May 13, 2004
Women’s Tennis NCAA Notes in PDF Format
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NCAA Championship (1st/2nd Rounds)
Vandy Christie Tennis Center * Evanston, Ill.
[17-32] #29 Notre Dame (11-11) vs. [33-48] #38 Iowa (14-9)
First Round * Saturday, May 15, 10:00 a.m.
[10] #9 Northwestern (23-4) vs. [49-64] Illinois-Chicago (16-6)
First Round * Saturday, May 15, 2:00 p.m.
Second Round * Sunday, May 16, Noon
NOTRE DAME BEGINS NCAA RUN THIS WEEKEND AT NORTHWESTERN: The 29th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team (11-11), one of the No. 17-32 seeds, will open play in the 2004 NCAA Division I Championship this weekend at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. The Irish, making their ninth consecutive appearance and 11th in the last 12 years, are set to take on #38 Iowa (14-9) in first-round action on Saturday at 10 a.m. (CDT). The other opening-round match will be the 10th-seeded and ninth-ranked host Wildcats (23-4) against Illinois-Chicago (12-7), and the winners will meet in a second-round tilt on Sunday at noon. Notre Dame beat the Hawkeyes 6-1 earlier this spring and lost a third-set tiebreaker in falling 4-3 to Northwestern.
HOTLINE TO FEATURE IN-MATCH UPDATES: Fans and media unable to attend the 2004 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship will be able to keep up with the action via the Notre Dame Sports Hotline, which will feature in-match updates during all of Notre Dame’s matches. The Hotline will be updated at the top and bottom of each hour, with the possibility of more frequent updates if the action merits it. These reports can be accessed by dialing (574) 631-3000 and selecting option #8 for tennis and #2 for women’s tennis. In addition, the official athletic website of the University of Notre Dame, www.und.com, will feature recaps of all the Irish action at the end of each day.
LAST TIME ON THE COURTS: Notre Dame, ranked 28th and the tournament’s top seed, finished second in the 2004 BIG EAST Championship April 30-May 1 at the Neil Schiff Tennis Complex in Coral Gables, Fla. The Irish, who received a first-round bye, beat third-seeded and 71st-ranked Virginia Tech 4-0 in semifinal action before losing by the same score to the second seed, host #26 Miami, in the title match.
Notre Dame won the doubles point and the first three singles matches off the court to beat the Hokies, securing its 13th shutout in 14 all-time non-title matches in the BIG EAST tournament.
The Irish got wins at Nos. 1 and 3 to claim the match’s initial point. First off the court was senior Emily Neighbours (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor School), making her BIG EAST Championship debut, and junior Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.), who were victorious 8-2 at No. 3 against Carolyn Kramer and Colombian Carolina Rodriguez. The Virginia Tech team led 2-1 early before Neighbours and Connelly won seven consecutive games to secure the victory. Notre Dame freshman twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), ranked 50th nationally in doubles, clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 triumph at No. 1 against Felice Lam and Elissa Kinard. The No. 2 match was tied 5-5.
Christian Thompson was the first victor off the court in singles, taking just over an hour to defeat Kramer 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2. Sarah Jane Connelly put the Irish within a point of victory, defeating Meredith Holmes 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6. Sophomore Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) provided the clinching win by downing Rodriguez 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5. Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) was on the verge of victory, serving for the match, up 6-4, 5-2 against Ashley James at No. 4 when Stastny won, forcing the abandonment of all other contests on court. Virginia Tech was up a set and a break at No. 3 and up 2-1, on serve, in the third set at No. 1.
The Irish saved five championship points and were in a position to stage a comeback victory before Miami clinched a 4-0 victory in the final. Despite trailing 3-0, Notre Dame, which beat the Hurricanes 5-2 during the regular season, had an opportunity to rally for the victory, as it had won the first set in two of the matches on the court, and appeared to be on the verge of forcing third sets in the other contests. Christian Thompson ignited the Irish comeback by saving four championship points to force a third set in her match at No. 2 against Miami’s Melissa Applebaum. After the Hurricane took the first set, Thompson gained an early break and sprinted out to a 3-1 advantage in the second. Applebaum then won four consecutive games to lead 5-3. She had three team match points on Thompson’s ensuing service game, but could not convert any of them. After the Irish freshman held serve, Applebaum served for the match and again had a championship point, at 40-30, but Thompson stepped inside the baseline and sent a hard forehand crosscourt for a winner. She proceeded to break Applebaum, who could not convert on a number of match points in losing in three sets in last year’s 4-3 loss to Notre Dame in the BIG EAST title match. Thompson won the second set 7-5 and was leading 2-1 in the third when Miami clinched the team match. Catrina Thompson appeared to be ready to follow suit in forcing a third set after dropping the first in her match against Mari Toro, the 2002 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player, at No. 3. Thompson broke serve in the ninth game and served for the set at 5-4, but Toro broke back and then held serve to go up 6-5. Thompson’s attempt to serve her way into a tiebreaker eventually proved unsuccessful, but not before she supplemented her sister’s heroics by saving a championship point of her own with a big serve. On the following point, a Thompson backhand landed wide, and the hometown crowd celebrated Toro’s 6-4, 7-5 win to clinch the title. One of the remaining matches was in a third set, and the other appeared headed for one. At No. 5, Sarah Jane Connelly won the first set 6-4 and was up two service breaks at 4-0 in the second before Miami’s Sara Robbins staged a comeback. The Hurricane won nine of the next 10 games, taking the second set 7-5 and winning the opening two game of the decisive frame before the match was abandoned. Sophomore Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.), Sarah Jane’s sister, also won the opening set in her match (7-5), but Miami’s Staci Stevens was serving for the second set at 5-4 when the team decision was clinched.
The doubles point came down to the No. 1 match, which was the last left on the court. The nation’s 36th-ranked team, Applebaum and Megan Bradley, broke serve at 6-6 and then held for an 8-6 triumph over the 50th-ranked Thompson twins, avenging a defeat in last month’s regular-season match by the same score. Lauren Connelly and senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) provided the lone Irish victory of the day, beating Robbins and Stevens 8-6 at No. 2. The Irish also had chances to win at No. 3 doubles, which finished first. Sarah Jane Connelly and Neighbours got a service break in the seventh game and led 6-5 before Toro and Audrey Banada broke serve, held, and broke again to post an 8-6 win and give Miami a leg up in securing the first point.
Bradley, the fourth-ranked player in college tennis, delivered a dominating performance against #23 Salas, winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 to put Miami up 2-0. Banada moved Miami within a point of victory by downing Stastny 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5. Banada is 27-2 on the season and 18-1 in dual matches, but her loss was a three-set decision against Stastny last month.
