadership for the young squad.

Also returning is junior Jessica Nguyen, who suffered a foot injury at last season’s end, but is now healthy and retains a No. 15 preseason ranking.

“It’s improved,” Nguyen said. “It’s fortunately at about 95 percent right now. I played on it over the summer and it felt fine. So hopefully it’ll stay up through the season.”

Forood said she has confidence that Nguyen’s injury has healed and will not affect the junior’s play.

“We got through the injury issues early in the summer and Jessica was able to start competing the second half of summer,” Forood said. “So obviously, it’s all systems go for her. I’m looking for great tournaments from her in the fall.”

The final piece to Stanford’s puzzle was last year’s freshman phenom Burdette, who is currently 16th in the rankings.

“Lindsay obviously had a great freshman year,” Forood said. “So she got a chance to play some more this summer and she’s just that much more experienced entering this year. She now knows what the college landscape is like and I think she’ll have a pretty good start to this season as well.”

Having already showed she can perform at the collegiate level, Burdette has lost her element of surprise, but welcomes the challenge that high expectations bring.

“On paper, there’s more pressure on me to perform this year so I need to do a good job of not letting that pressure get to me,” she said. “This year I hope to do a little better in the fall. Because I’m coming in this year at 16, I’ll have more of an opportunity by getting in singles matches and improve my ranking.”

While the squad is loaded with talent, its members know that talent alone does not win championships.

“Over the summer, everyone builds their games so much so it’s like coming in with a new group,” Nguyen said. “We come in together and we know we’ve all worked hard. So coming into the season, we’ll keep working hard and it’ll show up in our matches.”