Jan. 25, 2005
#21Notre Dame (1-1) vs. #20 Michigan (1-1)
Wednesday, January 26, 4 p.m. • Eck Tennis Pavilion
#21Notre Dame vs. #30 Wake Forest
Sunday, January 30, 10 a.m. • Eck Tennis Pavilion
#21 IRISH PLAY HOST TO TWO TOP-30 TEAMS THIS WEEK, BEGINNING WEDNESDAY WITH #20 MICHIGAN: The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team (1-1) will play host to a pair of top-30 teams this week, first welcoming #20 Michigan (1-1) to the Eck Tennis Pavilion on Wednesday for a 4 p.m. (EST) contest before taking on #30 Wake Forest (2-0) on Sunday at 10 a.m. The Irish opened the spring portion of the 2004-05 season last weekend by winning at #49 Ohio State and falling at home vs. #6 Vanderbilt. After facing the Demon Deacons, they will have their longest off stretch of the regular season, taking 11 days off before returning to action.
LAST TIME ON THE COURTS: Last weekend, the Irish opened their dual-match slate by first claiming a 6-1 road victory against #49 Ohio State on Saturday before losing by the same score to #6 Vanderbilt at home on Sunday. Notre Dame opened the spring portion of the season with a 6-1 victory over #49 Ohio State Saturday afternoon at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center. The Irish swept the doubles matches and won at each of the top five singles positions to defeat the Buckeyes for the 10th consecutive time. The lone OSU triumph came at No. 6, where Sonia Ruzimovsky prevailed in a match tiebreaker against Notre Dame junior Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman H.S.). The Commodores saved a pair of match points in the deciding contest en route to winning the doubles point and then used three tiebreaker victories to spur them to a 6-1 triumph Sunday afternoon in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish got their lone point from junior Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) at No. 4 singles. The doubles point proved to be a turning point in the match. It came down to the No. 2 contest between Vanderbilt’s 20th-ranked team of Amanda Fish and Taka Bertrand and the Irish duo of Connelly and freshman Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School). With VU serving at 7-6, the Notre Dame team nearly broke serve to win. Connelly and Buck first had a match point at 30-40, but a furious flurry of volleys ended in one off Connelly’s racket finding the net. She quickly atoned for the miscue, stepping back and angling a backhand return winner crosscourt on the ensuing point to give the Irish a second match point. This time it was a Buck backhand down the line that missed by just inches and forced another deuce. Bertrand and Fish, who are now 8-3 on the season and unbeaten in six matches against unranked opponents, fought to a hold of serve and then played a strong return game – punctuated by a net-cord winner on break point – to take an 8-7 advantage. A solid service game then delivered a 9-7 victory for the Commodores and a 1-0 lead in the match. For the second day in a row, Lauren Connelly was victorious in a match tiebreaker at No. 4 singles, this time winning nine straight points after being down 6-1 in the tiebreaker to top Annie Menees 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-6). The Vanderbilt senior, who was 98th in the preseason national singles rankings, had been 10-3 on the season, while Connelly improved to 12-2. She is now 3-0 in match tiebreakers this season after winning just twice in seven chances during the first two years of her collegiate career.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN: Michigan, ranked 20th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason national rankings, stands 1-1 on the young season, having defeated DePaul 5-2 and lost to #6 Vanderbilt by the same score. This will be the first road match of the season for the Wolverines. U-M and the Irish had similar results against the Commodores, as Michigan lost the doubles point in a tiebreaker at No. 1 and then got singles wins at Nos. 3 (vs. Taka Bertrand, who won at No. 2 vs. ND) and 4 (in a match tiebreaker). On Sunday against VU, Notre Dame dropped a 9-7 decision at No. 2 doubles to go behind 1-0 and then got a match-tiebreaker victory at No. 4. Michigan returned six letterwinners and five starters from last year’s squad that was 17-7 and 23rd in the nation after beating Denver in the opening round of the NCAA Championship before losing to eventual national champ Stanford. The Wolverines finished tied for fourth in the Big Ten Conference (6-4 record) and lost in the semifinals of the league tournament. Michigan is led by senior Michelle DaCosta, who is ranked 44th in the nation in singles and 15th in doubles with sophomore Kara Delicata. DaCosta finished last year 51st and reached the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship, while the duo was 27th and one of the final 16 teams in the NCAA doubles tournament. In the preseason, DaCosta was a career-high 34th in singles, while she and Delicata were eighth in doubles. The pair defeated Notre Dame’s Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) and Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School) 9-7 in the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Championships. Sophomore Elizabeth Exon finished last year 85th and is currently ranked 95th in singles. She has been as high as 37th during her career. Michigan also boasts a pair of freshmen that have ties to recent Notre Dame players: Monica Sly, who played at Shorecrest Preparatory School with current Irish junior Kelly Nelson (St. Petersburg, Fla./Shorecrest Preparatory School) and Allie Shafner, an Englewood, Colo., native who went to Cherry Creek High School, the alma mater of 2004 Notre Dame grad Alicia Salas. Head coach Bitsy Ritt is in her 21st season leading the Wolverines, having compiled a 258-222 (.539) record.