IRISH IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: For the third time in as many years, Notre Dame will go on the road for first and second round action in the NCAA tournament. This is the fifth year in which the NCAA Team Championship will consist of a 64-team field, with 31 conference champions garnering automatic bids and 33 at-large entries as chosen by the NCAA Women’s Tennis Committee. The first two rounds of the team championship are being contested at 16 campus sites this weekend. The 16 remaining teams will advance to the national site, the Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., for the final four rounds of the tournament, to be contested May 20-23.
Notre Dame has qualified for the team portion of the NCAA Championships for the ninth consecutive year and the 11th time in the last 12 seasons, all under the guidance of current head coach Jay Louderback. The best finish for the Irish came in 1996, when they reached the quarterfinals before losing to Stanford, 5-1, in Tallahassee, Fla. Notre Dame has advanced to the round of 16 three other times, including twice in the last four seasons, when it defeated Illinois-Chicago (5-0) and South Carolina (5-1) in 2000, and Eastern Michigan (4-0) and Tulane (4-0) in 2001 — with both regionals were contested at Notre Dame’s Courtney Tennis Center. In each case, the Irish saw their NCAA Championship run come to an end at the hands of Florida, which registered a 5-0 win in 2000 and a 4-1 victory in ’01. Notre Dame also traveled to Northwestern in 2002, falling 4-2 to Wisconsin. A season ago, the Irish beat Missouri 4-1 in the first round before losing 4-0 to Vanderbilt on the Commodores’ home courts in Nashville, Tenn.
Notre Dame is 12-10 all-time in NCAA Championship play and has won at least one match in nine of its previous 10 appearances in the national tournament. The Irish are 6-6 in NCAA competition when playing away from home, although they have lost three of their last four road matches. The first-round loss to Wisconsin in ’02 represented the only time Notre Dame has failed to win at least once in the NCAA tourney.
In addition to its recent team success, Notre Dame has sent at least one player to either the NCAA singles or doubles tournament every year since 1989. For the 10th time in 12 years, the Irish will have entrants in both the singles and doubles events this season. Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) earned her second invitation to the 64-player NCAA Singles Championship in as many years, while Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) are the lone all-freshman pair in the 32-team doubles tournament. The singles event begins May 24, while the doubles competition commences the following day, with both concluding May 29. Both take place at the Magill Tennis Center in Athens, Ga.
Notre Dame posted its best individual singles finish in 2001, when current assistant coach Michelle Dasso surged all the way to the NCAA semifinals before falling to eventual national champion Laura Granville of Stanford (now ranked among the top 50 in the world). Three Irish doubles teams have reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, with Dasso and Jennifer Hall the most recent tandem to do so in 1999. Hall and Tiffany Gates turned the trick in 1998, and Wendy Crabtree and Lisa Tholen were the first Irish pair to advance to the round of eight in 1994.
SCOUTING THE NCAA REGIONAL FIELD: Iowa, one of the No. 33-48 seeds and an at-large entrant, will be the first-round opponent for Notre Dame this season. The Hawkeyes are appearing in the NCAA Championship for the fourth time, all since 1999. In the first appearance, Iowa upset Florida State and Notre Dame, both by 5-4 scores, at the Courtney Tennis Center to reach the round of 16, where it lost to Duke. The Hawkeyes lost in the first round in each of their subsequent appearances, falling to LSU (5-3) in 2000 and to North Carolina (4-1) in 2001. This year’s Iowa team is ranked 38th with a record of 14-9. The Hawkeyes tied for sixth in the Big Ten in regular-season play with a 6-5 record, but then upset second-seeded #21 Indiana before losing 4-3 to Ohio State in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Iowa was 64th in the preseason and peaked at 32nd. Notre Dame and Iowa have played eight common opponents: Illinois, Indiana, Marquette, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, and Wisconsin. The Irish are 4-4 against those teams, while the Hawkeyes are 4-7, including a 4-3 win against Michigan. Meg Racette, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, is ranked 110th nationally in singles and 60th in doubles, along with another rookie, Hillary Mintz. Racette is 22-10 in singles, while the freshmen are 16-12 in doubles. One of Racette’s losses was a 6-4, 6-1 decision against Irish senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) at No. 1.
Illinois-Chicago, one of the No. 49-64 seeds, was unbeaten in seven league matches during the season to take the Horizon League title, and the Flames then won their eighth consecutive conference title to gain an automatic bid. UIC stands 16-6 on the season, having won four in a row and eight of its last nine matches. This is its sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. Notre Dame and UIC have played a pair of common opponents: Marquette and Illinois. The Flames lost to both by 6-1 scores, while the Irish beat the Golden Eagles 7-0 and lost 5-2 to the Illini. Sophomore Beatriz Cabrera, who transferred from VCU prior to this season, became the first Illinois-Chicago player ever to earn a national ranking when she moved into the singles listing at 104th earlier this month. The Horizon League Player of the Year, she is 18-2 on the season, with all of her matches coming at No. 1, and her lone defeats being against Marquette and Illinois.
Northwestern, the No. 10 overall seed in the tournament, won the regular-season title with a 9-1 league record and then captured its sixth consecutive Big Ten Conference tournament championship by beating Ohio State in the final to secure an automatic bid to the NCAAs. The Wildcats were ranked a season-low 14th in the preseason, have climbed as high as sixth, and are currently listed ninth in the ITA national rankings. Northwestern is 23-4 on the season (18-1 at home), including 10 consecutive wins and 16 victories in its last 17 matches. The Wildcat losses this season came to #4 Georgia (4-3 in USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships quarterfinals), #10 Duke (5-2), #9 North Carolina (5-2), and #24 Illinois (4-3). Twelve of NU’s 23 victories have come against teams currently listed among the top 40: #10 Washington (4-3), #13 Texas A&M (6-1), #17 Kentucky (6-1), #21 Indiana (6-1), #26 Michigan (4-3), #26 Michigan (4-2), #31 New Mexico (4-3), and #34 Harvard (5-2), #36 William & Mary (5-2), #38 Iowa (6-1), #39 Ohio State (6-1), and #39 Ohio State (4-0). Notre Dame and the Wildcats have played 11 common opponents: Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Marquette, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Purdue, William & Mary, and Wisconsin. NU is 11-3 against the group, with the losses coming to the Blue Devils, Illini, and Tar Heels. Notre Dame is 5-6, having lost to that trio, as well as the Tribe, Wolverines, and Boilermakers. Sophomore Cristelle Grier of England has been ranked among the nation’s top four singles players all season and is currently listed third with a 36-3 record and an 18-match winning streak. She is 26-1 this spring at No. 1, bringing her career dual-match record to 51-1 (25-0 in ’03), with all of her action coming at the top of the singles lineup. Her lone defeat in dual-match play came against Duke’s Amanda Johnson. Grier holds an 84-12 (.875) career record, but one of her losses was a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 decision against Salas in consolation play of the 2002 adidas Invitational. Grier has won all four rematches since then, including at No. 1 in the last two dual matches and in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Singles Championship. Grier and senior Jessica Rush are currently third in the ITA national doubles rankings after being No. 1 earlier this spring. The pair has a 35-5 record, including 22-4 in dual matches, with one of the losses a 9-8 (7-5) decision vs. freshman twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) last month. Grier and Rush, who won titles in the Midwest Championships and National Indoors last fall, have won seven in a row since that contest. Rush is ranked 44th in singles. She is 32-9 this season, including 21-6 in dual matches at No. 2. Rush, who has won 14 of her last 16, fell 6-3, 6-3 to Salas in the semifinals of the ITA Midwest Championships last fall and was defeated by current Irish sophomore Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) 6-3, 6-4 in the ’02 adidas Invitational for Connelly’s first career win against a ranked player (Rush was 52nd).
