Nov. 14, 2010
SARASOTA, Fla. – University of Notre Dame women’s tennis players Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa) and Julie Sabacinski (Plantation, Fla.) concluded play at the Sarasota Clay Court Classic at Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota with impressive results. McGaffigan reached the singles finals, Sabacinski played to the quarterfinals and the duo reached the semifinals in the doubles draw.
McGaffigan’s singles play highlighted the trip for the Irish. She reached the finals after recording three victories in the draw. After earning a first round bye, she dispatched C.C. Sardinha of Oklahoma State (6-2, 6-0), Sarah Meghoufel of Oklahoma State (6-1, 6-3) and Gabriela Mejia, the 83rd ranked player in the nation according to ITA rankings, of Miami (Fla.) (6-3, 6-3) to claim her spot in the finals. However, she could not take down Bianca Eichkorn of Miami (Fla.), falling 6-4, 6-1 in the championship match.
“I was very happy with the way Chrissie played all weekend,” Irish head coach Jay Louderback stated. “I was especially pleased with how well she played in front of some large crowds. There were very good turnouts for all three days, especially at Sunday’s match, but I thought she played with great poise.”
Sabacinski reached the quarterfinal round after defeating Jordan Zachary of Mississippi State in the opening round of play, 6-1, 6-2, before taking down Baylor’s Abby Steinback in the second round, 6-1, 6-1. She then dropped her quarterfinal match to Eickhorn, 6-3, 6-1.
The duo also teamed up in the doubles bracket, taking down the pairing of Steinback of Baylor and Bibiana Almeida of Florida Gulf Coast in the first round of play, 8-0, before defeating the team of Danielle Mills and Bistra Otashiyska of Miami (Fla.) in the quarterfinals, 9-8. The Irish pairing then ran into Kanyapat Narattana and Nataliya Shatkovskaya of Oklahoma State in the semifinals, falling 8-5 to the Cowgirls duo.
The Irish have now concluded all tournaments in the fall campaign. The team returns to action on January 22 for dual-match play against the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill.
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