Feb. 18, 2002
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 18th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team snapped a three-match losing streak with a 5-2 victory over #51 Brigham Young Monday in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish, whose previous three matches were against teams currently ranked in the national top 10, swept their way to the doubles point and won four of six singles matches to secure the win and improve to 5-5 this season. BYU fell to 2-5. Notre Dame will return to action Friday when it plays host to #47 Iowa at 3:30 p.m. in the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
The Irish won all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Alicia Salas (Engelwood, Colo.) and freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished first, notching an 8-5 victory at No. 3. Seniors Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.), ranked 29th nationally in doubles, then clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 win at No. 1. Senior Nina Vaughan (Corona del Mar, Calif.) and junior Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) completed the sweep with a 9-8 (7-5) win at No. 2. Notre Dame has now won its last 18 matches in which it has captured the doubles point.
Notre Dame won the first four singles matches off the court to gain the victory. Connelly gave the Irish a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6. At No. 1, Varnum won 6-3, 6-4 to set up the match-clinching victory, which came in the form of a 6-3, 6-2 win by Salas at No. 4. After the outcome was determined, Vaughan rallied from a 4-0 second-set deficit to win 6-4, 7-5 at No. 2 before Lu Oswald got BYU on the scoreboard with a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 3. In the final match on-court, Elizaveta Khoudoiarova saved a number of match points in rallying for a 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 1-0 (10-6) win at No. 6.
Salas’ win improved her singles record to 10-0 this spring. She has won 13 straight singles matches, as well as 16 of her last 17 and holds a 12-0 mark in career dual singles action. Salas has been particularly dominant at home, posting a combined 18-1 record (10-0 singles, 8-1 doubles) in the Eck Tennis Pavilion this season. She lost her first career singles match at home as a freshman, but has since won all 15 singles matches in the Eck Tennis Pavilion or Courtney Tennis Center.
#18 Notre Dame 5, #51 Brigham Young 2
Singles
No. 1: #58 Becky Varnum (ND) d. Lindsay Ferrell (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 2: Nina Vaughan (ND) d. Brooke Beverley (BYU) 6-4, 7-5
No. 3: Lu Oswald (BYU) d. Lindsey Green (ND) 6-4, 6-3
No. 4: Alicia Salas (ND) d. Dominique Reynolds (BYU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 5: Elizaveta Khoudoiarova (BYU) d. Katie Cunha (ND) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 1-0 (10-6)
No. 6: Sarah Jane Connelly (ND) d. Nicole Schneider (BYU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1: #29 Green/Varnum (ND) d. Beverley/Reynolds (BYU) 8-6
No. 2: Cunha/Vaughan (ND) d. Ferrell/Oswald (BYU) 9-8 (7-5)
No. 3: Connelly/Salas (ND) d. Khoudoiarova/Schneider (BYU) 8-5