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. NCAA REGIONAL TEAMS: Notre Dame played both the Hawkeyes and Wildcats at home during the regular season, topping Iowa 6-1 on March 18 and falling 4-3 to Northwestern on April 15 after losing a third-set tiebreaker at No. 4 singles. In all-time action, the Irish lead the series with Iowa (9-1) and Illinois-Chicago (7-0), while Northwestern is one of only five teams to have played Notre Dame at least 10 times and hold a winning record (17-8).
Notre Dame and Iowa will meet for the second time in the NCAA tournament and 11th time overall. The Irish have won the last five and every regular-season meeting, but the Hawkeyes were victorious 5-4 in the second round of the 1999 NCAA Championship at the Courtney Tennis Center. The teams first met in 1985, with the Irish taking an 8-1 decision. All eight matchups (including this year) between the teams since 1990 have been at Notre Dame, with the Irish holding a 6-1 edge. The Irish, who will enter the contest ranked ahead of Iowa for the eighth straight time, had won each of the regular-season meetings by at least three points until a 4-3 decision in 2003.
If they should meet in the second round, Notre Dame and UIC will be playing for the third time in the NCAA tournament and eighth time overall. The Irish have won each of the previous meetings, registering five shutouts. The two prior NCAA matches both came at the Courtney Tennis Center in first-round play, in 1999 (ND won 9-0) and 2000 (ND won 5-0). The teams first played in the fall of 1980 in the Illinois-Chicago Circle Tournament, with the Irish winning 8-1. The teams met five times in a six-year span in fall action from 1980-85, but then did not play again until the ’99 NCAAs. The only other match in Chicago was an 8-1 Notre Dame win in 1984.
If they should meet in the second round, Notre Dame and Northwestern will play for the second time in the NCAA tournament and 26th time overall. The Wildcats, the most-common opponent in the varsity history of the Irish program, lead the series 17-8, based largely on 11 consecutive victories to start the series, from 1976-91. The first Notre Dame win was a 6-3 home victory in 1992. Northwestern has won each of the last four — three by scores of 4-3 — after the Irish had taken six in a row prior to that (from 1996-2000). The teams met once previously in the NCAA tournament, a 6-2 Notre Dame victory in ’98 in Champaign, Ill. The Wildcats are 10-3 at home against the Irish, including wins in each of the last two matches (4-3 in ’01, 7-0 in ’03).
NOTRE DAME-IOWA REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: Notre Dame, ranked 21st, snapped a three-match losing streak by defeating #47 Iowa 6-1 on March 18 in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish won the doubles point and the first four singles matches off the court to build a 5-0 lead en route to the victory. Notre Dame resumed its doubles success by taking the bottom two matches and dropping the No. 1 contest in a tiebreaker. Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) and sophomore Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) snapped a four-match losing streak with an 8-2 victory against Chelsea Glynn and Russian Anastasia Zhukova at No. 2. Junior Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) and sophomore Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) put the Irish ahead 1-0 by topping Bulgarian Deni Alexandrova and Hilary Tyler 8-6 at No. 3. The Hawkeyes were up a service break for most of the match before the Notre Dame team got back to even and, at 6-6, notched a break and served out the contest. At No. 1, freshmen Meg Racette and Hillary Mintz upset the nation’s 37th-ranked team, Irish freshman twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), 9-8 (7-5). The Iowa team had a break in hand much of the match and served for it at 8-7, but the Notre Dame pair came back to force a tiebreaker and took a 5-2 lead in it before Racette and Mintz won five straight points to get the victory. The Thompsons dropped to 0-4 in tiebreakers.
Salas continued her torrid play by putting Notre Dame up 2-0 via a 6-4, 6-1 win over Racette at No. 1 singles. The Irish senior, ranked 13th nationally, won her sixth in a row. Stastny put Notre Dame within a point of victory by topping Alexandrova 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5. Christian Thompson clinched the Irish victory by coming back to beat Mintz 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2. Thompson snapped a four-match skid and had dropped her previous three three-setters. Mintz was 20-5 on the season and 8-2 in dual matches at No. 2.
Soon after the outcome of the team match was determined, sophomore Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman H.S.), playing in her first career dual match, completed a rally with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over Tyler at No. 6. Glynn put the Hawkeyes on the board with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Lauren Connelly at No. 4. In the final match remaining, 84th-ranked Catrina Thompson beat Zhukova 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 3. Thompson stopped a three-match losing streak and registered her first triumph since moving into the national rankings on March 9.
NOTRE DAME-NORTHWESTERN REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: Wildcat sophomore Jamie Peisel won three straight points with the score tied 4-4 to beat Irish sophomore Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 4, handing #11 Northwestern a 4-3 win over #24 Notre Dame April 15 at the Courtney Tennis Center and Eck Tennis Pavilion. The match lasted five hours and seven minutes, with the final hour and 40 minutes seeing the Wildcats holding a 3-2 lead with the Nos. 4 and 5 singles matches on the court. Notre Dame sophomore Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) won six straight games to rally from a 5-1 deficit in the third set in defeating Andrea Yung at No. 5 seconds after Peisel clinched the Northwestern triumph. The Irish swept the doubles matches, highlighted by freshman twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) upsetting the nation’s second-ranked pair.
