Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews lead the 20th ranked Irish into the 2012 season as the fifth-best duo in the nation.

Irish Place Three In Preseason ITA Rankings

Sept. 12, 2011

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Three University of Notre Dame women’s tennis players enter the 2011-12 season in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. Senior Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) leads the way for the Irish entering as the third ranked singles player in the nation.

Frilling becomes the second-highest ranked player in Irish program history, trailing only Michelle Dasso who climbed to second in the nation in the 2000-01 season and finished that year ranked fifth overall. Frilling enters her final campaign at Notre Dame with a career 84-29 record, including 40-11 at No. 1 singles. Last season, she finished with a 26-7 mark that saw her earn All-America distinction in singles for the third consecutive year.

Joining Frilling in the singles ranks are senior Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) and sophomore Jennifer Kellner (Smithtown, N.Y.). After finishing last season with a record of 23-8 overall and 19-3 at the No. 2 court, Mathews enters her final year with her highest preseason ranking to-date, checking in at 38th in the poll. She, like Frilling, looks to build off a successful ’10-11 season that saw her earn her first career berth into the NCAA Singles Championship draw.

Kellner, meanwhile, enters the ’11-12 campaign ranked 87th in the rankings after finishing her freshman campaign 123rd. The talented sophomore ended the year with a 25-6 record that saw her eventually climb up to No. 3 singles by seasons end, a position where she finished with an 8-4 record on the dual slate.

Along with three girls earning a spot in the singles poll, the second-year Irish doubles tandem of Frilling and Mathews enter the year as the fifth-ranked duo in the nation. The pairing concluded last season with a 23-7 overall record, including 19-4 at the No. 1 position during the dual season, and a berth into the NCAA Doubles Championship.

With the top-five ranking in doubles, Frilling becomes just the second Irish player in program history to earn a top-five spot in the polls with three different teammates – Kelcy Tefft (’09, 1st), Kali Krisik (’10, 2nd), Mathews (’12, 5th). The only other Irish player to accomplish that feat was Tefft, who earned top-five billing with Brook Buck, Frilling and Krisik over her four-year career.

–ND–