Feb. 13, 2005
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The 21st-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team (4-2), the only current BIG EAST Conference school to even reach the title match of the league tournament in the last nine years, reestablished itself as the top team in the conference, losing just a single set en route to a 7-0 road victory against #60 Boston College (2-3) Sunday morning in Flynn Recreation Complex. The Irish, who prevailed in the matchup of the only two nationally-ranked teams in the BIG EAST in their lone regular-season tilt against a league foe, will return home next weekend for a pair of difficult tests, facing #6 Duke Friday at 3:30 p.m. (EST) before welcoming #13 North Carolina on Sunday at 10 a.m.
Notre Dame did not lose more than four games in a match in sweeping the doubles contests before getting straight-set victories at Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 6 singles, a win at No. 1 after BC’s competitor retired due to injury, and a match-tiebreaker triumph at No. 4. The Eagles failed to win more than three games in any match but that at No. 4. With the victory, the Irish have virtually clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2005 BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Championship, slated for April 21-23 in Tampa, Fla.
In doubles, Notre Dame got 8-4 wins at Nos. 1 and 3, as well as an 8-2 triumph at the No. 2 position. The most-lopsided victory came from junior Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) and freshman Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School), who defeated Lindsey Nash and Gia Nafarrette. The Irish pair holds a team-best 16-4 record this season, including 5-1 in dual-match action at No. 2. In half of their matches in 2004-05, Connelly and Buck have surrendered two or fewer games. They are 11-2 in matches away from home.
At No. 3, it was senior captain Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) and junior Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) prevailing 8-4 against Caitlin Arnould and Morgan Landes. The Notre Dame duo – which won just two games on Friday against #17 Harvard – improved to 14-5, including 9-2 in road matches.
Notre Dame’s top doubles team, sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), beat Hungarian Szilvia Szegedi and Pakistani Nida Waseem 8-4 at No. 1 for their sixth victory in as many matches this spring, all at the top position. The Thompsons, currently the #2-ranked doubles team in college tennis, are just two victories away from a likely ascension to the #1 spot in the next set of Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national doubles rankings (to be released Feb. 22), which would mark a first in program history. Northwestern’s Cristelle Grier and Audra Cohen, currently the top-ranked team in the nation, lost twice last weekend and won their other two matches by 9-7 and 9-8 scores. The Thompsons, now 6-1 in their careers against BIG EAST opposition, have scarcely been challenged this spring, allowing only one team to win six games against them en route to four wins against nationally-ranked teams (they are 10-1 on the season vs. ranked foes). They are 14-2 overall and next weekend will likely take on #42 Katie Blaszak/Jackie Carleton of Duke and #14 Kendall Cline/Aniela Mojzis of North Carolina. The Blue Devil duo stands 4-5 this season, while the Tar Heels are 17-2 in 2004-05 after registering an 8-4 victory over the Thompsons last spring in dual-match play.
Christian Thompson had the easiest time of it in singles, dropping just a pair of games en route to a 6-2, 6-0 win against Nash at No. 3. She remained perfect during her career in singles action against the BIG EAST Conference, improving to 6-0 with one match abandoned.
Catrina Thompson, ranked 69th in the nation in singles, was in control of her match at No. 1 when Szilvia Szegedi retired due to injury, down a set and a game. The Irish sophomore is 10-3 this season, including 4-2 in her first spring at the No. 1 singles slot. She is 9-1 on the road in 2004-05 and 9-0 when taking the opening set.
Buck, the 85th-ranked player in college tennis, had little trouble with Waseem at No. 2, claiming a 6-1, 6-2 triumph. The Irish rookie won her first career encounter with a BIG EAST foe to improve to 14-5 this season. She is 9-2 in road contests and 12-3 indoors as a collegian.
At No. 5, it was Stastny who defeated Amy Molden 6-3, 6-0 to claim her seventh victory in her last eight matches. The Notre Dame junior is 14-4 on the season, including 5-1 at No. 5 this spring. She has now won 15 consecutive matches when taking the opening set and also boasts an 8-2 mark in road matches this season. The second set marked her fifth 6-0 frame of the campaign.
Junior Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman H.S.), who came into the match having lost four of her last five, downed Nafarrette 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6.
The closest match was between Lauren Connelly and Landes at No. 4, where the Irish junior was dominant in the opening frame, but then had to play 24 points in a match tiebreaker to hold on to a 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (13-11) victory. Connelly claimed her team-leading 15th singles victory of the season, in 18 contests. She is now unbeaten in four match tiebreakers in 2004-05 after going just 2-5 in them during her first two collegiate campaigns. Connelly stands 5-1 at No. 4 this spring and has won 16 in a row when taking the opening set. The first frame against Landes marked her fifth “bagel” of the season, and she also improved to 8-1 in her career against BIG EAST players.
Notre Dame is 11-0 all-time against Boston College, including six shutouts. No school has played the Irish more times without winning.
#21 Notre Dame 7, #60 Boston College 0
Singles
No. 1: #69 Catrina Thompson (ND) def. Szilvia Szegedi (BC) 6-3, 1-0, retired
No. 2: #85 Brook Buck (ND) def. Nida Waseem (BC) 6-1, 6-2
No. 3: Christian Thompson (ND) def. Lindsey Nash (BC) 6-2, 6-0
No. 4: Lauren Connelly (ND) def. Morgan Landes (BC) 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (13-11)
No. 5: Kristina Stastny (ND) def. Amy Molden (BC) 6-3, 6-0
No. 6: Liz Donohue (ND) def. Gia Nafarrette (BC) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1: #2 Thompson/Thompson (ND) def. Szegedi/Waseem (BC) 8-4
No. 2: Buck/L. Connelly (ND) def. Nash/Nafarrette (BC) 8-2
No. 3: Sarah Jane Connelly/Stastny (ND) def. Caitlin Arnould/Landes (BC) 8-4