Birch, who was raised in
Huntington Bay on Long Island, was runner-up to
Natasha Zvereva in the girls' singles at the
1987 US Open. From 1988 to 1991, she played collegiate tennis for Stanford University and was a member of the championship winning teams in each of those four seasons. She was a two-time
NCAA Division I singles champion. In 1989, she beat
Jennifer Santrock to win her first singles championship, and she was runner-up in the doubles. Her second championship was won in 1991 as a senior, over
Lisa Albano in the final. While at Stanford, she won the
Honda Sports Award as the nation's best female tennis player in 1991. Both championship wins earned her a wildcard into the
US Open main draw. She was beaten in the first round by
Conchita Martínez in 1989 and
Manuela Maleeva in 1991. While at Stanford, she competed in several WTA Tour professional tournaments, most notably the
1989 OTB Open held in Schenectady, where she was a singles quarterfinalist and runner-up in the doubles with
Debbie Graham. == WTA Tour finals ==