Team Starrett: Like mother, like daughter

Team Starrett: Like mother, like daughter

Bruin tennis’ Susie Starrett takes after mom Susan’s form

By Chris Isidro

When you think of Westwood, you envision dorm food, pizza and
gourmet dining at Tommy’s. But once in a while, the sweet smell of
Mom’s cooking makes a visit, infectiously warming the palates of
deprived Bruins.

Lasagna, lemon bars and dip whet many an appetite at Susie
Starrett’s apartment Saturday evening. Her mother Susan gave
Starrett and the rest of the UCLA women’s tennis team a little
taste of the finest food Aurora, Ill., has to offer.

"Dinner was great, just so good," Susie Starrett, a senior,
said. "Mom’s lasagna was so good, aah so good. She also made her
famous lemon bars, famous cole slaw and seven-layer dip. It was to
die for."

Word spread quickly of Starrett’s prowess in the kitchen and the
masses came to take a bite out of those lemon bars.

"I fed about 20 to 24 and I don’t know where they all came from
but they just kept coming and they ate well," Susan Starrett said.
"I told them the lemon bars were just (made of) fruit so they got
through that real quickly."

Susie Starrett can thank her mother for more than just the food.
Besides being a great cook, her mother excelled on the tennis
courts. In her long, successful amateur career, Susan Starrett
amassed 14 national tourney titles. Naturally, the younger Starrett
also took up the sport at an early age.

She began playing competitively at 12 and showed flashes of
brilliance, tempered by inconsistency. Though Starrett scored
victories against the top juniors, they usually occurred in the
smaller tournaments or in the back draws.

"She always was capable of the big wins," her mother said. "But
not capable of enough of them in a row to get seeded in the big
tournaments."

However, in doubles, Starrett was among the best in the nation.
The seventh-ranked junior doubles player even teamed with her mom
twice in the USTA Mother-Daughter Championships.

"She had the touch," Starrett said. "And I had the flair."

The Starretts finished 3rd in their first tournament after
dropping a tight match in the semifinals. In 1989, they reached the
finals when the younger Starrett displayed her affinity for
gold.

"We were tied in the third set when we walked by the net,"
Starrett said. "I turned to look at the table where they were
starting to put out the gold and the silver balls. I said, ‘Mom, I
want the gold. I don’t like silver. I don’t wear silver.’"

With the match tied at 4-4 in the third, the elder Starrett did
not want to be the reason for her Susie to come home with the
silver. So she just stood back and let her daughter take charge of
the match.

"I just stayed out of the way and let Susie hit the last four
big backhands," the mother recalled. "From then on, we knew who was
in charge."

Off the court, their relationship was less rigidly defined.
Mother does not totally describe Susan Starrett’s role in her
daughter’s life.

"Both as a friend and a mom, she’s great," Starrett said. "She
was also very good at making the distinction between mom and coach.
She was always the one to remind me to brush my teeth and comb my
hair."

The younger Starrett also makes sure nobody messes with her mom.
At a mother-daughter doubles tourney, an opponent had her gunsights
set toward the elder Starrett. Susie made sure to put that to an
end in a hurry.

"We were playing doubles and this lady kept aiming right for my
mom and I didn’t really get the point of that," Starrett said. "So
I took an overhead and hit it right toward her and she moved in the
way of the ball so it wasn’t my fault. But the point was made quite
clear and she stopped doing it."

Their tight bond helped the younger Starrett endure her first
two years in college. At Indiana, the freshman immediately found
herself in the lineup, compiling an impressive 39-8 record in
singles and doubles in 1992.

"She was a solid player in her two years here," Indiana head
coach Lin Loring said. "She would have been very good for us if she
stayed here."

Starrett’s record at Indiana only veiled her discontent with the
program. A ridge developed between her and the coaching staff when
the Illinois native felt she just could not communicate with them
or the rest of the team.

"Basically, your thought didn’t count," Starrett said. "My
parents always told me that everyone’s voice counts. And all of a
sudden, someone was saying that you really don’t matter, you’re not
worth two cents. It was basically total submission."

As the unhappiness grew,

Starrett regularly called home to share her experiences, talk
about her problems and occasionally cry to her parents over the
phone. And her parents were there on the other end sharing in their
daughter’s pain.

"When she was very displeased with her first school, we probably
suffered more than she did," her mother said. "We encouraged her to
leave and finally after two years she said she had enough."

Loring did not agree with Starrett’s appraisal of the situation
at Indiana and said he and Starrett managed to get along.

"She is entitled to her own opinion," he said. "I guess that’s
why she left."

Starrett considered UCLA after playing a couple of matches
against them while at Indiana. She was impressed by the level of
competition and also the rapport among the team members.

On her recruiting visit in Westwood, Starrett was hosted by then
freshman Keri Phebus, who would later become her doubles partner
and good friend.

"Susie is definitely unique," Phebus said. "The team just laughs
at her just because she’s just such a character."

Phebus said that Starrett complements her on the court well.
When the points get intense for the ever-serious Phebus, her
partner finds a way to lighten up the moment.

"She is just so loose on the court," Phebus said. "One time, I
hit a ball halfway off the court and she said, ‘You’re my
idol.’"

The senior Bruin solidifies the middle of the UCLA singles
lineup and also composes one-half of the fourth-ranked doubles
tandem in the nation. Yet, the All-American has always put the team
before her own success.

"She is very unselfish and will play anywhere we need her in the
lineup," assistant coach Henry Hines said. "And the reason why the
freshmen are so good this year is because Susie is willing to work
with them."

"Susie will do anything for anybody," Phebus said. "I don’t
think she has a bad bone in her body."

Starrett’s mother was not too happy about Susie’s decision to go
all the way out to Los Angeles at first. Because of the long
distance, last week was only the second time the elder Starrett
made the trip to Southern California to see daughter Susie in
action.

"The last thing on Susie’s mind when she went to UCLA was how
often we’d get a chance to see her play," Susan said.

However, Susan Starrett has no qualms about her daughter’s
school of choice. Watching from the stands at a recent match, she
saw something special about this year’s Bruins.

"There’s a good camaraderie, I think they’re starting to come
together really well," she said as a lone singles match was still
being contested. "See how well they sunbathe together."