Feb. 17, 2000

MADISON, Wis. — The 17th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team won the doubles point and then won four of six singles matches to beat 12th-ranked William & Mary on Thursday in the first round of the USTA/ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. Sophomore Lindsey Green provided the clinching point for the third consecutive match with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Lindsay Sullivan at No. 5 singles. The Irish, who improve to 6-1 with the win, will meet top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Stanford in the second round at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

Notre Dame improved to 3-4 in first-round matches at the USTA/ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships and 9-10 overall at the event. The Irish have advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1995 when they defeated UC Santa Barbara in the first round before losing to top-ranked Florida. The quarterfinal match against Stanford will mark the fourth for the Irish against the top-ranked team in seven appearances at the event after losing to Georgia in 1995 and Florida in 1996 and 1999 when they were the top-ranked team. The Irish and Cardinal have played twice before at the USTA/ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships, with Stanford winning in the quarterfinals in 1994 and in the consolation in 1995.

The tournament is using the experimental dual meet format that consists of three eight-game pro-set doubles matches followed by six singles matches with a match tiebreaker (first to 10, win by two) to be played instead of a third set in singles. A team winning two doubles matches wins one point and wins two points for sweeping the doubles. If a match is tied 4-4 after singles, overtime is played – the same three doubles teams return to play match tiebreakers with the team that wins two of the three winning the match 5-4.

The Irish began the match with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles to take a 1-0 lead after doubles. The 33rd-ranked team of junior All-American Michelle Dasso and sophomore Becky Varnum beat Delphine Troch and Carolijn van Rossum 8-3 at No. 1 doubles for the first win. Notre Dame then won one point when the 17th-ranked duo of freshman Katie Cunha and junior Kimberly Guy improved to 7-0 in dual matches with an 8-6 victory over Jessyca Arthur and Lindsay Sullivan at No. 2 doubles. Nina Kamp and Carlijn Buis kept William & Mary from falling behind 2-0 by beating Green and senior Kelly Zalinski 8-5 at No. 3 doubles.

The 82nd-ranked Dasso and sophomore Nina Vaughan put the Irish on the brink of victory with straight-set singles wins. Dasso beat 33rd-ranked Troch 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1, while Vaughan defeated Arthur 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. Green — after winning the deciding singles matches against Maryland and Illinois — then beat Sullivan for Notre Dame’s fourth and winning point to improve to 7-0 in singles in 2000 dual matches.

Varnum beat van Rossum 6-1, 7-5 at No. 2 singles for Notre Dame’s fifth point. The Tribe posted wins at Nos. 3 and 6 singles. The two teams will meet again on April 9, at William & Mary.

#17 NOTRE DAME 5, #12 WILLIAM & MARY 2

Singles

No. 1: #82 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. #33 Delphine Troch (WM) 6-1, 6-2

No. 2: Becky Varnum (ND) def. Carolijn van Rossum (WM) 6-1, 7-5

No. 3: #83 Carlijn Buis (WM) def. Kelly Zalinski (ND) 6-0, 6-3

No. 4: Nina Vaughan (ND) def. Jessyca Arthur (WM) 6-4, 6-2

No. 5: Lindsey Green (ND) def. Lindsay Sullivan (WM) 6-4, 6-3

No. 6: Andrea Coulter (WM) def. Kimberly Guy (ND) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)

Doubles

No. 1: #33 Dasso/Varnum (ND) def. Troch/van Rossum (WM) 8-3

No. 2: #17 Katie Cunha/Guy (ND) def. Arthur/Sullivan (WM) 8-6

No. 3: Nina Kamp/Buis (WM) def. Green/Zalinski (ND) 8-5