When the match was moved indoors due to darkness, both Connelly and Stastny were down a set but ahead late in the second. Connelly was up 5-3 when play resumed. Following a Peisel hold, Connelly went up 40-0. After squandering the first two set points, she sent a backhand winner screaming down the line, eliciting a roar from the crowd and assuring a third set. After three straight service breaks, Connelly held in the fourth game of the decisive set to take a 4-1 lead. But Peisel responded by winning four straight games to take a 5-4 advantage. The momentum shifted again, as Connelly held and got a break to go up 6-5. She could not serve out the match, as Peisel delivered the eighth service break of the set to send it to a tiebreaker. The Wildcat held a 4-2 lead in the ‘breaker before Connelly evened the score. Peisel then edged ahead with a backhand winner down the line. A Connelly groundstroke found the net on the next point and a forehand volley shared the same fate on the first match point, giving Peisel a 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) win.
Stastny served for the second set in the first game in the Eck Pavilion, leading 5-4. Yung broke to prolong the frame, but then could not hold, and Stastny served it out to force a third set. The Northwestern junior appeared to be in control of the final set, winning four straight games to open up a 5-1 advantage. She would not win another game, as Stastny took six in a row, denying Yung’s attempts to serve out the set on two occasions for a 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory.
Notre Dame became the first team to sweep Northwestern in doubles this season. First off the court were Lauren Connelly and senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.), who beat Peisel and Alexis Prousis 8-5 at No. 2. Senior Emily Neighbours (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor School) and junior Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) then beat Yung and Ruth Barnes 9-7 at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point. In the final match, the Thompsons edged Cristelle Grier and Jessica Rush, who were ranked first in the nation earlier this spring. The Thompson twins were victorious in a tiebreaker for the first time in five tries.
Prousis was done first in singles, beating Catrina Thompson 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3. Sarah Jane Connelly then topped Connie Chiang 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 to put the Irish ahead again. Grier, ranked third in the nation, improved to 19-1 this season at No. 1 and 44-1 in her career in dual matches (all at No. 1) by beating 11th-ranked Salas 6-3, 6-2. Rush, ranked 55th, put Northwestern ahead for the first time by beating Christian Thompson 7-5, 6-4 at No. 2.
IRISH HEAD COACH: Jay Louderback is in his 15th season at Notre Dame with a 266-135 (.663) record and his 25th year as a collegiate coach with a 470-313 (.600) mark. He ranks fifth among active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories. Louderback’s Irish have finished in the national top 30 in each of the last 11 seasons, have won 11 conference titles and registered 20 or more victories five times in the last eight campaigns. Since the preseason of the 1992-93 season, Louderback’s teams have been ranked in the national top 30 in 186 of 187 sets of rankings. After taking over a program looking for its first NCAA tournament appearance, Louderback has helped Notre Dame to the NCAAs 11 times in the last 12 years, including five appearances in the round of 16 and a 1996 quarterfinal finish. Louderback, a four-time Midwest Region coach of the year, has been honored as his conference’s top coach on eight occasions, including five times in eight years in the BIG EAST. In his time at Notre Dame, Louderback’s players have earned All-America honors 13 times, won three national ITA awards, and earned 19 invitations to the NCAA singles championship and 11 to the NCAA doubles tournament. His players have dominated the University awards during Louderback’s tenure, leading all sports in both Byron V. Kanaley awards (six) and Francis Patrick O’Connor awards (five). His family was honored with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Tennis Family of the Year Award for 2002. The Arkansas City, Kan., native, and 1976 graduate of Wichita State arrived at Notre Dame prior to the 1989-90 season after coaching for seven years at his alma mater and three years (men and women) at Iowa State.
ITA RANKINGS: After beating #71 Virginia Tech and losing to #26 Miami to finish second in the BIG EAST Championship, Notre Dame dropped one spot to 29th in the most recent (May 3) Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings, which are determined by the point-per-match computer formula. It is the lowest ranking of the season for the Irish and the worst listing since falling to a program-low 48th on March 26 of last year. There will be an unpublished set of new rankings after this weekend’s action, and the final listing will be released on June 4.
Notre Dame’s top singles player and top doubles team are represented in the most recent set of individual national rankings, also based on the ITA’s computer formula. Despite having her match with #109 Anat Elazari of Virginia Tech abandoned in the third set and then losing to #4 Megan Bradley of Miami, senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) moved up one spot to 22nd in the singles rankings. She is 23-16 this season, including 11-10 at No. 1 and 14-11 vs. ranked opponents. Salas has been ranked in the top 25 all spring after being 63rd in the preseason. Only five seniors — California’s Raquel Kops-Jones (#1), Duke’s Amanda Johnson (#8), Georgia’s Agata Cioroch (#9), and Texas A&M’s Jessica Roland (#20) and Salas — are ranked among the nation’s top 25.
After beating Virginia Tech’s Melissa Kinard and Felice Lam 8-4 and then losing 8-6 to the 36th-ranked team of Bradley and Melissa Applebaum of Miami, freshman twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) rose 14 spots to a season-high 36th in the doubles listing. The Thompsons are 21-15 this season, including 12-10 at No. 1. They have four wins over ranked foes. The Thompsons are the highest-ranked all-freshman doubles team in the nation.
SALAS GAINS SECOND STRAIGHT BID TO NCAA SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP; THOMPSONS ONLY ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM IN NCAA DOUBLES TOURNEY: Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) earned her second consecutive bid to the NCAA Singles Championship, while twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) are the only all-freshman duo in the field of the NCAA Doubles Championship, it was announced Thursday. It will mark the 10th time in 12 years that Notre Dame has had at least one entry in both the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments. This year’s events are slated for May 24-29 at the Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
Salas, who enters the postseason ranked 22nd nationally, was an automatic qualifier. The top four players in each of the six regions – Salas, #3 Cristelle Grier of Northwestern, #38 Jennifer McGaffigan of Illinois, and #73 Katie McGaffigan of Wisconsin in the Midwest Region – gained automatic bids, while the remaining 40 slots in the 64-player field were available on an at-large basis. Three Midwest Region players – #70 Angela Buergis of Minnesota, #53 Michelle DaCosta of Michigan, and Northwestern’s #44 Jessica Rush – earned at-large berths. A year ago, Grier beat Salas 7-5, 6-0 in the first round of the NCAA singles tournament.
