April 17, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame senior women’s tennis player Shannon Mathews has been tabbed BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, it was announced by the league Tuesday. It is the third such honor of the season for Mathews.
The Birmingham, Mich., native concluded her Irish regular season posting a 2-0 record in both singles and doubles, while helping the Irish earn a pair of BIG EAST victories over #40 USF (7-0) and Louisville (6-1) to finish a perfect 5-0 in conference matchups.
In addition to defeating the Cardinals’ Julia Fellerhoff at No. 1 singles, 7-6, 6-0, Mathews earned her fifth singles win of the year against nationally-ranked opposition, defeating USF’s #42 Ecaterina Vasenina, 6-2, 6-0. She, along with doubles teammate Kristy Frilling, also earned her 10th victory over ranked opposition in doubles after taking down the Bulls’ 49th-ranked tandem of Vasenina and Loreto Alonso Martinez, 8-4. The Irish twosome then ended their regular season with an identical 8-4 decision over Fellerhoff and Mandy Brown of Louisville.
Mathews is one of three Irish players, along with Frilling and Jennifer Kellner, to be named Player of the Week this season and the Irish lead the way among all BIG EAST tennis schools with the three amassing five total honors this year.
Mathews and the Irish return to the court for quarterfinal action at the BIG EAST Tournament. Notre Dame, which enters as the No. 1 seed, takes on the winner of the Rutgers and Cincinnati matchup at 9 a.m. Friday at the USF Varsity Tennis Center in Tampa, Fla.
BIG EAST Women's Tennis Player of the WeekApril 17 Shannon Mathews Notre DameApril 10 Loreto Alonso Martinez USFApril 3 Victoria Sekely GeorgetownMarch 27 Nevena Selakovic St. John'sMarch 20 Chloe Sher Seton HallMarch 13 Jennifer Kellner Notre DameMarch 6 Shannon Mathews Notre DameFeb. 28 Loreto Alonso Martinez USFFeb. 21 Kristy Frilling Notre DameFeb. 14 Jasmin Kling DePaulFeb. 7 Rebeca Mitrea DePaulJan. 31 Shannon Mathews Notre DameJan. 24 Loreto Alonso Martinez USF
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