Despite injuries, a tough schedule and battling the elements, the No. 4 Stanford women’s tennis team just keeps winning. The Cardinal improved its record to an impressive 11-1 this past weekend with smooth victories over Oregon and Texas.

The three-time defending champions currently sit atop the Pac-10 standings; they haven’t lost a match since the early February shocker against Georgia Tech.

The Cardinal opened the weekend with an easy 7-0 win over No. 26 Oregon.

“We played really, really well,” freshman Lindsay Burdette said. “We absolutely killed them in doubles.”

Stanford had three straight victories for the doubles point. The No. 41 tandem of Burdette and senior Anne Yelsey defeated Oregon’s Dominika Dieskova and Ana Olivos 8-5, with even more decisive 8-1 and 8-4 wins (by juniors Celia Durkin and Lejla Hodzic, and junior Whitney Deason and senior Theresa Logar, respectively) to follow.

Sophomore Jessica Nguyen was out on injury, while Durkin and Yelsey were limited in competition, but Stanford pulled through in singles as well.

“We adjusted really well and we came on really strong,” Durkin said. “We took out Oregon very decisively.”

Sunday’s match against Texas was more of a test for the Cardinal. Stanford won by a final score of 5-2, suffering losses at the five and six slots of the singles portion of the match.

Head Coach Lele Forood was still pleased with her team’s performance, though.

“I think we played pretty well given the circumstances of injuries, illness and everything else,” she said.

With their healthier lineup, the Longhorns came on strong from the start — but Stanford was ready for them.

“I think that Texas came out with a little more fire,” Durkin said. “But we came out with just as much fire and had a lot of fun in taking them out. We all had pretty tough matches at all points and everyone fought through them.”

Adding an interesting dynamic to the Texas match, Longhorns head coach Patty Fendick-McCain is a Stanford alumna (‘87) and was a former star tennis player for the Cardinal. This gave the current Cardinal team an extra incentive to defeat the Longhorns, according to Burdette.

“It was really interesting,” she said. “Personally, I visited [Texas] as a possible place to play tennis. It added an interesting dynamic and gave us something tangible to want to beat Texas.”

Durkin disagreed somewhat with Burdette’s assessment.

“It didn’t affect the match too much because every team comes out to Stanford,” she said. “But I think that she [Fendick-McCain] definitely got her players ready.”

The Oregon and Texas victories conclude a rough four-week stretch of eight matches for the Cardinal. Battling injuries and their opponents, Stanford came out of the stretch with its one-loss record intact. The Cardinal will get a much-needed break during Dead Week and finals: The squad won’t play another match for nearly two weeks, when it faces Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) on March 25.

Many of the players welcome the much-needed rest, both from practice and match play.

“It’s good and it’s bad,” Durkin said. “We’re kind of on a roll now, but at the same time we’ve really had a tough quarter. This last quarter was very strenuous and it will be great to get a break. I think that’s why we do so well at NCAAs every year — besides having a very talented team, we’re very fresh.”

“We all need time to get our schoolwork back in line but to also recover, regroup and refresh mentally,” Burdette added. “I feel like this break came at the perfect time. It will really be useful for us to regroup and go toward our last push at the NCAA [Championships].”

After the last four weeks, the Cardinal players need a break.

“We did an unbelievable job of pulling through injuries and a lot of adversity in general — losing the winning streak at Indoors — we’ve bounced back and fought hard,” Burdette said. “I think it says a lot about our team this year and what we’re capable of. To make it to this break without losing after the Georgia Tech loss is huge, and I think it’s only going to get better for us from here on out.”

The break should play a role in preparing the Cardinal for its run to the NCAA Championships in mid-May. Durkin, winner of two national team titles in her career at Stanford, believes that the team is right where it wants to be heading into the final two months of the season.

“I think were in a great position right now,” she said. “Our team is just so close and it’s really showing. We’re not all healthy but we still went and dominated; it just goes to show that when we are healthy, we’ll be that much scarier. We’re an NCAA Championship [caliber] team.”