Feb. 23, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 2 Notre Dame women’s tennis team plays host to No. 59 Iowa on Sunday morning inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion. First-serve between the Irish and Hawkeyes is scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
The Irish (9-1) enter the meeting with the Hawkeyes riding a pair of winning streaks. Notre Dame has not only won four consecutive matches, but it has won 24 straight dual matches at home. The Irish have not dropped a dual match at the Eck Tennis Pavilion or Courtney Tennis Center since Feb. 26, 2005 against No. 13 Texas.
Notre Dame put together an impressive weekend in its last time out. The Irish upended a pair of top 20 opponents — knocking off No. 7 North Carolina (5-2) and No. 20 Wake Forest (7-0). Notre Dame lost just one of its 12 singles matches that entire weekend.
Senior Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) and the freshman tandem of Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, CA) and Colleen Rielley (Overland Park, KS) headlined the Irish effort.
Thompson, ranked #16 in this week’s ITA national poll, defeated a pair of players ranked among the top 35 in the nation. Thompson (13-5 overall and 8-2 in dual matches) beat #33 Austin Smith of North Carolina in straight sets on Friday night before outlasting #29 Alex Hirsch of Wake Forest in three sets on Sunday.
Ciobanu (20-4 overall and 10-0 in dual action) remained perfect in dual matches with a pair of wins — both of which clinched the matches for Notre Dame. Her victory over the Tar Heel’s #79 Sanaz Marand might have been the best of her young career. Ciobanu trailed 4-1 in the opening set and 5-2 in the second set only to rally from both deficits for a straight-set triumph.
Rielley (15-9 overall and 4-6 in dual matches) entered the weekend with a four-match losing streak, but rebounded with a pair of straight-set victories over Sara Anundsen of North Carolina and #55 Christian Tara of Wake Forest.
No. 59 Iowa comes into the weekend with a 3-3 record (not including Friday afternoon’s tussle with DePaul). In their most recent action, the Hawkeyes traveled to Tuscaloosa, AL, February 11th and 12th, to compete against Furman and Alabama. Iowa defeated Furman, 6-1, and Alabama, 4-3. Sophomore Merel Beelen leads the Hawkeye attack. She is 6-0 this spring and is currently riding an 11-match winning streak. Mili Veselinovic has won seven of her last eight singles matches, and has won six of seven doubles matches this spring.
IRISH-HAWKEYES SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Iowa will meet for the ninth consecutive season and 15th time overall, with the Irish holding a 13-1 edge in the series, including nine consecutive victories … the lone Hawkeyes’ triumph in the series came in the second round of the 1999 NCAA Championship at Notre Dame’s Courtney Tennis Center, when 38th-ranked Iowa upset #12 ND 5-4 … the Irish and Hawkeyes have met three times in the NCAAs, with Notre Dame winning in both 2004 and 2005 by 4-1 scores in Evanston, Ill. … no other school has faced ND more times in the NCAAs (Northwestern and Stanford have both played the Irish three times) … there are just five schools (Illinois-19, Purdue-18, Michigan-17, Ohio State-14, Wisconsin-14) against which Notre Dame has more all-time victories … the Irish are 9-1 against Iowa at home, where each of the last nine regular-season matches have taken place … the schools first played in 1985, with the Irish prevailing 8-1 in Iowa City … the schools played again in the fall of 1985-86 and the spring of 1990-91, but then did not square off again until the current incarnation of the series began in 1999 … the schools have played 11 times in the eight years since … last season, the Irish won 6-1 on March 24 in the Eck Tennis Pavilion … the Irish won at No. 1 and No. 2 in doubles to take a 1-0 lead and then won five of the six singles matches … Notre Dame got straight-set wins at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 … this will be the 13th consecutive meeting in which Notre Dame is the higher-ranked team … this is the sixth consecutive match in which both team is ranked.
— ND —