IRISH-WOLVERINES SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Michigan will meet for the 20th consecutive season — the longest current streak in any Irish series — and 23rd time overall, with Notre Dame holding a 14-8 advantage in the all-time series. The Wolverines claimed an 8-1 home win in the first-ever meeting between the schools, in 1981, but the Irish hold a 12-3 record against Michigan under head coach Jay Louderback. Notre Dame is 9-1 all-time at home vs. U-M, including nine consecutive victories, dating back to a 7-2 Wolverine win in 1984. The Irish won nine in a row vs. Michigan from 1995-2003, but that streak ended last spring, when the Wolverines claimed a hard-fought 4-3 victory on Jan. 29 in Ann Arbor. This will be the sixth time in a row that both teams are nationally-ranked heading into the match, but the first time since 1997 (a 5-4 win for #14 ND against #17 U-M) that both squads are among the top 25. It is the first time ever that Michigan enters the match with a higher ranking than the Irish. Notre Dame holds a 115-70 (.622) all-time record against current Big Ten Conference schools, including an 88-31 (.739) mark under Louderback. Last year’s match came down to a trio of three-set matches with the score tied 2-2. DaCosta, ranked 92nd, beat #88 Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 and Leanne Rutherford topped Notre Dame’s Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 at No. 5 to clinch the Wolverine victory before Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) finished off Delicata 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-5 at No. 6. The doubles point came down to the No. 1 match, where DaCosta and Rutherford prevailed 8-6 against twins Christian and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.).
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST: Wake Forest, ranked 30th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason national rankings, opened its dual-match slate last weekend with home wins against Charlotte (6-1) and UNC Greensboro (7-0). This weekend the Demon Deacons will travel to #33 Illinois for a match on Friday before heading to Notre Dame. Wake returned six letterwinners and three starters from last year’s squad that finished 11-12 and 32nd in the national rankings after losing to South Carolina in the opening round of the NCAA Championship. The Deacs finished sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (3-5 record) and fell in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. Wake Forest is led by senior Karin Coetzee of South Africa and sophomore Indiana native Ashlee Davis, who both carry national rankings in both singles and doubles. The veteran — ranked as high as 10th last year before finishing 26th after reaching the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship — is 16th in the latest ITA rankings, heading into the weekend with a 9-4 record (all four defeats came against top-20 players). Davis, who hails from Anderson and went to Anderson Highland High School, is 8-4 and ranked 77th after being a career-high 64th in the preseason. In doubles, the duo is 33rd with an 8-4 record. Sophomore Alex Hirsch, who was ranked as high as 38th as a rookie, was 74th in the preseason singles rankings, but did not compete in the fall. Senior Katie Martzolf — an Indianapolis native who went to high school at the Park Tudor School with former Irish player Emily Neighbours (`04) — has been ranked as high as 48th in singles and was 52nd, along with freshman Jenna Loeb, in the preseason doubles rankings. Head coach Brian Fleishman is in his seventh season leading the Demon Deacons, having compiled a 92-57 (.617) record.
IRISH-DEMON DEACONS SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Wake Forest will meet for the 13th consecutive season and 16th time overall, with the Deacons holding a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series. The teams have split six matches at Notre Dame, though the Irish have won each of the last three, dating back to an 8-1 Wake win in 1997, and the Deacs hold a slim 7-6 advantage since Jay Louderback took over as coach of the Irish. Wake Forest claimed a 5-4 decision in Hilton Head, S.C. in 1983 in the first-ever matchup between the schools, and Notre Dame got its first win over the Deacs in 1991 by the same score in Knoxville, Tenn. The squads have split the last six matches, with the home team winning on each occasion. This will be the 13th consecutive meeting with both schools nationally-ranked at the time of the match, and it will be the third in a row with the Irish holding the higher ranking, after a streak of six straight higher-ranked Wake Forest teams from 1997-2002. Irish volunteer assistant coach Liz (Barker) Balanis, who is in her ninth season at Notre Dame (her first seven as the full-time assistant), is a 1994 Wake Forest graduate, as well as one of the first two women’s tennis All-Americans in school history. In her final season, she advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship.
