Nov. 3, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team returns to action Friday at the Midwest Blast, hosted by the University of Illinois at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Ill. Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio), meanwhile, departs for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, which gets underway Thursday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s Indoor Building in Flushing, N.Y.
Frilling enters the tournament fresh off earning automatic entrance into the field after capturing the ITA Midwest Regional singles title with a straight-sets victory over Michigan’s Denise Muresan (6-2, 7-6 [7-2]) on Oct. 26. Over the span of her five regional matches, Frilling did not drop a single set and was pushed to a tie-breaker only once – the final set of the championship match.
The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships was inaugurated in 1978 for the men and 1984 for the women. Past champions and finalists include current professionals James Blake (Harvard), Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford), Laura Granville (Stanford), John Isner (Georgia) and Lisa Raymond (Florida). Big Ten Conference legends and Grand Slam finalists Todd Martin (Northwestern) and MaliVai Washington (Michigan) are also among the notable past champions.
The remainder of the Irish roster heads to the Midwest Blast to square off in matches against the likes of Illinois, Oklahoma and Memphis. After taking a year off from the tournament, Notre Dame returns for the fourth time in program history with all seven players expected to take to the courts.
To follow Frilling at the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, visit itatennis.com for live stats. Complete recaps of each day’s action for Frilling – and the team at the Midwest Blast – will be available at und.com.
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