Nov. 6, 2000

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Senior All-American and 18th-ranked Michelle Dasso, seeded first in both singles and doubles, dropped just four games in winning a pair of semifinal matches on Monday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Region Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. Dasso defeated Northwestern’s fifth-seed Colleen Cheng 6-1, 6-1 in singles and then teamed with junior Becky Varnum for a doubles win. The defending champions defeated Western Michigan’s fourth-seeded Larissa Chinwah and Meaghan Colville 8-2 to reach the final for the second consecutive year.

Dasso will face Ohio State’s second-seeded and 33rd-ranked Kristy Dascoli in the final, Dasso’s first appearance in the regional championship singles match since becoming the first Irish player to win the title as a freshman in 1997. Dascoli defeated Dasso in the semifinals of the 1999 event when Dasso also was seeded first in the draw before Dasso went on to defeat Dascoli in their dual-match meeting.

The seventh-ranked Dasso and Varnum team will face off in the final against eighth-ranked Dascoli and Monica Rincon, who lost 6-4, 6-4 in singles to Irish junior Nina Vaughan. Dasso and Varnum be making their second consecutive appearance in the doubles final. The pair swept to the title last year in their first event together as a doubles team. Seeded fifth last year, Dasso and Varnum beat second-seeded Dascoli and Briana Harris in the semifinals.