IRISH HEAD COACH: Jay Louderback is in his 16th season at Notre Dame with a 268-137 (.663) record and his 26th year as a collegiate coach with a 472-315 (.600) mark. He ranks fifth among active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories. Louderback’s Irish have finished in the national top 30 in each of the last 12 seasons and have won 11 conference titles. Since the preseason of the 1992-93 season, Louderback’s teams have been in the national top 30 in 188 of 189 sets of ITA rankings. After taking over a program looking for its first NCAA tournament appearance, Louderback has helped Notre Dame to the NCAAs 11 times in the last 12 years, including five appearances in the round of 16 and a 1996 quarterfinal finish. Louderback, a four-time Midwest Region coach of the year, has been honored as his conference’s top coach on eight occasions, including five times in nine years in the BIG EAST. In his time at Notre Dame, Louderback’s players have earned All-America honors 13 times, won four national ITA awards, and earned 19 invitations to the NCAA Singles Championship and 11 to the NCAA doubles tournament. His players have dominated the University awards during Louderback’s tenure, leading all sports in both Byron V. Kanaley awards (six) and Francis Patrick O’Connor awards (five). His family was honored with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Tennis Family of the Year Award for 2002. The Arkansas City, Kan., native, and 1976 graduate of Wichita State arrived at Notre Dame prior to the 1989-90 season after coaching for seven years at his alma mater and three years (men and women) at Iowa State.
#2 THOMPSON TWINS HIGHEST-RANKED DOUBLES TEAM IN IRISH HISTORY: Sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) are #2 in the latest set of Intercollegiate Tennis Association national doubles rankings, released Jan. 11, making them the highest-ranked doubles team in Notre Dame history. The previous high ranking for an Irish pair was fifth, by current assistant coach Michelle Dasso and Becky Varnum, on two occasions during the spring of 2001. The Thompsons were the only team to reach the semifinals in both of the first two legs of the collegiate grand slam and are 10-2 on the season. The twins, who were seventh in the preseason after finishing 26th and reaching the round of 16 in the NCAA Doubles Championship last season, hold a 7-1 record this season against nationally-ranked teams, including wins against #1 Hollands/Mlakar of Arizona, #3 Foster/Kalsarieva of Kentucky, #6 Bentley/Stephenson of Alabama, and #11 Gersic/Kovacek of New Mexico. Junior Cristelle Grier of England and freshman Audra Cohen from Northwestern, the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor champions who stand 13-0 on the season, are the top-ranked team in college tennis. The teams will square off on April 14 in dual-match play at Northwestern.
ITA RANKINGS: With eight monogram winners and five starters returning from last year’s team, Notre Dame was listed 21st in the first set of Intercollegiate Tennis Associaion (ITA) national team rankings, released on Jan. 11. The Irish, who were 27th at the end of last season, were in the top 25 of the preseason national rankings for the 15th consecutive year and 21st for the second time in as many seasons. This set of rankings was determined by coaches’ voting, and the next set will be released Feb. 1. Notre Dame’s top two singles players and top doubles team are represented in the most recent set of individual national rankings, also released Jan. 11. Sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), ranked seventh in the preseason, moved up to #2 in the doubles listing after a fall season that saw them go 8-2 with six wins against ranked teams (three in the top 10) and be the only team to reach the semifinals of both of the first two legs of the collegiate grand slam. The ranking is the highest ever for a Notre Dame doubles team, surpassing the previous high of fifth by current assistant coach Michelle Dasso (`01) and Becky Varnum (`02) on two occasions during the spring of 2001. Catrina Thompson, who was 103rd in the preseason, leads the way in singles, with a career-high listing of 69th after a fall that saw her go 6-1 with the lone defeat coming against #42 Katie McGaffigan of Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Championships. Freshman Brook Buck jumped into the singles rankings, at 85th, following a 10-3 first semester that saw her defeat #37 Dora Vastag of Indiana and #93 Hala Sufi of Purdue. As a rookie, she was not eligible for the preseason rankings. Buck is 15th among freshmen, including 10th among American rookies.
