Feb. 8, 2008
MADISON, Wisc. – On the second day of the ITA National Indoor Team Championships, the No. 19 Notre Dame women’s tennis team knocked off No. 13 William and Mary, 4-3, in a thrilling match from the consolation bracket. The Irish held a 3-1 advantage before the Tribe knotted the match at 3-3, but Notre Dame claimed the victory with a three-set victory at the No. 3 singles slot. The Irish evened their record to 3-3, while William & Mary dropped to 4-3 on the year.
The balance of the affair came down to the No. 3 singles battle between junior Kelcy Tefft (Enid, Okla.) and Tribe sophomore Ragini Acharya. Tefft took the opening set, 6-4, but Acharya rallied to force a third set with a 6-3 win in the second. The decisive third set went down to the wire, before Tefft claimed the match for the Irish with a tiebreaker win. Tefft now stands 10-3 overall and a perfect 6-0 in dual matches – the lone Irish player unbeaten so far this spring.
Notre Dame quickly and impressively rebounded from a disappointing doubles performance to secure the first three matches in singles.
Sophomore #89 Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, Kan.) pounded Carmen Pop in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1, to even the match at 1-1. Krisik improved to 14-3 overall and 5-1 in dual matches.
After dropping all three singles matches that went into a third set in yesterday’s loss to No. 5 Georgia, sophomore #88 Colleen Rielley (Overland Park, Kan.) came away with a thrilling, three-set triumph over Klaudyna Kasztelaniec 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. Rielley now stands 9-5 overall and 3-2 in dual action.
Senior #64 Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla.), one of those three players to drop a three-set match against the Bulldogs, returned the favor in a victory over #83 Katarina Zoricic 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. Buck’s victory was even more impressive when you consider the fact that she dropped the opening set. Buck improved to 6-8 overall, 2-4 in dual matches and picked up her third victory of the season over a ranked opponent.
Holding a seemingly convincing 3-1 lead, William & Mary got victories from senior Megan Moulton-Levy at the No.1 slot and sophomore Lauren Sabacinski at the No. 5 spot to level the match at 3-3.
Moulton-Levy closed the gap to 3-2 with a three-set win at the top singles slot. The four-time Tribe All-American tallied her 51st career win over a nationally ranked foe, upending #62 Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, Calif.) 6-0, 2-6, 6-2. Moulton-Levy, who is ranked #12 nationally, improved to 14-3 on the season, while Ciobanu now stands 12-9 overall and 1-5 in dual matches.
Sabacinski tallied another impressive win for the Tribe to even the team tilt. She downed the second nationally ranked foe of her career and the first top-100 opponent over her first two seasons. Sabacinski defeated #82 Katie Potts (Brookfield, Wisc.) 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 5 slot. The Tribe sophomore pushed her ledger to 16-6 on the season. Potts dropped to 9-5 overall and 2-4 in dual action.
William & Mary claimed the doubles point. The Tribe duo of Moulton-Levy and Zoricic knocked off their highest ranked foe of the year at the No. 1 doubles slot. The #46 duo and 2007 NCAA Finalists defeated the 2008 ITA National Indoor Championship pair of Buck and Tefft, 8-4, in a battle of double’s titans. The win upped Moulton-Levy and Zoricic’s season mark to 13-4 overall and snapped a 13-match winning streak for the Irish pair. #3 Buck and Tefft dropped to 16-3 overall and 5-1 in dual action. It marked the 22nd win for Moulton-Levy and Zoricic over a nationally ranked foe in the last three years.
The sophomore tandem of Acharya and Sabacinski clinched the initial point of the match with a win at the No. 3 slot. The Tribe pair downed Kristen Rafael (Grand Prairie, Texas) and Ciobanu, 8-5. The win upped Acharya and Sabacinski’s record to 2-1 on the year and 5-1 as a team over their careers, while Rafael and Ciobanu dropped to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in dual matches.
The Irish will wrap up the ITA National Indoor Team Championships with the No. 11 Baylor Bears on Saturday, Feb. 9. The match will begin at 9:00 a.m. EST at the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis.
#19 Notre Dame 4, #13 William and Mary 3SinglesNo. 1 - #12 Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) vs. #62 Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) - 6-0, 2-6, 6-2No. 2 - #64 Brook Buck (ND) def. #83 Katarina Zoricic (W&M) - 4-6, 6-4, 6-0No. 3 - Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. #55 Ragini Acharya (W&M) - 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2)No. 4 - #88 Colleen Rielley (ND) def. Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) - 6-2, 2-6, 6-1No. 5 - Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) def. #82 Katie Potts (ND) - 6-4, 6-4No. 6 - #89 Kali Krisik (ND) def. Carmen Pop (W&M) - 6-0, 6-1Finishing Order: 6, 4, 2, 1, 5, 3*
DoublesNo. 1 - #46 Moulton-Levy/Zoricic (W&M) def. #3 Buck/Tefft (ND) - 8-4No. 2 - #50 Krisik/Rielley (ND) def. Kasztelaniec/Zidek (W&M) - 8-3No. 3 - Acharya/Sabacinski (W&M) def. Ciobanu/Rafael (ND) - 8-5Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*
— ND —