Salas is 23-16 on the season, including a 14-11 record against ranked opponents, highlighted by a streak of six consecutive victories. A qualifier in the first two legs of the grand slam last fall, Salas becomes just the fourth player in Irish history to play in each of the grand slam tournaments in a season. Both current assistant coach Michelle Dasso (1998-99 & 2000-01) and Wendy Crabtree (1993-94 & 1994-95) accomplished the feat twice, while Jennifer Hall did it in 1997-98. Salas is the sixth Notre Dame player to earn multiple bids to the NCAA Singles Championship during her career, joining four-time qualifiers Dasso and Hall, three-time participant Crabtree, and Melissa Harris (1991 & ’92) and Tracy Barton (1990 & ’91), who both qualified twice. More than half of Salas’ matches in 2003-04 – 21 of 40 – were against players who gained bids to the NCAA singles tournament. She faced 16 different players, going 9-12 against them.
The Thompson sisters, ranked 36th, are one of six Midwest Region teams to earn a spot in the doubles event. Indiana’s #25 Sarah Batty/Linda Tran and #3 Grier/Rush of Northwestern garnered the two automatic bids, while Illinois’ #15 Cynthya Goulet/McGaffigan, #41 DaCosta/Kara Delicata of Michigan, and #42 Lindsay Martin/McGaffigan of Wisconsin joined the Irish duo in earning at-large places. The Thompsons are 21-15 on the season with four victories against ranked foes, highlighted by an upset of then-second-ranked Grier/Rush. No all-freshman Irish team has ever previously participated in the NCAA doubles tournament. In fact, Crabtree is the only Notre Dame rookie to appear in the event. The Thompsons played nine matches against teams that qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship, winning twice. A
SALAS, THOMPSONS EARN BIG EAST ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) and freshman Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) were both named to the BIG EAST Conference all-tournament team in singles, while Thompson and her twin sister, Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), gained mention in doubles, when the league awards were announced last week. The teams were determined by voting of conference head coaches, who were prohibited from voting for their own players. Notre Dame, the top seed, fell to Miami 4-0 in the title match of the BIG EAST Championship last weekend.
This is just the second year the BIG EAST has named an all-tournament team, and Salas is one of four players (also Miami’s Megan Bradley, Mari Toro, and Melissa Applebaum) to earn singles honors on both occasions. Salas stands 23-16 on the season and ranked 22nd in the nation (second-highest among league players). In the BIG EAST Championship, Salas did not finish her first match, rallying from losing the first set 6-1 against #109 Anat Elazari of Virginia Tech, another all-tournament honoree, to take the second set by the same score and have the match abandoned with the Hokie up 2-1 in the third after the Irish clinched a 4-0 win against Tech. In the final, Salas fell 6-0, 6-1 to #4 Bradley, who was named the BIG EAST’s Most Outstanding Tournament Player for the second year in a row on Friday. Salas, appearing for the second straight year, and Bradley are the only two conference players who earned berths in the 64-player NCAA Singles Championship, set for May 24-29 in Athens, Ga.Christian Thompson and Applebaum tied for the final spot on the singles all-tournament and, thus, both gained mention. Thompson is 24-13 this season, including 12-8 in dual matches at No. 2. She has been ranked as high as 88th nationally. Thompson beat Virginia Tech’s Carolyn Kramer 6-1, 6-1 in the semis of the BIG EAST tournament and faced Applebaum in the final. The Hurricane won the first set 6-2 and led 5-3 in the second before Thompson fought off four championship points in rallying to win the set 7-5. The Irish rookie was up 2-1 in the third. She is the lone freshman on this year’s singles all-tournament squad, joining Applebaum as the only rookies ever to be so honored. Joining the Irish duo, the Miami trio, and Elazari on the singles team was Boston College’s Szilvia Szegedi.
The Thompsons are the first all-freshman doubles team to be earn all-BIG EAST Championship mention. They are 21-15 this season and ranked 36th in the nation. It was announced Thursday that they will be the only all-rookie pair – and lone BIG EAST entrant – in the 32-team NCAA Doubles Championship, slated for May 25-29 in Athens, Ga. The Irish team beat Melissa Kinard and Felice Lam 8-4 at No. 1 to clinch the doubles point against Virginia Tech, then fell to then-#36 Applebaum and Bradley, who also earned all-tournament honors, 8-6 in the title match. The other doubles team gaining all-league accolades was the pair of Emily Hellberg and Nida Waseem of Boston College.
SALAS NAMED TEAM MVP, ROCKNE STUDENT-ATHLETE: Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) swept the two major team awards, announced last month. For the second time in three seasons, she was named the Irish MVP, while also winning the Knute Rockne Student-Athlete Award for the second consecutive year. Salas, who is 23-16 and ranked 22nd nationally in singles, was voted the most valuable player by her teammates, while the latter award honors her as the squad’s top student.
SALAS, THOMPSONS ALL-AMERICA CANDIDATES: Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) and freshman twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) all have opportunities to earn All-America accolades with strong finishes to the season. Salas is a candidate in singles, where one must 1) earn one of the 16 seds in the NCAA Singles Championship; 2) win two matches to reach the round of 16 in the NCAA Singles Championship; or 3) finish in the top 20 of the final ITA national rankings. It is unlikely Salas, currently ranked 22nd after being as high as 10th, will earn a seed in the NCAA singles tournament, so she will need to fulfill one of the final two criteria. The Thompsons, ranked 36th and the only all-freshman team to gain entry to the NCAA Doubles Championship, figure to need to win a pair of matches to reach the quarterfinals of that event to gain All-America honors. It is unlikely that they have much chance of fulfilling either of the other two ways to become an All-American: earn one of the eight seeds in the NCAA doubles tournament or finish among the top 10 in the ITA national doubles rankings. The NCAA Singles Championship begins May 24 in Athens, Ga., while the doubles tournament commences the next day, with both culminating on May 29.
Since moving up to the Division I level in 1985-86, Notre Dame student-athletes have earned singles All-America honors on five occasions, and doubles accolades four times. Most recently, current assistant coach Michelle Dasso was a double All-American in her final season, fulfilling all three criteria in singles and a pair in doubles, along with Becky Varnum (’02).
