Frustration and disappointment.

Those two words could sum up the No. 1 Stanford women’s tennis team’s exit in the semifinals of the 2008 National Team Indoors, as the team team ended its tourney bid with a 4-3 loss to No. 4 Georgia Tech.

The Cardinal entered the Indoors in Madison, Wisc., as the top team in the nation and the first seed in the draw. Stanford lived up to its ranking in strong wins against No. 11 Baylor and No. 9 University of Miami (Fla.) in the early rounds.

“We played the No. 11 team in the country in the first round, which was probably the toughest first round we’ve ever had to deal with there,” head coach Lele Forood said. “We had a nice win over Baylor who has three players in the top-25. Then we had Miami, which was a good test.”

Then came the Yellow Jackets, the defending NCAA champions.

In last year’s Championships, the Cardinal had its 89-game win streak — spanning three national titles — broken by Georgia Tech in the semifinal round.

“Last year, they shocked us,” Forood said. “We didn’t really think about Georgia Tech last year. They certainly weren’t on our radar so it was more of a stunning loss.”

Intent on not letting history repeat itself, the Cardinal jumped to an early lead in Saturday’s dual match against the Yellow Jackets.

In doubles, sophomore Lindsay Burdette and freshman Hilary Barte defeated Kristi Miller and Kirsten Flower, 8-5. Senior Whitney Deason and junior Jessica Nguyen also prevailed 8-5, over Whitney McCray and Amanda McDowell, to capture the doubles point.

As a positive note on the weekend, Stanford won the doubles point in all three of its matches at the Indoors.

“We were very unsure about what we were doing with the doubles a couple weeks ago,” Forood said. “But we finally found these teams playing at the Indoors, and we decided, ‘Wow, we like what we see now.’ For the moment, we’re going with the teams we have, and I’m pretty happy with winning these doubles points.”

With a 1-0 lead in the match, Barte quickly dispatched McCray 6-1, 7-5 at the No. 3 spot, earning the Cardinal another point. Senior Celia Durkin quickly followed with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Christy Striplin for a commanding 3-0 Stanford lead.

One more point — that’s all that was needed to send the Cardinal into the final round, and to vanquish any demons left from last year’s forgettable tournament.

Unfortunately, vengeance will have to wait.

With their backs against the wall, the Yellow Jackets mounted an inspired comeback to upset top-seeded Stanford.

The Cardinal collapse began with freshman Carolyn McVeigh’s 6-2, 6-3 loss to Noelle Hickey at the No. 6 spot.

McDowell followed with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Nguyen, pulling the Yellow Jackets even closer, although the Card still held the lead.

When Flower defeated Deason 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5, Stanford had lost its edge on the match. The teams were now tied.

With the match on the line, Miller clinched the match with a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3 victory over Burdette at the No. 1 spot.

Game. Set. Match.

“We did what we wanted to do coming out,” Forood said. “We won the doubles point and got two quick wins, and then we got unlucky with an injury to Jessica [Nguyen]. We just couldn’t get the third set out of three different matches.”

Georgia Tech would go on to defeat No. 3 Northwestern in the finals, avenging a dual-match loss less than a week ago.

“The fact is that they won the match, and you have to argue that they were better than us,” Forood said. “But we’re certainly right on the doorstep with them.”

If the defeat seemed all too familiar, perhaps it was.

Last year, Georgia Tech upset Stanford 4-3, also in the semifinals of the National Team Indoors. The Yellow Jackets would eventually go on to capture the NCAA title.

Georgia Tech is one of only two teams to defeat Stanford in the last five years. It is also the only team to have done so twice during that span.

“This year, we certainly knew they were good, and we knew what was coming,” Forood said. “The fact that we were awfully close does make it quite upsetting.”

Despite its long weekend, the Cardinal knows its season is far from over.

“Our team was frustrated that we couldn’t win one more set and come away with the win,” Forood said. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing this time of year. We have to work hard with tough matches later this month at L.A., Washington and Cal.

“We have plenty of chances to prove ourselves.”