April 12, 2002
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. & AUSTIN, Texas – The 25th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team gets one last opportunity to prepare for the postseason when it embarks on a two-match road trip beginning Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) against No. 14 William & Mary. The Irish then will move on to face 10th-ranked Texas at 5:30 p.m. (CDT) in Austin before returning home to get set for the 2002 BIG EAST Conference Championships which begin April 19 in Coral Gables, Fla. Following this weekend’s excursion, Notre Dame will have played 22 ranked opponents in 25 matches, with Texas representing the seventh top-10 foe on the Irish docket this season.
LAST WEEK’S ACTION: The Irish split a pair of close matches at home last weekend, falling to No. 19 Northwestern, 4-3, on Saturday, but bouncing back to defeat 27th-ranked Miami a day later by the same 4-3 score.
Senior Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.) and sophomore Alicia Salas (Engelwood, Colo.) were double winners for Notre Dame in the Northwestern loss. Green paired with junior Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) at the No. 1 flight to upset the Wildcats’ 35th-ranked doubles team of Marine Piriou and Jessica Rush, 8-2. Green then added a singles win over a ranked opponent, her sixth of the season, with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 67 Rush at the No. 3 position. Salas and freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.) provided the deciding victory in the doubles competition, dispatching Northwestern’s Ruth Barnes and Andrea Yung, 8-5, in the No. 3 slot. Salas followed by chalking up a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory over Simona Petrutiu at No. 4 singles, helping forge a 3-3 tie heading into the final match on-court at the No. 6 position. However, Connelly could not push past Barnes, who registered a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win to give the Wildcats the narrow victory.
In addition to being Notre Dame’s final home match of the season, Sunday’s contest with Miami also was designated the first-ever “Ace for the Cure” match to benefit colon cancer research. Cunha came up with the idea for the match after her family was directly affected by the disease. So, it was appropriate that she was the player who made the difference in the win over the Hurricanes.
Cunha was one of three double winners for the Irish, joining Salas and senior Nina Vaughan (Corona del Mar, Calif.). Salas and Connelly got Notre Dame going with an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles, and Salas later chipped in with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Miami’s Sihem Bennacer at No. 4 singles, upping her individual record to 28-5 this season (21-2 in dual match play).
Meanwhile, Vaughan and fellow senior Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) teamed up for an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles, and the 121st-ranked Vaughan added a 6-0, 6-2 win at the No. 3 singles slot over No. 109 Marcy Hora of Miami.
But the story of the day was Cunha, who joined forces with Green to card the clinching doubles win (8-3) over Hora and Mari Toro. Then, with Notre Dame leading 3-2 in the match, Cunha locked up the victory for the hosts with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles over Sara Robbins. It was Cunha’s team-high fifth clinching triumph of the year.
IRISH vs. TRIBE: William & Mary is 15-6 this season (3-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association) and currently is ranked 14th in the nation. The Tribe has won 10 of its 13 home matches this spring, but is coming off a narrow 4-3 loss to No. 12 Texas last Sunday in Williamsburg. In fact, five of William & Mary’s six losses this season have come at the hands of teams ranked 12th or higher in the polls.
Notre Dame and William & Mary have five common opponents this year — North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Northwestern and Miami. The Irish are 1-5 against this quintet, defeating Miami while losing twice to UNC. Conversely, the Tribe is 2-3 against this fivesome, toppling Northwestern and Miami. Notre Dame will face a sixth common foe on Monday, when it battles the same Texas squad which knocked off W&M last weekend.
Two Tribe players are appearing in the latest singles and doubles rankings. Senior Jessyca Arthur is No. 41 in singles while compiling a 17-14 record (11-9 in dual matches) this year. Meanwhile, freshman Candice Fuchs is the 111th-ranked singles player in the nation with a 14-5 record (11-5 in dual matches) during her inaugural season at W&M. Together, Arthur and Fuchs comprise the No. 37 doubles team in the land with a 16-4 record (14-4 in dual matches).
