June 7, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame women’s tennis seniors Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) and Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) have been selected as 2012 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Doubles All-Americans, it was announced Thursday.
In order to qualify for doubles All-America status, a team must fulfill any of the following requirements: a top eight seed in the NCAA Doubles Championship, reach the quarterfinals of the Championship or finish in the top 10 of the final Campbell/ITA rankings. The Irish duo earned the honor after entering the draw as a No. 5-8 seed.
For Frilling, the All-America citation marks the fifth such honor of her career, earning her the accolade of the most decorated All-American in Notre Dame program history. She passes Michelle Dasso and her four career All-America selections for the top spot on the list. Mathews, meanwhile, has been named an All-American for the first time in her Irish career and becomes the 15th different All-American in Notre Dame program history.
The duo climbed to the top of the rankings midway through the season, becoming the fourth team in the program’s history to reach No. 1. Additionally, a berth into the championship match of the 2011 ITA National Individual Indoor Championship highlighted Frilling and Mathews’ season after they knocked off the top-seeded tandem of Mallory Burdette and Nicole Gibbs of Stanford (7-5, 7-6 (7-4)) in semifinal action.
The Irish tandem concluded their final season with an overall record of 30-10 and ranked 11th nationally according to the ITA polls. Overall, Frilling and Mathews amassed 13 wins against ranked opposition and went 21-6 for the Irish during the dual portion of the campaign.
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