Feb. 19, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 20th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team (4-2) went up 3-0 and held one-set advantages in two other matches, but #5 Duke (6-1) stormed back, winning all three three-set affairs – including the No. 4 match that ended in a third-set tiebreaker – to rally for a 4-3 victory Friday afternoon in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. With the score tied 3-3, Saras Arasu of Duke beat Irish junior Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) to hand the Blue Devils the victory. Notre Dame continues a tough weekend of action when it plays host to #9 North Carolina Sunday at 10 a.m. (EST).
Notre Dame swept the doubles matches and got straight-set victories at Nos. 2 and 6 to take a 3-0 advantage, but Duke would eventually come out on the winning end in every other match.
In the final contest, 96th-ranked Arasu dropped the opening set to Connelly, but was able to come back and win a pair of tight frames to prevail 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 to hand Duke its sixth victory in seven matches this season and the 12th in as many all-time meetings with the Irish.
Notre Dame started off well, winning all three doubles matches easily. At No. 1, sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), the #2-ranked team in college tennis, defeated Kristin Cargill and Jennifer Zika 8-2 at No. 1 to improve to 15-2 this season and 7-0 in dual matches at No. 1. The twins are likely to be the first team to ascend to the national #1 ranking if they can down North Carolina’s 14th-ranked team of Kendall Cline and Lee Bairos on Sunday.
At No. 2, Connelly and rookie Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School) won 8-2 against Katie Blaszak and Tory Zawacki. That Irish pair is 17-4 this season, including 6-1 in dual matches. Senior captain Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) and junior Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) beat Celia Deltour and Parker Goyer 8-5 at No. 3.
In singles, junior Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman H.S.) was first off the court, registering a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Zawacki at No. 6. Buck then completed a quick 6-3, 6-0 victory over 108th-ranked Zika to improve to 5-2 against nationally-ranked foes this season and move Notre Dame within a point of victory.
That point would never come, and Deltour began the Duke comeback by finishing a 7-6, 6-2 victory against Christian Thompson at No. 3. Next, it was 115th-ranked Blaszak knocking off the other Thompson in three sets, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, at No. 1. Cargill won just one game in the first set against Stastny at No. 5, but she eventually came back for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory to put the match in the hands of the No. 4 players.
#5 Duke 4, #20 Notre Dame 3
Singles
No. 1: #115 Katie Blaszak (DU) def. Catrina Thompson (ND), 6-1, 6-7, 6-2
No. 2: #85 Brook Buck (ND) def. #108 Jennifer Zika (DU) 6-3, 6-0
No. 3: Celia Deltour (DU) def. Christian Thompson (ND) 7-6, 6-2
No. 4: #96 Saras Arasu (DU) def. Lauren Connelly (ND) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6
No. 5: Kristin Cargill (DU) def. Kristina Stastny (ND) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6: Liz Donohue (ND) def. Tory Zawacki (DU) 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish – 6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 4*
Doubles
No. 1: #2 Thompson/Thompson (ND) def. Cargill/Zika (DU) 8-2
No. 2: Buck/L. Connelly (ND) def. Blaszak/Zawacki (DU) 8-2
No. 3: S.J. Connelly/Stastny (ND) def. Deltour/Parker Goyer (DU) 8-5
Order of Finish – 1, 2*, 3
* – indicates clinching victory