Jan. 31, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In the third straight away competition and second consecutive ranked opponent, the Notre Dame women’s tennis team fell to No. 23 Michigan in a close match, losing 4-3 in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Irish women’s record is now 1-2, with Notre Dame returning home next week.
The Michigan squad jumped to an early lead, taking the doubles point. The No. 3 doubles duo of Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft took one win for the Irish in the No. 1 spot. They defeated the duo of Tania Mahtani and Chisako Sugiyama, 8-6, to take the one doubles victory for Notre Dame.
The singles competition proved to be tight, going down to the final match for the winning team point. Tefft earned the first win for Notre Dame in the No. 5 spot. She took Rika Tatsuno 6-0, 6-0 for the dominating victory.
No. 64 Buck continued on the Irish wins, defeating Mahtani 6-4, 6-2 to earn a second point for the Notre Dame. With the next two points going to Michigan, the score remained tight, 3-2 in favor of the Wolverines with the final two matches on the court.
No. 89 Kali Krisik came away with the third win for Notre Dame, but that would be the last. Despite the 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory by Krisik, the Irish would not be able to come away with the win as Michigan took the final match.
The Irish return home next week taking on BYY on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. (ET). This will be the first home dual-match for the Notre Dame women this season.
–ND–