April 15, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 15th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team ended its regular season by beating 65th-ranked Indiana 6-2 on Thursday and extended its winning streak against Midwest regional opponents to 20 matches with the win. The Irish won five singles matches in straight sets to clinch their fourth consecutive win over the Hoosiers. Notre Dame improves to 19-6 with the win and returns to action at the BIG EAST championships, April 22-25, at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. Indiana drops to 9-10 with the loss.

Notre Dame sophomore Michelle Dasso and senior Jennifer Hall dropped just two games each as both improved to 20-4 in dual matches. The eighth-ranked Dasso beat Jessica Anderson 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, while 62nd-ranked Hall beat Kelly Blanch 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 singles. With their wins over Indiana, Dasso and Hall finished the dual-match regular season with perfect 10-0 against regional opponents.

The Irish also picked up singles wins at the bottom of their lineup. Sixty-ninth ranked freshman Becky Varnum was a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Amanda Field at No. 4 singles, while junior Kelly Zalinski beat Ana Ceretto 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. Sophomore Kim Guy downed Jennifer Hsia 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 singles. Indiana’s singles win came at No. 3 where Zahra Ahamed edged senior Marisa Velasco 7-6, 3-6, 7-5.

The eighth-ranked team of Dasso and Hall improved to 24-7 with their 8-2 win over Blanch and Becky Wallihan at No. 1 doubles. Anderson and Field beat Guy and Sarah Scaringe 8-4 at No. 3 doubles for Indiana’s second point of the match. No. 2 doubles was not played.

#15 NOTRE DAME 6, #65 INDIANA 2

Singles

No. 1: #8 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. Jessica Anderson (IU)     6-1, 6-1No. 2: #62 Jennifer Hall (ND) def. Kelly Blanch (IU)         6-2, 6-0No. 3: Zahra Ahamed (IU) def. Marisa Velasco (ND)       7-6, 3-6, 7-5No. 4: #69 Becky Varnum (ND) def. Amanda Field (IU)          6-4, 7-5No. 5: Kelly Zalinski (ND) def. Ana Ceretto (IU)             6-4, 6-1No. 6: Kim Guy (ND) def. Jennifer Hsia (IU)                  6-4, 6-4

Doubles

No. 1: #8 Dasso/Hall (ND) def. Blanch/Becky Wallihan (IU)         8-2No. 2: Varnum/Velasco (ND) vs. Ahamed/Ceretto (IU)                DNPNo. 3: Anderson/Field (IU) def. Guy/Sarah Scaringe (ND)           8-4