IRISH FACING THREE TOP-30 TEAMS AT HOME IN EIGHT DAYS: Notre Dame is in the midst of an eight-day stretch in which it will take on a trio of teams ranked among the top 30 in the country in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish, ranked 21st, lost to #6 Vanderbilt on Sunday and will play host to #20 Michigan on Wednesday and #30 Wake Forest on Sunday.
WE NEED A BREAK: Following Sunday’s match with Wake Forest, Notre Dame will not play again for 11 days, until a match at Harvard on Feb. 11. It is the longest stretch without competition of the season with the exception of a 19-day period of inactivity between the BIG EAST Championship (April 21-23) and the first round of the NCAA Championship (May 13-15).
THOMPSONS ONLY DOUBLES TEAM TO REACH SEMIS OF FIRST TWO GRAND SLAMS: Sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) were the only Division I team to reach the semifinals of both of the first two legs of the collegiate grand slam. The Irish team, now ranked #2 after being seventh in the preseason, was the runner-up in October’s Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, defeating #6 Bentley/Stephenson of Alabama, #1 Hollands/Mlakar of Arizona, and #11 Gersic/Kovacek of New Mexico before falling to Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan of Florida in the title match. The sisters then beat #3 Foster/Kalsarieva of Kentucky and #28 Banada/Bradley of Miami before losing to 13th-ranked Alice Barnes and Erin Burdette of Stanford in the semifinals of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. Benik and Fangulyan were upset in the opening round dof the National Indoors by eventual champ and current national #1 Cristelle Grier and Audra Cohen of Northwestern. The Wildcat team did not play doubles in the All-American Championships. The Thompsons became the first Irish team ever to reach a grand-slam final, as well as the first Notre Dame players to advance to the doubles semis of multiple grand slams.
THOMPSONS UPSET #1, #3, AND #6 IN FALL SEASON: Sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), now ranked #2 after being seventh in the preseason, put together a fall filled with giant killing, as they were 6-1 against nationally-ranked teams, including four wins against top-15 squads. The sisters upset #1 Dianne Hollands/Maja Mlakar of Arizona, #6 Ashley Bentley/Robin Stephenson, and #11 Eva Gersic/Maja Kovacek of New Mexico en route to the title match of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships before upsetting #3 Sarah Foster/Aibika Kalsarieva of Kentucky in the round of 16 of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. The upset of Hollands and Mlakar, which came in an 8-6 decision on Oct. 8 in the quarterfinals of the first grand slam, was the first for an Irish team against the nation’s #1 doubles team since current assistant coach Michelle Dasso and Becky Varnum downed Pepperdine’s Ipek Senoglu and Paola Palencia 8-5 at No. 1 doubles on Feb. 17, 2001, in the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Catrina Thompson FIRST SOPHOMORE SINCE 1999 TO PLAY No. 1 FOR ND: Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) has played No. 1 singles for the Irish in the first two dual matches this spring, defeating Emily DeCamilla of Ohio State and losing to #38 Audra Falk of Vanderbilt. She is the first sophomore to play at the top of the Notre Dame singles lineup since current assistant coach Michelle Dasso went 23-4 in the slot in the spring of 1999.
BUCK AMONG TOP 10 AMERICAN FRESHMEN IN DIVISION I: Notre Dame’s Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School), who was 10-3 during the fall with upsets of #37 Dora Vastag of Indiana and #93 Hala Sufi of Purdue, is currently ranked 85th in the nation in singles, including 15th among freshmen and 10th among the rookies from the United States. Freshmen ranked ahead of her are #1 Audra Cohen of Northwestern, #3 Suzi Babos of California (native of Hungary), #6 Nicole Leimbach of USC, #9 Riza Zalameda of UCLA, #18 Kristi Miller of Georgia Tech, #21 Elena Gantcheva of UNLV (Bulgaria), #29 Lindsay Nelson of USC, #33 Megan Moulton-Levy of William & Mary, #41 Whitney Deason of Stanford, #46 Matrianna Yuferova of VCU (Russia), #57 Bianca Dulgheru of Pepperdine (Romania), #67 Diana Srebovic of Virginia (Canada), #74 Lolita Frangulyan of Florida, and #84 Julie Koulbitskaya of Penn.
