Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

No. 16 Women's Tennis Beats No. 13 USC 5-3

February 20, 1999

MADISON, Wis. – The 16th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team won four of six singles and won at No. 1 doubles to end a three match losing streak for a 5-3 win over 13th-ranked USC on the third day of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships at Wisconsin’s Nielsen Tennis Center. Irish freshman Lindsey Green rallied for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles to clinch the win. Notre Dame improves to 6-4, while USC falls to 8-2.

After a 7-2 loss to top-ranked Florida on Thursday and a 5-4 loss to eighth-ranked UCLA on Friday, Notre Dame finally came away with a win at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships thanks to another strong showing by its singles lineup. The Irish won at the top and bottom of its lineup and lost a pair of three-set match in the middle of the lineup.

Tenth-ranked Michelle Dasso beat the Trojans’ 28th-ranked Ditta Huber for the second time in two weeks with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles, after also having beat Huber at the Rolex National Indoor Championships on Feb. 5. Senior All-American Jennifer won her third straight singles match at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a 6-1, 6-4 win over 64th-ranked Kara Warkentin at No. 2 singles.

USC won a pair of match at Nos 3 and 4 singles in three sets. Jacqui Boyd edged Marisa Velasco 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) at No. 3, while Veronica Safarova held off Becky Varnum 6-2, 5-7, 6-0 at No. 4. Kelly Zalinski dropped the first set against Krissy Hamilton at No. 5 singles but then rolled to a 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 win.

The 22nd-ranked team of Dasso and Hall then beat 19th-ranked Huber and Warkentin at No. 1 doubles 8-4 for Notre Dame’s four point of the match. After wasting three match points in a three-set loss to UCLA on Friday, Green won the clinching match against the Trojans as she rallied to beat Karolina Bakalarova 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.

Notre Dame will take off next weekend before returning to the court to face regional rival Northwestern on March 3, in a 3:00 p.m. match in Evanston, Ill.

#16 NOTRE DAME 5, #13 USC 3

Singles

No. 1: #10 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. #28 Ditta Huber (USC)      6-1, 6-3No. 2: #93 Jennifer Hall (ND)  def. #64 Kara Warkentin (USC)   6-1, 6-4No. 3: #71 Jacqui Boyd (USC)   def. Marisa Velasco (ND)        6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0)No. 4: Veronica Safarova (USC) def. #40 Becky Varnum (ND)      6-2, 5-7, 6-0No. 5: Kelly Zalinski (ND)     def. Krissy Hamilton (USC)      4-6, 6-0, 6-0No. 6: Lindsey Green (ND)      def. Karolina Bakalarova (USC)  1-6, 6-2, 6-4

Doubles

No. 1: #22 Dasso/Hall (ND)     def. #19 Huber/Warkentin (USC)        8-4No. 2: Varnum/Velasco (ND)      vs. Bakalarova/Safarova (USC)        did not playNo. 3: Boyd/Carolyn Christian  def. #46 Nina Vaughan/Zalinski (ND)   8-6