May 16, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After nearly an hour delay, the fifth-ranked and fifth-seeded Irish women’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals with a 4-0 victory over No. 12 Clemson Friday night at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Notre Dame is now 27-4 and will make their third quarterfinal appearance in the last four years.
The match was halted for nearly an hour in between singles and doubles play after a power outage at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Irish went up 1-0 early after winning the doubles point. Second-ranked Kelcy Tefft and Kristy Frilling fell to No. 9 Ani Mijacika and Keri Wong, 8-3, at No. 1 doubles, while Shannon Mathews and Colleen Rielley topped Alexandra Luc and Frederica van Andrichem, 8-2, at third doubles to even the match. No. 64 Cosmina Ciobanu and Kali Krisik clinched the point for the Irish with an 8-5 win over No. 34 Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic at No. 2 doubles.
No. 38 Frilling pulled off the biggest upset of her career with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over 14th-ranked Bek at second singles, putting the Irish up 2-0.
Kristen Rafael cruised past Laurianne Henry 6-0 in the first set, then battled to a 6-3 win in the second set to claim the No. 6 singles match and give the Irish a 3-0 lead.
Krisik clinched the win for the Irish as she defeated Luc, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 5 singles.
No. 4 Mijacika was leading 29th-ranked Tefft, 6-4, 4-2, at No. 1 singles when the match was clinched. Hadziselimovic led Ciobanu, 6-1, 5-4, at third singles and Mathews led No. 118 Wong, 6-4, 3-2, at fourth singles when the match was called.
The Irish will now face the winner of the Baylor-Stanford match Sunday at 6:00 p.m. (ET).
Notre Dame is 1-1 against Baylor and 1-0 against Stanford this season.
Notre Dame 4, Clemson 0
Singles 1. #4 Ani Mijacika (CU) led #29 Kelcy Tefft (ND) 6-4, 4-2, unfinished 2. #38 Kristy Frilling (ND) def. #14 Josipa Bek (CU) 6-2, 6-1 3. Ina Hadziselimovic (CU) led Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) 6-1, 5-4, unfinished 4. Shannon Mathews (ND) #118 Keri Wong (CU) 6-4, 3-2, unfinished 5. Kali Krisik (ND) def. Alexandra Luc (CU) 6-4, 6-1 6. Kristen Rafael (ND) def. Laurianne Henry (CU) 6-0, 6-3 Order of Finish: 2, 6, 5
Doubles 1. #9 Mijacika/Wong (CU) def. #2 Tefft/Frilling (ND) 8-3 2. #64 Ciobanu/Krisik (ND) def. #34 Bek/Hadziselimovic (CU) 8-5 3. Mathews/Rielley (ND) def. Luc/van Andrichem (CU) 8-2 Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
–ND–