March 3, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Irish junior Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) has been named the BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, it was announced on Wednesday. The distinction is Frilling’s second of the season and fifth of her career.
The junior grabbed the honors on the heels of helping the 14th-ranked Irish capture the inaugural women’s title at the Blue Gray Classic this past weekend, while individually earning tournament MVP accolades.
Over the weekend, Frilling put together a 2-0 record in singles, while teaming with Shannon Mathews for a perfect 3-0 mark in doubles.
In singles, Frilling took down Utah’s Anastasia Putilina, ranked 114th at the time, in three sets (6-1, 5-7, 6-2) to get her tournament underway. She then defeated Ana-Maria Constantinescu of Oklahoma in the semifinal match, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Doubles saw Frilling and her teammate Mathews put together their most impressive weekend of the dual season, going 3-0, while taking down two nationally-ranked pairings. The tandem defeated Putilina and Paige Miles of Utah in the opener, 8-4, before knocking off 59th ranked Constantinescu and Alice Radu of Oklahoma, 8-4, in the semifinals. In the finals against No. 9 Virginia, the Irish duo defeated 10th ranked Emily Fraser and Hana Tomljanovic, 8-6, for their highest-ranked victory since becoming a pairing.
Frilling has climbed to third in the ITA singles rankings with an 18-2 record on the season – 10-0 for the dual season – and an 11-2 ledger against nationally-ranked opponents this season. She and Mathews, meanwhile, now rank 26th in doubles with a dual record of 8-3, including 5-2 against ranked opponents.
Frilling and the Irish return to action this Friday (March 4) and Sunday (March 6), as they head down to take on the Indiana Hoosiers at 3:00 p.m. (ET) in Bloomington, Ind., before returning home to battle Baylor at Noon (ET).
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