SALAS AN ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA NOMINEE: Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) was one of three Irish female student-athletes nominated as CoSIDA Academic All-America candidates this month in the at-large program. Each school is eligible to nominate a total of three male and three female student-athletes in the category, which encompasses athletes from 25 sports, including 12 Irish varsity programs: fencing (M/W), golf (M/W), ice hockey (M), lacrosse (M/W), rowing (W), swimming & diving (M/W), and tennis (M/W). Other Notre Dame nominees were fencer Alicja Kryczalo, hockey players Rob Globke and Cory McLean, and lacrosse players Stewart Crosland and Meredith Simon. After voting of members of the College Sports Information Directors of America in the district, the Academic All-District V team will be released on May 27, and those honorees will be sent on to the national ballot. The CoSIDA Academic All-America team will be announced June 17. Salas, who has been ranked as high as 10th in the national singles rankings, holds a 3.630 cumulative grade-point average as a preprofessional studies/anthropology major in the College of Arts & Letters. She is trying to join Wendy Crabtree (1996, third team) and Jennifer Hall (1999, third team) as Irish women’s tennis Academic All-Americans.
SALAS HONORED WITH BYRON V. KANALEY AWARD: Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) was one of five Notre Dame seniors honored with the Byron V. Kanaley Award last month. The Kanaley Award, the most prestigious honor presented to student-athletes, has been given each year since 1927 to senior monogram athletes who have been most exemplary as both students and leaders. Chosen by the University’s Faculty Board on Athletics, the awards are name in honor of Byron V. Kanaley, a 1904 Notre Dame graduate who was a member of the Irish baseball team as an undergraduate. Kanaley went on to a successful banking career in Chicago and served the University as a lay trustee until his death in 1960. Other 2004 recipients were women’s golfer Shannon Byrne, men’s tennis player Luis Haddock, women’s soccer standout Vanessa Pruzinsky, and women’s volleyball player Kristen Kinder. Salas is the sixth women’s tennis player since 1990 – and third since ’99 – to win the Kanaley award, marking the most by any sport during that span.
LOUDERBACK SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION: Jay Louderback has signed a contract extension to continue as head coach of the Notre Dame women’s tennis program, it was announced earlier this week. Louderback is in his 15th season as head coach of the Irish women’s tennis program and 25th year overall as a head coach. He has compiled a 266-135 (.663) record at Notre Dame and a career mark of 470-313 (.600). Only four active Division I women’s tennis coaches have more collegiate victories. Louderback has led the Irish to 11 consecutive top-30 finishes and 11 NCAA tournament berths (including 2004) in the last 12 seasons, highlighted by five trips to the round of 16 and a 1996 quarterfinal finish. Notre Dame has won 11 conference titles under Louderback, including five in nine years of competing in the BIG EAST. An eight-time conference coach of the year, Louderback’s Irish teams have never had a losing record and have won 20 or more matches five times in the last eight seasons. His current team, the BIG EAST runnerup, is ranked 29th nationally and opens play in the 2004 NCAA Championship Saturday in Evanston, Ill., against Iowa. Louderback, a 1976 graduate of Wichita State University, previously served as the head coach at his alma mater from 1980-86 and as head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams at Iowa State from 1987-89.
THIRD-SET TIEBREAKERS PROVE DECISIVE IN 4-3 IRISH LOSSES THREE TIMES IN 12 DAYS: From April 10-21, Notre Dame lost 4-3 on three occasions, dropping a third-set tiebreaker in each match. On April 10, the Irish led 3-1 before William & Mary won a trio of three-set affairs — including in a third-set ‘breaker at No. 2 — for the come-from-behind victory. Notre Dame led 2-0 on April 15 vs. #11 Northwestern before the Wildcats took a 3-2 lead with two matches remaining. The Irish won 7-5 in the third at No. 5 just seconds after Northwestern took a third-set tiebreaker at No. 4 to clinch the win. On April 21, Notre Dame was up 3-0, but Purdue won the final four singles matches for a victory. The Boilers won in three sets at No. 1 and in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 6 after the Irish were up 4-1 and 40-15 in that match and later had a team match point.
FIVE IRISH LOSSES RESULT FROM THREE-SET STRUGGLES: After thriving on close matches a year ago, Notre Dame has struggled to win the tight ones this season, going 1-5 in contests undecided when the doubles point and two-set matches are completed — including dropping a trio of third-set tiebreakers in 4-3 losses, as well as a 7-5 third set in another one-point defeat. Four of the last five Irish contests have been determined by three-set affairs, with the Irish winning two of three three-setters to beat #25 Miami 5-2 at home on April 4 before losing third-set tiebreakers to fall 4-3 at William & Mary, at home against #11 Northwestern, and at Purdue. In 2003, Notre Dame was 5-1 in matches undecided after the doubles point and two-set singles matches were completed, going 14-7 in those three-set affairs. This season, the Irish are just 4-12 in three-setters in undecided matches, with sophomore Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) accounting for three of the victories. Below are brief accounts of the matches decided by three-setters this season.
* In the spring opener on Jan. 29 at Michigan, the match was tied 2-2, but Michelle DaCosta beat Irish freshman Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) at No. 2 (6-2 in third) and Leanne Rutherford topped junior Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) at No. 5 (7-5 in 3rd) before Stastny beat Kara Delicata at No. 6 (7-5 in 3rd) to make the final score 4-3.
* With the score tied 2-2, #17 Illinois won a trio of three-setters for a 5-2 win in the Eck Tennis Pavilion on March 4. Tiffany Eklov beat Christian Thompson at No. 2 (6-1 in 3rd), while Cynthya Goulet clinched the win by topping sophomore Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) at No. 4 (6-3 in 3rd) and Brianna Knue beat Sarah Jane Connelly at No. 5 (6-3 in 3rd).
* Notre Dame’s lone victory in a tight match came on April 4 in the Eck Tennis Pavilion against #18 Miami. Leading 3-1, #4 Megan Bradley beat #10 Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) at No. 1 (6-2 in 3rd) before Stastny topped Audrey Banada at No. 5 (6-4 in 3rd) to clinch the win and Christian Thompson beat Melissa Applebaum at No. 2 (6-3 in 3rd).
* The Irish led 3-1 on April 10 at William & Mary, but the Tribe won all three remaining matches for a 4-3 victory over Notre Dame for the second year in a row. Megan Muth, ranked 25th, upset Salas at No. 1 (6-2 in 3rd) and Amy Wei beat freshman Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) in a third-set tiebreaker (7-3) at No. 3 before Kristen Dunbar won the final match, defeating Sarah Jane Connelly (6-3 in 3rd).
* Northwestern, ranked 11th, led 3-2 with a pair of matches left on April 15 at Notre Dame. Jamie Peisel rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win a third-set tiebreaker (7-4) over Lauren Connelly at No. 4 seconds before Stastny completed a comeback from being down 5-1 to win the third set 7-5 against Andrea Yung at No. 5.