Notre Dame owns a slender 6-4 lead over William & Mary in the all-time series, with all 10 matches occurring during the Jay Louderback era (1990-present). The Irish also have won the last four meetings between the two schools, including a 7-0 decision in their last encounter on April 1, 2001 at Notre Dame. Saturday’s match will mark the fourth time the teams have squared off in Williamsburg, with the Tribe holding a 2-1 edge on its home turf. However, the last time Notre Dame came to William & Mary, the Irish walked away with a 6-3 win on April 9, 2000.
IT’S ALL ABOUT WHO YOU KNOW: When Notre Dame squares off with William & Mary on Saturday, one member of the Tribe should be familiar to Irish tennis fans. W&M head coach Brian Kalbas is a 1989 graduate of Notre Dame, where he earned his degree in marketing. Kalbas also was a four-year letterwinner for the Irish, posting an 85-54 singles record (10th-best in school history), and serving as team captain in 1989 under current head coach Bob Bayliss. Following his graduation, Kalbas spent three seasons as an assistant coach under Bayliss from 1990-92, helping guide Notre Dame to the NCAA finals in ’92 and a No. 3 national ranking at season’s end. In addition, Kalbas worked with Irish All-American David DiLucia, who has gone on to the professional ranks and won a World TeamTennis championship in 2001 with the Philadelphia Freedoms.
IRISH vs. LONGHORNS: Texas has posted a 14-5 record (8-0 in the Big 12 Conference) entering its match with No. 46 Kansas State on Sunday afternoon. The Longhorns are ranked 10th in the latest Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings, but they had their six-match winning streak snapped with a 7-0 loss at sixth-ranked Vanderbilt on Tuesday. All five of UT’s losses this spring have come to top-10 opponents, with a 4-3 defeat at the hands of No. 10 Arizona State being the only home loss in nine matches.
Notre Dame and Texas have three opponents in common this season — Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Duke. Both teams are 0-3 against this trio and recorded virtually the same scores in each match. The Irish had a closer match with Vanderbilt (2-5 vs. 0-7 for UT), while the Longhorns fared better against Duke (2-5 vs. 1-6 for ND). The two squads posted the same result when they visited Wake Forest, losing by identical 4-3 counts. William & Mary will represent the fourth common opponent for Notre Dame and Texas after the Irish take on the Tribe Saturday afternoon in Williamsburg (UT defeated W&M, 4-3, last weekend).
Three Texas players show up in the latest national rankings, led by senior Vladka Uhlirova, who is 22nd in singles after logging a 22-11 record this season (11-8 in dual matches). Freshman Katie Ruckert has had a strong rookie campaign for the Longhorns, checking in at No. 75 in the country with a 20-8 singles record (7-5 in dual matches). Senior Kaysie Smashey is the third ranked UT singles player, appearing at No. 98 with a 20-7 record (15-4 in dual matches). In addition, Uhlirova and junior Ziva Grasic make up the No. 38 doubles team in the nation, carding an 11-7 overall record (11-6 in dual matches). Close behind them are Ruckert and senior Rebekah Forney, who are ranked 46th in the doubles with a 9-1 record (3-1 in dual matches).
Texas has a 5-1 series lead over Notre Dame, although this will be the first match between the two combatants since March 15, 1998, when the Longhorns registered a 5-3 victory in Austin. The Irish are 1-3 in their previous four visits to the UT campus, with their lone win (5-4) coming on April 4, 1996 over a fifth-ranked Texas squad. That victory represented the first (and only) triumph over a top-five opponent in school history.
AMONG THE NATION’S ELITE: Notre Dame has appeared in the top 25 of the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings throughout the 2002 spring season, topping out at No. 13 on Jan. 30. The Irish held that spot for two weeks before losses to No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 16 North Carolina at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships halted their rise. The first eight polls of the year were conducted via balloting from the ITA National Ranking Committee. Beginning March 20 and for the remainder of the season, the rankings are based on the ITA’s point-per-match computer formula, in which teams are awarded points for victories based upon their opponent’s ranking.