GREAT RECORDS: Notre Dame players have had considerable success this season, combining for a 66-33 (.667) singles record and a 38-17 (.691) mark in doubles action. Leading the way is junior Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.), who is 12-2 in singles and has combined with freshman Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School) to go 12-4 in doubles. Buck is 11-4 in singles, while juniors Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) and Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./Bishop Gorman H.S.) are 10-4 and 10-5, respectively. In doubles, Stastny and senior captain Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) are 11-4, while sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) check in at 10-2.
DON’T LOSE THE DOUBLES POINT: Notre Dame has lost 12 consecutive matches when dropping the doubles point, including Sunday’s match against #6 Vanderbilt. The Irish were 0-8 when losing the match’s initial point last season, and the last time the Irish rallied from losing the doubles point to win the team match was March 8, 2003, when Notre Dame lost two of three in doubles at BYU, but won four of six in singles for a 4-3 victory. Notre Dame was 11-3 when winning the doubles point in 2004 and is 1-0 this season.
REGIONAL RANKINGS: Notre Dame was well represented in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Midwest Region rankings, released on Nov. 30. The Irish joined #5 Northwestern as the only teams to have four players in the top 25 in singles, as well as the only schools with two in the top eight in doubles. Leading the way for Notre Dame were sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), who were #2 in doubles after a fall that saw them knock off six ranked teams (including three top-10 squads) and be the only duo in the country to reach the semifinals of both of the first two legs of the collegiate grand slam. Catrina Thompson also is sixth in singles after going 6-1 (two ranked wins) in the first semester with her lone defeat coming against #42 Katie McGaffigan of Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Championships. Freshman Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School) was 11th in singles after going 10-3 in her first collegiate semester, including upsets of #37 Dora Vastag of Indiana and #93 Hala Sufi of Purdue. She is eighth in doubles with junior Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.), as that pair was 11-3 in the fall. Christian Thompson checked in at 21st despite going just 3-2 in the opening semester, while Connelly’s 10-2 mark earned her a listing of 23rd in singles.
HALF OF IRISH MATCHES WILL BE vs. TOP-30 TEAMS: Notre Dame’s rugged 2005 schedule will see it play 11 of its 22 regular-season dual matches against squads that are among the top 30 in the preseason edition of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings. Of the 22 teams on the Irish schedule, 19 of them earned bids to last year’s NCAA Championship, while all but one (Oklahoma State) are in the top 60 of the preseason rankings. Notre Dame will face three top-10 squads (#5 Northwestern, #6 Vanderbilt, and #8 Duke) and seven preseason top-20 teams.
HOME SCHEDULE PACKED WITH TOP TEAMS: Irish fans will have a tremendous opportunity to see many of the top teams in the country this season. Of the 10 teams that will visit the Eck Tennis Pavilion or the Courtney Tennis Center this spring, all are in the top 60 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason national rankings, all but one (Purdue) earned bids to the 2004 NCAA Championship, seven are ranked in the top 30 in the preseason, and four are top-15 squads in the preseason. Notre Dame’s 2004-05 home schedule (with preseason rankings): Jan. 23 vs. #6 Vanderbilt; Jan. 26 vs. #20 Michigan; Jan. 30 vs. #30 Wake Forest; Feb. 18 vs. #8 Duke; Feb. 20 vs. #15 North Carolina; Feb. 26 vs. #11 Texas; Feb. 27 vs. #43 Iowa; March 22 vs. #47 Purdue; April 2 vs. #58 Long Beach State; and April 9 vs. #28 William & Mary.
STREAK OF TOP-25 TUSSLES CONTINUES: On Sunday, 21st-ranked Notre Dame took on #6 Vanderbilt in the Eck Tennis Pavilion, marking the 15th consecutive season that the Irish have taken part in at least one battle of top-25 teams. The first came on March 3, 1991, in head coach Jay Louderback’s second season at Notre Dame, when #17 San Diego State claimed a 7-2 home victory against the 21st-ranked Irish. Since then, Notre Dame has not gone a season without being in a battle of top-25 teams. The Irish have currently dropped seven consecutive matchups of top-25 squads, dating back to when 24th-ranked Notre Dame topped #20 Miami 4-3 in the final of the 2003 BIG EAST Championship.
