Jan. 22, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 21st-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team (1-0) opened the spring portion of the season with a 6-1 victory over #49 Ohio State (0-1) Saturday afternoon at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center. The Irish will next return home to take on a trio of top-30 teams in an eight-day span, first welcoming #6 Vanderbilt (3-0) on Sunday at Noon (EST) before playing host to #20 Michigan (1-1) on Wednesday and #30 Wake Forest (1-0) on Jan. 30. Notre Dame swept the doubles matches and won at each of the top five singles positions to defeat the Buckeyes for the 10th consecutive time.
Sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), the #2-ranked doubles team in college tennis, began their spring season with an 8-4 victory against Caitlin O’Keefe and Anna Volberg at No. 1. The Thompsons were the only team to reach the semifinals of each of the first two legs of the collegiate grand slam, and they now stand 9-2 on the season, with their defeats coming in the title match of the Riviera/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships and the semis of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. They are now 17-8 in their collegiate careers indoors. The Thompsons will make their season debuts at home on Sunday after missing the Eck Classic last fall due to playing-date restrictions.
Junior Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) and freshman Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School) continued their strong play, defeating Lindsey Adams and Sonia Ruzimovsky 8-5 at No. 2. The Irish duo stands 12-3 on the season after reaching the quarterfinals in last fall’s ITA Midwest Championships. They are 8-2 against Midwest Region teams and 9-2 in matches away from home.
At No. 3 doubles, 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) pairing to beat Emily DeCamilla and Meredith Vincent 8-5. Connelly and Stastny are 11-3 this season, including an 8-2 record in road matches and a 7-2 mark vs. regional foes. They are 21-9 in their careers in indoor matches.
Catrina Thompson, ranked a career-high 69th, won in her debut at No. 1 singles, defeating DeCamilla 6-2, 6-3. She is the first sophomore to occupy the top of the Irish singles lineup since current assistant coach Michelle Dasso went 23-4 in the position during the spring of 1999. Thompson is now 7-1 on the season, with the lone defeat coming against #42 Katie McGaffigan of Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Championships. In her career, she is 14-6 against the Midwest Region and 17-7 indoors.
Buck made her dual-match debut a successful one, as she lost just two games in a convincing 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Adams at No. 2. The rookie jumped into the national rankings at 85th earlier this month, and she now stands 11-3, including 9-2 in indoor play.
Christian Thompson similarly had little trouble at No. 3, defeating O’Keefe 6-2, 6-0. She played in just two tournaments in the fall and stands just 4-2 on the season, though she has a 19-8 career mark indoors.
Lauren Connelly used a match tiebreaker to beat Kristin Messmer at No. 4 by scores of 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8). She improved to 11-2 on the season and has now won 13 straight matches when taking the opening set. Connelly has reversed her fortunes in match tiebreakers this season, winning both she has played (also one in consolation action at the ITA Midwest Championships) after going 2-5 in them during her first two collegiate campaigns.
Stastny defeated Lindsay Bryan 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5 singles to improve to 10-3 this season.
The lone Buckeyes point came in a match tiebreaker at No. 6, where Ruzimovsky defeated junior Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman H.S.) 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8). Half of Donohue’s four defeats this season have come in match tiebreakers, and she is just 2-4 in them throughout her career.
#21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6, #49 Ohio State Buckeyes 1
Singles
No. 1: #69 Catrina Thompson (ND) def. Emily DeCamilla (OSU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2: #85 Brook Buck (ND) def. Lindsey Adams (OSU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 3: Christian Thompson (ND) def. Caitlin O’Keefe (OSU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 4: Lauren Connelly (ND) def. Kristin Messmer (OSU) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 5: Kristina Stastny (ND) def. Lindsay Bryan (OSU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 6: Sonia Ruzimovsky (OSU) def. Liz Donohue (ND) 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8)
Doubles
No. 1: #2 Thompson/Thompson (ND) def. O’Keefe/Anna Volberg (OSU) 8-4
No. 2: Buck/L. Connelly (ND) def. Adams/Ruzimovsky (OSU) 8-5
No. 3: Sarah Jane Connelly/Stastny (ND) def. DeCamilla /Meredith Vincent (OSU) 8-5