May 17, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Freshman Shannon Mathews outlasted Baylor’s No. 70 Csilla Borsanyi, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, at fourth singles and clinched Notre Dame’s first ever appearance at the NCAA Championship semifinals.
The fifth-ranked Irish topped No. 4 Baylor, 4-3, Sunday in the quarterfinal match. Notre Dame is now 28-4 and 2-1 against the Bears this season.
The Irish advanced to the semifinals for the first time in program history after trips to the quarterfinals in three of the past four years.
Notre Dame will face the winner of the No. 1 Northwestern/No. 9 California match Monday at 5:00 p.m. (ET).
The Irish clinched the doubles point with wins at first and third doubles.
Baylor’s No. 65 doubles team of Taylor Ormond and Jelena Stanivuk downed No. 64 Cosmina Ciobanu and Kali Krisik, 8-3, at second doubles, but the second-ranked Irish duo of Kelcy Tefft and Kristy Frilling topped No. 13 Lenka Broosova and Borsanyi, 8-4, at first doubles to even the match. Tefft and Frilling battled from a 2-1 deficit for the win. Mathews and Colleen Rielley bested Nina Secerbegovic and Kasia Siwosz, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles to clinch the point.
Baylor’s Secerbegovic tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Krisik at No. 5 singles. No. 33 Broosova put the Bears ahead 2-1 after a 6-1, 6-1 victory over No. 38 Frilling at second singles.
Kristen Rafael downed Siwosz, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 6 singles to tie the match at 2-2, while No. 29 Tefft topped #39 Ormond, 6-2, 6-3, at first singles to give the Irish a 3-2 lead.
Despite a hard-fought second set, Ciobanu fell to No. 44 Stanivuk, 6-1, 7-5, as Baylor tied the match at 3-3.
After dropping the first set 7-5, Mathews forced a third set with a 6-3 second-set victory over Borsanyi. The freshman from Birmingham, Mich., went up 4-1, before Borsanyi closed the gap to 5-4. Mathews won four of the next five points for the 6-4 win.
The Irish are 10-24 all-time against Northwestern and 0-2 this season. The two teams last met on April 4 with the Wildcats claiming a 4-3 victory. Notre Dame is 1-0 all-time against California after taking a 5-4 win over the Bears at the 1996 National Team Indoor Championships.
#5 Notre Dame 4, #4 Baylor 3
NCAA Quarterfinal
Mitchell Tennis Center
College Station, Texas
Singles
1. #29 Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. #39 Taylor Ormond (BU) 6-2, 6-3
2. #33 Lenka Broosova (BU) def. #38 Kristy Frilling (ND) 6-1, 6-1
3. #44 Jelena Stanivuk (BU) def. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) 6-1, 7-5
4. Shannon Mathews (ND) def. #70 Csilla Borsanyi (BU), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
5. Nina Secerbegovic (BU) def. Kali Krisik (ND) 6-0, 6-0
6. Kristen Rafael (ND) def. Kasia Siwosz (BU) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. #2 Tefft/Frilling (ND) def. #13 Broosova/Borsanyi (BU) 8-4
2. #65 Ormond/Stanivuk (BU) def. #64 Ciobanu/Krisik (ND) 8-3
3. Mathews/Rielley (ND) def. Secerbegovic/Siwoz (BU) 8-5
–ND–