May 5, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Juniors Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) and Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) have been selected to compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships May 25-30 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif.
Frilling earned the BIG EAST’s automatic singles bid and the No. 5 seed, while Mathews was chosen to the NCAA Singles Tournament as an at-large selection. The pairing also will compete in the doubles draw, earning the BIG EAST’s automatic bid but falling just outside of the eight seeded teams. This will be Frilling’s third straight year competing in both the singles and doubles draw, while Mathews will get her first taste of the NCAA individual championship.
Frilling is the highest seeded player to enter the singles tournament since Michelle Dasso claimed the No. 4 seed in 2001. She currently ranks fifth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll after putting together an 18-3 record at No. 1 singles, including 15 wins against ranked opponents.
Last season, Frilling advanced into the second round of the singles tournament while reaching the quarterfinals of the doubles draw with recent graduate Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, Kansas).
Mathews enters the singles draw with a record of 19-5 on the season, including 19-3 at the No. 2 court. She recently went a perfect 3-0 at the BIG EAST Championship, clinching each of the three Irish wins along the way to claim the BIG EAST Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award.
In doubles, the junior duo carries an 18-3 record and a 15-match winning streak at No. 1 doubles dating back to Feb. 10. The 15th-best doubles tandem according to the ITA, Frilling and Mathews also enjoy an 8-2 record against nationally-ranked foes on the year.
This is the ninth year in a row that the Irish have had at least one player selected to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship and the fifth straight to be represented in the doubles tournament. Mathews becomes the 13th different Irish player selected to the singles draw, while the tandem is the 11th different set of teammates to earn a bid for the Irish.
Sixty-four singles players and 32 doubles teams are selected for the NCAA Championships. The full list of singles and doubles players can be found at www.ncaa.com.
Automatic qualification in the Division I singles championships will be awarded to any conference with one or more eligible singles players ranked in the ITA Top 125 for eligible/entered singles players. All singles players must have a record of a minimum of 13 completed singles matches in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection.
Automatic qualification into the Division I doubles championships will be awarded to any conference with one or more eligible doubles teams ranked in the ITA Top 60 for eligible/entered doubles teams. All doubles teams must have a record of a minimum of 10 completed doubles matches in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection.
Before the singles and doubles tournament begins, the Irish will compete in the NCAA Team Championship, beginning May 13 with Notre Dame heading to Northwestern for first- and second-round matches in Evanston, Ill. The 16th-seeded Wildcats play host and face IPFW with the Irish taking on Fresno State in the first round.
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