Oct. 11, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Irish came to compete at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Today marked the start of the doubles draw at the University of Michigan Varsity Tennis Center, and after two rounds, three of the four Notre Dame teams are still in it.
Senior Jennifer Kellner and freshman Monica Robinson make up the first Irish pair and are seeded eighth in the bracket. After their first-round buy, the pair beat Sandy Niehaus and Gabriella DeSantis of Ohio State, 8-6. Tomorrow, they face Patricia Fargas and Rebeca Mitrea of DePaul.
Senior Britney Sanders and junior Molly O’Koniewski also had a first-round buy before they played Noelle Malley and Nicole Flower, also of Ohio State, and won, 8-4.
Young team sophomore Julie Vrabel and freshman Jane Fennelly started off strong, defeating Linsey Verstrepen and Elaine Cloern of Wrigt State, 8-5, before falling in the second round to the fifth seed Ana Vladutu and Jasmin Kling of DePaul, 8-4.
Finally, freshman Mary Closs and senior Julie Sabacinski made it through the first round with a buy before defeating Toledo’s Emily Mazzola and Mackenzie Bowman, 8-5.
Earlier in the day, the Irish finished action in the qualifying round of the tournament. Sophomore Julie Vrabel lost in the final round this morning to Nino Mebuke of Eastern Michigan, 6-4, 6-4.
Koniewski was victorious in both of her outdoor consolation matches. She defeated Mil Shustova of IPFW yesterday, 6-4, 6-0, and beat Detroit’s Irina Slizovskaya this morning, 6-3, 6-2.
Tomorrow, there will be another round of doubles play in the morning before Sanders, Kellney, Closs and Robinson get started in the main draw of the singles tournament.
Be sure to check in at UND.com to get results of the Irish matches.
–Lauren Chval, Media Relations Assistant
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