* The Irish led 3-0 at Purdue on April 21 before the Boilermakers took the final four singles contests. Hala Sufi upset #19 Salas at No. 1 in a quick three-set affair to pull Purdue to within 3-2. After a straight-set win at No. 5, the match came down to the No. 6 match with the score tied 3-3. Sarah Jane Connelly held a 4-1, 40-15 lead, but Melissa Woods won four straight games to get back in the match. After Connelly failed to convert on a team match point at 6-5, Woods forced and won a tiebreaker.
IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE: Notre Dame has struggled this season in outdoor play, going 1-8 in matches played outside. The Irish, who hold a 10-3 record in indoor action, lost to #6 Duke (6-1) and Tennessee (6-1) in Wikaloa, Hawaii over spring break before dropping outdoor road matches against Wake Forest (7-0), #9 North Carolina (5-0), William & Mary (4-3), and #14 Texas (5-2). In the lone match at the Courtney Tennis Center, #11 Northwestern edged Notre Dame 4-3 in mid April. The Irish got their first outdoor victory of the season by beating Virginia Tech 4-0 in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship in Coral Gables, Fla., before falling to host Miami by the same score. The Irish were 4-3 in outdoor play in ’03.
THOMPSONS HIGHEST-RANKED ALL-FRESHMAN DOUBLES TEAM IN NATION: Freshman twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) moved up 14 spots to 36th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association national doubles rankings, remaining the highest-ranked all-freshman team in the nation. Iowa freshmen Hillary Mintz and Meg Racette moved into the rankings at 60th to be the only other all-rook team in the rankings. The Thompsons are 21-15 this season, including 12-10 at No. 1. The Thompsons have four wins over ranked foes, including a 9-8 (7-5) victory against the nation’s second-ranked team of Cristelle Grier and Jessica Rush of Northwestern earlier this month.
THOMPSONS UPSET NATION’S #2 DOUBLES TEAM: Freshman twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) defeated the #2 doubles team in the nation, Cristelle Grier and Jessica Rush of Northwestern, in dual-match play at No. 1 on April 15 at the Courtney Tennis Center. The Thompsons were victorious 9-8 (7-5), winning in a tiebreaker for the first time in five tries. The last time an Irish team upset one of the nation’s top two doubles teams was Feb. 17, 2001, when current assistant coach Michelle Dasso and Becky Varnum, ranked fifth, beat Pepperdine’s top-ranked pair of Ipek Senoglu and Paola Palencia 8-5 at No. 1 in 6-1 Irish victory in consolation play of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
STASTNY TOP PLAYER IN THE CLUTCH THIS SEASON FOR IRISH: Sophomore Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) has been Notre Dame’s best player in crunch time of tight matches this season, going undefeated in three-setters in matches that were still undecided after the doubles point and two-set singles matches were completed. In the spring opener, she beat Kara Delicata of Michigan 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-5 at No. 6 to make the final score 4-3 seconds after the Wolverines clinched the victory. Twice this month she has rallied from losing the first set for a three-set triumph in a tight match against an Irish rival. On April 4, she came back to beat Audrey Banada 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 5 to clinch the 5-2 Notre Dame win over #18 Miami. Last Thursday, she trailed 5-1 in the third set before winning six straight games to defeat Andrea Yung 6-7 (0-7), 7-5, 7-5 at No. 5 seconds after #11 Northwestern won a third-set tiebreaker to clinch a 4-3 win over the Irish. Dating back to last season, Stastny has now won five in a row when involved in a three-setter in a match undecided after the two-set affairs. After going winless in her first three collegiate opportunities in the situation, she won in three against Purdue and Illinois in helping the Irish to tight victories. Stastny was 6-2 at No. 6 prior to moving up a spot in the lineup this spring. Overall, she is 10-8 in dual matches, and she finished the season on an eight-match winning streak at home.
BIG ELEVEN (OR TWELVE)?: Though Notre Dame participates in the BIG EAST Conference in women’s tennis, a glance at the Irish schedule may not bear out that fact. Notre Dame faced only a trio of BIG EAST foes (Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Miami) during the regular season, but took on a total of eight teams from the Big Ten Conference, including six in seven matches. Only Penn State, Minnesota, and Michigan State from the Big Ten did not play the Irish this season. A year ago, Notre Dame played eight matches against Big Ten teams, posting a 6-1 mark, with the only loss coming at #16 Northwestern. In ’04, the Irish were 4-4, beating Ohio State, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Iowa and losing to Michigan, Illinois, Northwestern, and Purdue.
Notre Dame has had a long history of playing Big Ten teams, posting an all-time 108-64 (.637) mark, averaging over six matches per season against Big Ten teams in the 28-year history of the program. Each of the six most common opponents for Notre Dame in the history of the program are members of the Big Ten (Northwestern-25 matches, Illinois-24, Purdue-23, Michigan-22, Wisconsin-19, Indiana-18).
DON’T LOSE THE DOUBLES POINT: Notre Dame is 0-8 when losing the doubles point this season and has lost 11 consecutive matches when dropping the match’s initial point, dating back to last season. The last time the Irish rallied from losing the doubles point to win the team match was March 8, 2003, when Notre Dame lost two of three in doubles at BYU, but won four of six in singles for a 4-3 victory. Notre Dame is 11-3 when winning the doubles point this season.
SALAS ESTABLISHING HERSELF AS ONE OF NATION’S TOP PLAYERS: Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.), currently ranked 22nd after being a career-high 10th earlier this spring, has established herself as one of the elite players in college tennis this season. She stands 23-16 in singles, having already defeated 14 ranked opponents. She has victories over #5 Amanda Johnson of Duke, #14 Jennifer McGaffigan of Illinois, #15 Luana Magnani of USC, #24 Tammy Encina of Tennessee, #29 Dianne Hollands of Arizona, #30 Dora Vastag of Indiana, #33 Alix Lacelarie of Clemson, #37 Elizabeth Exon of Michigan, #39 Megan Muth of William & Mary, #42 Jessica Rush of Northwestern, #43 Barbora Zahnova of BYU, #69 Andrea Yung of Northwestern, #79 Shana McElroy of Wisconsin, and #85 Ashley Schellhas of Vanderbilt. In addition, three more of Salas’ victories were against players that were unranked at the time of the match, but now carry national rankings. She posted wins over Wisconsin’s Katie McGaffigan (now 73rd) and Meg Racette of Iowa (now 110th), as well as Exon (now 83rd) when she was unranked in the fall.
