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Notre Dame Women's Tennis To Face Six Top 25 Foes in 2006-07

Sept. 19, 2006

Six matches against teams that finished the 2005-06 season ranked in the top 25, including 13 that reached the NCAA Championship, highlight the spring schedule for the University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team. The Irish open their fall season this weekend at the Roberta Allison Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Notre Dame will also compete in the Riveira/ITA All-American Championship (Oct. 5-8), Indiana Invitational (Oct. 6-8), ITA Midwest Championship (Oct. 19-24) and Eck Classic (Nov. 3-5).

In addition to the six teams ranked in the top 25, the Irish will also face eight more schools that ended last season among the top 75.

Notre Dame opens the spring on the road at the UNLV Invitational (Jan. 12-14). The Irish start their dual season with a match at Illinois (Jan. 26). The matchup will mark the first meeting between the two schools since former Notre Dame assistant coach Michelle Dasso became the Fighting Illini head coach.

The Irish home opener is set for Jan. 28 against Vanderbilt. The Commodores finished the 2005-06 season ranked No. 11 and reached the NCAA Championship round of 16. Notre Dame will not leave the friendly confines of Eck Tennis Pavilion for eight consecutive matches. In addition to Vanderbilt, the Irish face Louisville (Feb. 9), Michigan (Feb. 14), North Carolina (Feb. 16), Wake Forest (Feb. 18), Iowa (Feb. 25), Texas A&M (Mar. 2) and Texas (Mar. 3). All eight opponents ended last season in the top 75 and the Tar Heels (10), Demon Deacons (No. 22) and Longhorns (No. 19) were in the top 25.

Notre Dame then hits the most difficult part of the schedule with 11 of its final 12 matches on the road. The Irish open the road swing with BYU (Mar. 10). The Cougars reached the NCAA Championship and finished last season at No. 30. Notre Dame heads out to San Diego, Calif., to face Duke (Mar. 15) and Tennessee (Mar. 16). The Blue Devils, ranked No. 9 at the end of last year, reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. The Lady Volunteers also made the NCAA Championship and finished No. 32.

After two more road matches at Wichita State (Mar. 30) and Tulsa (Apr. 1), the Irish return home for a brief one-match homestand. Notre Dame faces in-state rival Purdue (Apr. 4).

The Irish get right back on the road for their final five matches of the season. Notre Dame faces Indiana (Apr. 7), Ohio State (Apr. 9), Northwestern (Apr. 13), DePaul (Apr. 14) and Marquette (Apr. 15). Of those final five dual matches, only the Hoosiers and Wildcats reached the NCAA Championships. Northwestern finished No. 8 after advancing into the round of 16.

The BIG EAST Conference Championship is scheduled for April 19-22 in Tampa, Fla. The Irish have captured the title each of the last two years and seven times in the 11 years since becoming a league member.

In addition to the scheduled dual matches, Notre Dame hopes to earn an invitation to the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championship (Feb. 1-4) in Madison, Wisc.

The 2006 NCAA Championship begins May 11-12 with first and second round action on 16 campus sites and concludes with the final four rounds of competition from May 19-26 in Athens, Ga. The NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will also run in the same location.

Notre Dame returns six of seven starters from a squad that finished the season with 27 victories, second-most in school history. The Irish rose as high as No. 2 and reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 NCAA Championship for the first time.

— ND —