Notre Dame has now been ranked in the national top 25 in 113 consecutive sets of rankings released by the ITA. After finishing the previous season 28th, the Irish earned a preseason ranking of 18th in the fall of 1995 and have been in the top 25 since then, peaking at a school-record No. 5 midway through last season.
In addition to its team placing, Notre Dame has two singles players and a doubles team in the national rankings. In singles, senior Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) is slotted at No. 86, while senior Nina Vaughan (Corona del Mar, Calif.) is ranked 121st.
In doubles competition, Varnum and classmate Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.) remain firmly entrenched in the rankings, checking in at No. 33 in the latest survey, despite not playing together in any of the last five matches. The Irish tandem is 17-13 this year and has been a fixture on the national scene, having been ranked 23rd in the fall and remaining in the top 35 since then. In fact, Varnum has been ranked in the national top 35 in doubles in each of the past 25 sets of rankings, dating back to the fall 1999 survey.
VARNUM DOUBLES DOMINANCE: Senior Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) has put together one of the most successful doubles careers in the history of Irish women’s tennis. She has a record of 103-49, placing her as the second-winningest doubles player in school history behind her two-year doubles partner and 2001 graduate Michelle Dasso, who finished her career with a record of 109-42. Dasso and Varnum, who were ranked in the top 10 all year and peaked at No. 5, earned All-America honors a season ago to become just the fourth Irish doubles team to do so since the program attained Division I status. In 2001, Varnum shattered the school record for doubles wins in a season, compiling a 37-9 mark. The Irish captain has been a fixture in the national doubles rankings throughout the past three seasons, having been ranked in the national doubles top 35 in each of the past 25 sets of rankings. She has been responsible for a number of big wins, registering 24 victories over ranked opponents in her career. Varnum and Dasso knocked off teams ranked in the top 10 on four occasions, including an upset of the nation’s No. 1 doubles team of Palencia and Senoglu from Pepperdine last spring. Varnum is 21-17 this season in doubles.
CENTURY CITY: Prior to last season, Laura Lee (’85) and Susie Panther (’86) were the only players in school history to collect 100 doubles victories. The list has now expanded to five. Michelle Dasso, a 2001 graduate, finished her career with 109 doubles wins, topping Panther’s total of 101 and Lee’s mark of 100. Two members of the class of 2002 have reached the century mark recently: Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.). Varnum/Green’s win against Illinois on March 27 put the Irish captain into triple digits, while Green’s 100th win came against Duke on April 1. Entering this weekend’s road swing, Varnum is second with 103 career doubles wins at Notre Dame, while Green is hot on her heels in third with 102 tandem victories for the Irish.
SENSATIONAL SALAS: After not being a regular part of the Irish lineup a season ago, sophomore Alicia Salas (Engelwood, Colo.) has been the most consistent winner for Notre Dame in 2002. She leads the team in both singles and doubles victories and has posted a 21-2 mark in dual singles matches, as well as a 16-7 dual doubles record. In fact, Salas is a stunning 44-9 in her career in singles matches. This season, she is 28-5 in singles and has won 24 of her last 26 matches. She is 3-0 this spring against ranked opponents, including back-to-back wins on March 30 and April 1 over #81 Katie Martzolf of Wake Forest and 64th-ranked Saras Arasu of Duke, the latter being the highest-ranked opponent she has defeated in her career. Salas also knocked off 77th-ranked Agnes Wiski of Tennessee earlier this year. In doubles, she and senior Nina Vaughan (Corona del Mar, Calif.) notched an upset victory over Kentucky’s 27th-ranked team of Jill Buckley and Amy Trefethen, 8-4 earlier this spring. Salas has been particularly dominant at home this season. She is 16-1 in singles and 14-2 in doubles in the Eck Tennis Pavilion this year.
