Dec. 11, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior All-American Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and a pair of Irish doubles teams are listed in the women’s tennis fall national rankings released today by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Varnum is ranked in singles, as well as in doubles with classmate Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.), while junior Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) and freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.) also earned a doubles ranking.
Varnum is 58th in singles after a fall season in which she was 5-5. She notched victories over two players ranked, at the time, in the top 15 nationally. Varnum defeated Georgia’s Anne Nguyen, ranked 12th, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the Bulldog Invitational in September and, in her next match, knocked off 15th-ranked Jewel Peterson of USC 6-1, 6-3. Those wins were part of a streak of three consecutive victories over ranked players. Varnum, who was 48th in the preseason singles rankings, also earned the top seed at the Omni Hotels Region IV Championships.
Varnum and Green are listed 29th among doubles teams. The pair was 8-6 in fall action and earned the top seed at the Region IV Championships where they advanced to the semifinals. The seniors were 23rd in the preseason rankings.
Cunha and Connelly broke into the doubles rankings at No. 53 after not being ranked in the preseason. The Irish pair was 5-7 in fall action, but finished by winning five of their last six matches. Cunha and Connelly also advanced to the semifinals at the Region IV Championships. Connelly becomes the first Irish freshman to earn a national ranking in doubles since 1999-2000 when then-freshman Varnum and Michelle Dasso were ranked for much of the season before finishing 17th.
Bea Bielik of Wake Forest remained No. 1 in singles, followed by Florida’s Jessica Lehnoff, Duke’s Kelly McCain, Stanford’s Lauren Kalvaria and Nataly Cahana of Old Dominion. In doubles, Kalvaria and Gabriela Lastra moved up from seventh in the preseason rankings to be a unanimous choice at No. 1. The Irish will face both Bielik’s Demon Deacons (March 30) and McCain’s Blue Devils (April 1) on the same road trip in spring dual-match action.
Notre Dame, which was 25-5 and finished the season ranked 10th a season ago, opens its spring season on January 26 with a doubleheader, taking on Illinois State at 10 a.m. and Northern Iowa at 3 p.m. Both matches will be played at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.