BIG ELEVEN (OR TWELVE)?: Though Notre Dame participates in the BIG EAST Conference in women’s tennis, a glance at the Irish schedule may not bear out that fact. Notre Dame faces only a single BIG EAST foe (at Boston College on Feb. 13) during the regular season, but will take on a total of eight teams from the Big Ten Conference. Only Penn State, Minnesota, and Michigan State from the Big Ten will not play the Irish this season. A year ago, Notre Dame went 5-5 against eight Big Ten teams (1-1 in the NCAA tournament) after going 6-1 vs. the league in `03. The Irish opened this spring with a 6-1 win at Ohio State. Notre Dame has had a long history of playing Big Ten teams, posting an all-time 115-70 (.622) mark, averaging over six matches per season against Big Ten teams in the 29-year history of the program. Since the arrival of head coach Jay Louderback in 1989-90, the Irish are 88-31 (.739) against the league. Each of the six most common opponents for Notre Dame in the history of the program are members of the Big Ten (Northwestern-28 matches, Illinois-25, Purdue-24, Michigan-23, Wisconsin-20, Indiana-19).
IRISH A PERENNIAL TOP-30 TEAM: Not only has Notre Dame finished in the top 30 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings in each of the last 12 seasons, but the Irish also have been a near-constant presence. Since the preseason rankings of the 1992-93 season, Notre Dame has been among the top 30 teams in the country in 188 of 189 sets of rankings. The only exception came in late March of 2003, when the transition to the computer rankings moved the Irish from 15th to 27th to 48th and then back to 27th (despite going 6-2 during that time).
CAPTAIN CONNELLY: Notre Dame’s lone senior, Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.), is the captain of the Irish for the 2004-05 season, returning the program to its long-standing tradition (16 consecutive years from 1987-88 to 2002-03) of being led by one captain. Last season, both Alicia Salas and Caylan Leslie served as the squad’s co-captains.
WE ARE FAMILY: Notre Dame women’s tennis has long featured members of the same family on its teams. For the third consecutive season, Notre Dame has an unprecedented two pairs of sisters on its roster in 2003-04. In 2002-03, Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman H.S.) and Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) joined the Notre Dame squad as freshmen, combining with sisters Maggie Donohue (`03) and Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) to mark the first time in school history that a team featured two sets of sisters at the same time. Though Maggie Donohue graduated in ’03, the Connellys were joined last season by freshman twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) — the fourth pair of twin sisters ever to earn monograms in the same sport at Notre Dame — to give Notre Dame two sets of sisters once again. A total of seven sets of sisters have earned monograms in women’s tennis, by far the most of any of the 13 Irish women’s sports. Another family connection was added this season, as head coach Jay Louderback’s daughter, Bailey Louderback (South Bend, Ind./Penn H.S.), joined the team as a freshman. He became the 11th Notre Dame coach — just the second in a women’s sport (along with softball’s Brian Boulac) — to have coached his son or daughter with the Irish.
IRISH SIGN TWO TOP-30 PLAYERS FOR NEXT YEAR: Irish women’s tennis head coach Jay Louderback announced last fall that Katie Potts (Brookfield, Wis./Divine Savior Holy Angels H.S.) and Kelcy Tefft (Enid, Okla./Chisholm H.S.) have signed national letters of intent to enroll at Notre Dame and join his team in the fall of 2005. Both are among the top 30 high school seniors in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) 18-and-under national rankings. Potts, a 5-10 senior at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in Milwaukee, won her second consecutive Wisconsin state singles title this fall, while also helping DSHA to the team state championship in ’04. The state singles runner-up in both 2001 and ’02, she has been ranked as high as 56th in the nation in the USTA’s 18-and-under rankings. At 60th, she was 26th among current high school seniors. Tefft, a 5-6 senior at Chisholm High School in northern Oklahoma, has to her credit seven Super National USTA doubles titles, including five partnering with current Irish freshman Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School). Tefft has been as high as eighth in the USTA 18s singles rankings, and she also has one third-place finish in Super National singles competition. The Enid native, ranked 18th, was the sixth-highest ranked high school senior in the country.
KEEPING UP WITH NOTRE DAME TENNIS: For the fastest results of Notre Dame tennis matches, call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #8. The hotline provides schedule and results information for varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the game recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. The hotline is the first medium updated with the results of each Notre Dame tennis match. In addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting Bo Rottenborn at Rottenborn.2@nd.edu, who also can provide any information about the Irish tennis program.