May 9, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team opens play at the 2013 NCAA Team Championship Friday at 10 a.m. (ET) against NC State at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The No. 24 Irish (17-8) and Wolfpack will meet for the first time during the inaugural round matchup. Saturday’s second round contest will feature the winning team from match one against either No. 10 Michigan or IPFW.
2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship
Ann Arbor, Mich. – Varsity Tennis Center
First Round – Friday, May 10
No. 24 Notre Dame (17-8) vs. No. 42 NC State (14-9) – 10 a.m. (ET)
No. 10 Michigan (21-5) vs. IPFW (23-7) – 1 p.m. (ET)
Second Round – Saturday, May 11
Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2 – 1 p.m. (ET)
Live stats available at www.mgoblue.com
Irish Return To NCAA Championship: For the 20th time in head coach Jay Louderback’s tenure with the Irish, the team has advanced into the NCAA Team Championship. The Irish enter ranked 24th overall in the ITA rankings with a 17-8 record. Last season, the Irish advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship after posting a shutout victory over Hawai’i (4-0) in the opening match. Top-seeded Northwestern outlasted Notre Dame on day two 4-2 to knock the Irish out of the tournament.
This is the 14th year in which the NCAA Team Championship will consist of a 64-team field (31 conference champions plus 33 at-large entries). The first two rounds of the team championship are held at 16 campus sites awarded to the highest ranked 16 teams nationally.
Notre Dame has qualified for the team portion of the NCAA Championship 20 times in the last 21 seasons. The best finishes for the Irish came during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons when the team advanced to back-to-back semifinal appearances. In total, Notre Dame has advanced to the quarterfinals on three occasions (1996, 2006, 2007) and to the round of 16 four other times (1993, 1994, 2000, 2001). The Irish have earned one of the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Championship eight times overall, having done so previously in 1996 (No. 5-8 seed), 1999 (No. 12), 2000 (No. 13-16), 2001 (No. 13), 2006 (No. 2), 2007 (No. 6), 2009 (No. 5) and 2010 (No. 5).
Three Irish Players Earn All-Conference Honors From BIG EAST: Junior Britney Sanders became the fifth straight Notre Dame player to be tabbed BIG EAST Player of the Year on April 25, joining Shannon Mathews (2012), two-time winner Kristy Frilling (2010-11) and Irish assistant coach Kelcy Flores (2009).
Sanders copped the honor after posting a 23-13 singles record and a 23-12 doubles mark during her first season at the number one position in the Notre Dame lineup. She also logged a perfect 3-0 tournament record at first singles to key Notre Dame’s BIG EAST Championship win.
Sanders will make her first career appearance at the NCAA Individual Championship May 22-27 in Champaign, Ill.
Joining Sanders on the all-BIG EAST team were junior captain Jennifer Kellner and freshman Quinn Gleason. Kellner posted a 17-12 singles mark this season, including a 15-9 record in dual matches, and was also 21-9 in doubles competition. Gleason led all Notre Dame players with a 24-8 record in singles, including a sparkling 20-4 mark in dual play, and added a 21-10 doubles slate.
Head coach Jay Louderback earned conference coach of the year honors for the 11th time after guiding Notre Dame to a 17-8 record and its 13th overall BIG EAST Championship.
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