Oct. 20, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Notre Dame senior Kelly Nelson (St. Petersburg, Fla./Shorecrest Preparatory School) earned a pair of straight-set victories in qualifying action in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Championships Thursday in the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. She now stands just one win shy of a berth in the 64-player main draw.
Nelson, who has now won eight in a row after dropping her first match of the season, opened play with a 6-0, 6-0 win against Western Michigan’s Colleen Mead, who had been 10-2 this fall prior to the match. She then downed freshman Marah Calvo of Indiana 7-5, 6-3. For the third time in as many appearances during her career, Nelson is in the qualifying round for a spot in the main draw in the ITA Midwest Championships. In 2002, she lost 6-2, 6-2 to Brittany Reitz of Purdue, and as a sophomore, she fell to Indiana’s Cecile Perton 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. On Friday, the Notre Dame senior – who missed last year’s event due to injury – will take on Allie Shafner, who saw some time in the bottom half of Michigan’s lineup last spring.
The Irish already have seven players – seniors Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) and Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy), juniors Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), sophomore Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School), and freshmen Katie Potts (Brookfield, Wis./Divine Savior Holy Angels H.S.) and Kelcy Tefft (Enid, Okla./Chisholm H.S.) – in the singles main draw of the Midwest Championships.
Friday also will see the commencement of the 60-team doubles main draw. The Thompson sisters, who are ranked #2 in the nation, will not compete as they have already secured a position in the 16-team main draw of the season’s second grand slam, the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, to which the champion of this tournament earns entry. Buck and Tefft, ranked 60th, are the No. 4 seed and will have a bye in Friday’s first round. Connelly and Stastny will play the Cleveland State team of Kristin Chamberlin and Lindsay Sellers, while Nelson and Potts are slated to take on Ashley Coulson and Lisa Bartelheim from Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne.
ITA Midwest Championships (October 20)Singles - QualifyingKelly Nelson (ND) def. Colleen Mead (Western Michigan) 6-0, 6-0Nelson (ND) def. Marah Calvo (Indiana) 7-5, 6-3