IRISH FACE TOUGH SLATE: The Irish are facing a difficult schedule in 2002 and are in the midst of a very challenging seven-match stretch to finish the regular season. Thus far this season, the Irish have faced 11 teams currently ranked in the top 25, five in the top 10 and have had three matches against teams who were ranked in the national top five at the time of the match. Overall, 22 of the 25 teams on Notre Dame’s schedule are ranked and 17 are ranked in the top 50. Fifteen 2002 opponents participated in the NCAA tournament a year ago, including six squads that advanced to the round of 16. Notre Dame’s season-ending stretch consists of seven teams currently ranked in the top 30, including five in the top 15. After losing to #3 Wake Forest, #4 Duke, #7 North Carolina and #19 Northwestern in a seven-day span, and downing #27 Miami last Sunday, the Irish will visit 14th-ranked William & Mary Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) before heading to #10 Texas for a 5:30 p.m. (CDT) match on Monday.
DOUBLES SHAKEUP: After claiming the doubles point in eight of the first 13 matches of the season, the Irish have struggled in that facet of late. Notre Dame has won the initial point of the match just four times in its last 10 matches, though a number of those were hotly contested. In those six doubles-point defeats, four times the deciding match came down to an 8-6 score, once it was 9-7 and once a tiebreaker decided the point.
Irish head coach Jay Louderback has juggled the doubles lineup twice this season. He opened the year with the teams of Green/Varnum, Connelly/Cunha and Salas/Vaughan, which won the doubles point in each of the first three matches, but then lost it in four of the next five, prompting a change immediately after the National Team Indoor Championships. The Irish lineup then consisted primarily of Green/Varnum, Cunha/Vaughan and Connelly/Salas. These combinations won the doubles point in four of the next five matches, but then lost it in three of the following five, prompting another switch. Prior to Notre Dame’s spring break trip to North Carolina March 30-April 2, the new teams of Cunha/Green, Varnum/Vaughan and Connelly/Salas were unveiled, but Notre Dame still dropped the doubles point in all three matches. However, they recovered nicely to win the doubles marker against both #19 Northwestern and #27 Miami last weekend, taking all but one of the six doubles matches.
IRISH INK THREE: Notre Dame head coach Jay Louderback recently announced the signing of three incoming freshman for the 2002-03 school year. Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Jennifer Smith (Charlotte, N.C.) and Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo.) have signed national letters of intent to enroll at Notre Dame next year and join the Irish tennis team in the fall. All three are ranked among the top 25 current high school seniors in the country and they have combined for seven state high school titles and four national doubles titles in junior competition. Connelly is ranked 58th nationally among players 18 and younger and is the 25th-ranked high school senior. She has a National Indoors doubles title to her credit, as well as three Oklahoma state titles at No. 2 singles, playing behind her sister, current Irish freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.). Smith, who did not participate in prep tennis, is ranked 26th in the country in the 18-and-under division and is 10th nationally among high school seniors. She also has a national doubles title to her credit, coming at the National Hardcourt championships. Stastny recently captured her fourth state singles title, becoming the first player in history to win four Missouri state championships in singles. Stastny is ranked 21st in the 18s and is the eighth-ranked player in the nation who will enroll in college next fall. She has won doubles titles in the National Indoors and the National Clay Court championships. Stastny’s brother, Yan, was one of the top freshmen on the Notre Dame hockey team and her father, Peter, is a member of the National Hockey League Hall of Fame.
KEEPING UP WITH NOTRE DAME TENNIS: For the fastest results of Notre Dame tennis matches, call the Notre Dame sports information hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose option No. 8. The hotline provides schedule and results information for varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the match 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 may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting Bo Rottenborn at Rottenborn.2@nd.edu, or Chris Masters at masters.5@nd.edu.
GETTING YOUR TIMING DOWN: Just a reminder that South Bend never changes its clocks, remaining on Eastern Standard Time throughout the year. From now through the end of October, Notre Dame basically will be on Central time, since Eastern Standard Time is the equivalent of Central Daylight Time. When most of the rest of the country returns to Standard time the last Saturday in October, Notre Dame then will match Eastern time.
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