Last fall, she fought through qualifying to reach the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships in October and then gained entrance to the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships the following month due to her runner-up result in the ITA Midwest Championships. She is just the fourth Notre Dame player ever to take part in the first two legs of the collegiate grand slam, joining Melissa Harris (’92), Wendy Crabtree (’96), Jennifer Hall (’99), and current Irish assistant Michelle Dasso (’01). When she moved up to 10th in the ITA national singles rankings, Salas joined those same four as the only Notre Dame players listed among the top 10 players in college tennis since the Irish moved up to the Division I level in 1985-86.
Salas has a career 94-41 (.696) record in singles and 82-38 (.683) mark in doubles. She is 12th on the Irish career singles victories list.
SECOND TO NONE: Senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) and sophomore Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) lead the Irish in doubles wins this season, with a 22-7 record, including 16-5 in dual matches at No. 2. The duo has won seven in a row and nine of its last 10 matches. They are 8-2 at home and 10-3 against Midwest Region foes.
CLINCHING THOMPSONS: Freshman twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) have combined to provide the clinching victory in seven of Notre Dame’s 10 wins this season. Catrina delivered each of the first three Irish triumphs — against Ohio State, Wisconsin, and a 4-3 upset of #14 VCU — prior to clinching the 5-2 win over #26 Indiana. Christian clinched wins over Virginia Tech, Iowa, and Marquette.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ON TV: The 2004 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships will receive more television coverage than ever before. The women’s team final will air on a tape-delayed basis on ESPN2 on May 25 at 3 p.m. (EDT) (2 p.m. in South Bend). The Tennis Channel will provide tape-delayed coverage of the finals of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, slated to premiere on June 4 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. (EDT) and re-air numerous times.
STREAK BUSTERS: Notre Dame’s 4-3 victory at #14 Virginia Commonwealth on Feb. 13 snapped a pair of Rams’ streaks. Prior to the match, VCU had not lost at home in nearly five years, boasting a 40-match winning streak that stretched back to a 5-2 defeat against Virginia Tech on March 28, 1999. In addition, the Rams had won 38 consecutive regular-season contests, dating back to a 4-3 loss to William & Mary exactly two years earlier, on Feb. 13, 2002.
ANOTHER TOP-15 UPSET: Notre Dame’s 4-3 victory at #14 Virginia Commonwealth on Feb. 13 continued an impressive streak of knocking off top-15 foes. The Irish now have at least one victory over a top-15 team in each of the last 11 seasons, dating back to 1994. In ’93, Notre Dame topped #19 Clemson and #19 Alabama, but was 0-5 against teams in the top 15. During the streak, the Irish have notched 20 victories over top-15 opponents, including five in 1996, highlighted by a 5-4 upset of #5 Texas, which remains the highest-ranked team ever to be defeated by Notre Dame. VCU was the highest-ranked team to fall victim to the Irish on its own home courts since Notre Dame won at #14 William & Mary 5-2 on April 13, 2002.
TWO STARTERS FROM LAST YEAR OUT FOR THE SEASON: A pair of starters from last year’s Irish team are expected to miss all of this spring’s dual-match season with shoulder injuries. Senior co-captain Caylan Leslie (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar H.S.), who played No. 1 singles a year ago and was 26th in the preseason national rankings, had to retire in her second match of the season, at last September’s adidas Invitational, and she will not see further action in 2003-04. Leslie, who also missed the spring of 2002 with a shoulder injury, could apply for a fifth year of eligibility. Sophomore Jennifer Smith (Charlotte, N.C./South Mecklenburg H.S.), who played No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles as a freshman, underwent shoulder surgery last fall and will miss the entire 2003-04 campaign.
IRISH FACE TOUGH SLATE: The road to the 2004 NCAA Championship is a challenging one for Notre Dame. Of the 20 dual-match opponents the Irish will face this season, 19 of them currently carry national rankings (all but Marquette), including 15 in the top 50 and 10 in the top 30. A dozen of them earned berths in last year’s NCAA tournament. Eleven are currently in the top 30: #4 Duke (L, 1-6), #9 Northwestern (L, 3-4), #12 Texas (L, 2-5), #15 North Carolina (L, 0-5), #18 BYU (W, 6-1), #21 Indiana (W, 5-2), #22 Illinois (L, 2-5), #23 Miami (W, 5-2 & L, 0-4), #24 Tennessee (L, 1-6), #26 Michigan (L, 3-4), and #30 Wake Forest (L, 0-7).
SISTER ACT: For the second straight season, Notre Dame has an unprecedented two pairs of sisters on its roster in 2003-04. In 2002-03, Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman H.S.) and Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) joined the Notre Dame squad as freshmen, combining with sisters Maggie Donohue and Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) to mark the first time in school history that a team featured two sets of sisters at the same time. Though Maggie Donohue graduated in ’03, the Connellys are joined this season by freshman twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) to give Notre Dame two sets of sisters once again. A total of six sets of sisters have earned monograms in women’s tennis, by far the most of any of the 13 Irish women’s sports.
FORMER NATIONAL No. 1 BROOK BUCK HEADED FOR NOTRE DAME: Head coach Jay Louderback announced recently that Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School) has signed a national letter of intent to enroll at Notre Dame and join his team in the fall of 2004. Buck, a three-time Oklahoma state singles champion, was ranked No. 1 in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) girls’ 16-and-under national rankings in January of this year before moving up to the 18-and-under age group. She had an outstanding year of 16s junior action in 2002. In addition to being the singles runner-up at the National Hardcourt Championships, she won three national doubles titles, claiming crowns in the Winter National Championships, the Spring Supernational Championships, and the Supernational Hardcourt Championships. A senior at Oklahoma Christian School, Buck won state No. 1 singles titles in class 3A in 2001, ’02, and ’03, and will go for another next spring. Despite only playing in the 18-and-under division since April of this year, Buck has earned a national ranking of 28th, which places her currently as the 10th-highest-ranked player who will enroll in college next fall.
GETTING YOUR TIMING DOWN: Just a reminder that South Bend never changes its clocks, remaining on Eastern Standard Time throughout the year. From now through the end of October, Notre Dame basically will be on Central time, since Eastern Standard Time is the equivalent of Central Daylight Time. When most of the rest of the country returns to Standard time the last Saturday in October, Notre Dame then will match Eastern time.
KEEPING UP WITH NOTRE DAME TENNIS: For the fastest results of Notre Dame tennis matches, call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #8. The hotline provides schedule and results information for varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the game recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. The hotline is the first medium updated with the results of each Notre Dame tennis match. In addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting Bo Rottenborn at Rottenborn.2@nd.edu, or Eileen Carroll at ecarroll@nd.edu, who also can provide any information about the Irish tennis program.