Junior Cosmina Ciobanu

No. 2 Women's Tennis Hits The Road to Face Indiana and Ohio State

April 5, 2007

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 2 Notre Dame women’s tennis team continues the Big Ten portion of its non-conference schedule this weekend as they travel to No. 34 Indiana on Saturday and No. 48 Ohio State on Monday. First-serve with the Hoosiers is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., while the Buckeyes and Irish will tangle at 2:30 p.m. Notre Dame enters the weekend riding a 14-match winning streak.

The Irish (19-1) are playing their second and third game of four consecutive against members of the Big Ten. Notre Dame, who pounded Purdue earlier this week 6-1, will also travel to Northwestern next Friday (April 13). Notre Dame faced Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern and Iowa earlier this season. The Irish not only won all four of those matches, but did so in convincing fashion (outscoring those four opponents by a score of 24-4.

While the all-time series Indiana is tied 10-1, Notre Dame has dominated the series over recent memory. The Irish have won each of the last four meetings and 10 of the last 11 against the Hoosiers. Notre Dame has also won five straight matches in Bloomington — a streak that dates back to 1995.

The Irish have a stranglehold on the all-time series with the Buckeyes. Notre Dame has won 14 of the 17 all-time meetings with Ohio State, including the last 11 meetings. The Buckeyes have not defeated the Irish since 1989.

Scouting Indiana
Indiana is 15-3 this season and 5-0 in Big Ten play with victories over Wisconsin (7-0), Iowa (5-2), Minnesota (4-3), Michigan State (5-2) and Ohio State (6-1). The Hoosiers are 34th in the most recent ITA rankings.

Alba Berdala plays No. 1 singles for Indiana and is 10-7 at the position so far this spring and 17-12 overall. Cecile Perton has a team-best 15 singles wins in dual-match play. Overall, Lindsey Stuckey leads the team with 21 victories.

Lin Loring, a 1972 graduate of UC-Santa Barbara, is in his 31st season at the helm of the Hoosiers. He is 650-227 at IU and has a career mark of 691-244 in his 35th season as a collegiate head coach.

Scouting Ohio State
Ohio State is 14-5 this season and 3-1 in Big Ten play with victories over Wisconsin (7-0), Minnesota (4-3) and Michigan State (5-2). The Buckeyes are 48th in the most recent ITA rankings.

Julie Blackmore plays No. 1 singles for Ohio State and is 7-8 at the position so far this spring and 13-16 overall. Christina Keesey leads the Buckeyes in dual match victories (14) and overall wins (21).

Chuck Merzbacher, a 1987 graduate of Minnesota, is in his 10th season at the helm of Ohio State. He is 150-127 in 11 years at OSU and has a career mark of 283-190 in his 18th season as a collegiate head coach.

Last Time Out
The No. 2 Notre Dame women’s tennis team made it 14 consecutive victories following its 6-1 rout of No. 46 Purdue on Tuesday afternoon at the Courtney Tennis Center. The Irish improve to 19-1 on the season, while the Boilermakers drop to 10-4.

Notre Dame extended its school-record home winning streak to 28 matches. The Irish have not lost at home since Feb. 26, 2005 against Texas. The Irish also improved to 4-0 on the season in outdoor matches. The match was the first outdoor home competition of the year.

Singles
1. Mallory Voelker (PU) def. #26 Catrina Thompson (ND); 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9)
2. Christian Thompson (ND) def. Brooke Beier (PU); 6-3, 6-2
3. Colleen Rielley (ND) def. Neela Vaez (PU); 6-2, 7-5
4. Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. Cigdem Duru (PU); 6-0, 6-3
*5. #48 Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) def. Anya Dzeva (PU); 6-1, 6-0
6. Kali Krisik (ND) def. Alejandra Boeker (PU); 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6,4,5,3,2,1
* indicates clinching match

Doubles
1. #8 Thompson/Thompson (ND) def. #45 Voelker/Beier (PU); 8-5
*2. Krisik/Tefft (ND) def. Duru/Vaez (PU); 8-3
3. Ciobanu/Rielley (ND) def. Dzeva/Boeker (PU); 8-0
Order of Finish: 3,2,1 * indicates clinching match

Who’s Hot
Freshman Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, CA) has won 20 straight singles matches … Junior Brook Buck (Yukon, OK) has won 10 straight singles matches … Freshman Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, KS) has won six straight singles matches … Sophomore Kelcy Tefft (Enid, OK) has won five straight singles matches … the doubles team of Christian & Catrina Thompson have won six straight matches … Ciobanu and Krisik have each won nine straight matches with different partners in doubles.

— ND —