May 24, 2007
ATHENS, Ga. – Notre Dame’s senior All-American twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, NV), ranked 12th in the ITA, advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Doubles Championship following a 6-4, 6-0 straight-set victory over #24 Daria Petrovic and Alejandra Guerra of NC State Thursday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
“They played very well today,” said Irish head coach Jay Louderback. “Christian was unbelievable early in the match. She volleyed, maybe, the best of her career and really carried the team, but Catrina got rolling in the second set and they just rolled from there. This was definitely their best match in some time. They played loose and very confident.”
The Thompsons raced out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set over Petrovic and Guerra, but the Wolfpack duo actually narrowed the deficit to 4-3 before the Thompsons regained enough form to close out the first set, 6-4. The twins then left little doubt in the second set, cruising to a 6-0 triumph. They improve to 29-9 on the season and reach the NCAA Doubles Championship round of 16 for the third time in their illustrious career, but will look to reach the quarterfinals for the first time ever on Friday. The Thompsons will face the fifth-ranked team of Zsuzsanna Fodor and Susie Babos from California.
The other Irish tandem of 22nd-ranked junior Brook Buck (Yukon, OK) and sophomore Kelcy Tefft (Enid, OK) were not as fortunate, falling 6-4, 7-6 (6) to #11 Frederica van Adrich and Ani Mijacika of Clemson.
After a see-saw opening first set that saw van Adrich and Mijacika hold on for a 6-4 win, the two teams went back-and-forth again in the second set. Buck and Tefft grabbed a 6-5 lead in the tie-breaker and had a set point. Mijacika returned Tefft’s first serve and following a Buck backhand, the two teams traded exchanges at the net. van Adrich followed with a winner down the middle of the court which squared the tie-breaker at 6-6 and ultimately helped the Tigers’ tandem come away with a victory.
Buck and Tefft close their 2006-07 season with three consecutive losses and a 25-8 record. van Adrich and Mijacika improve to 16-4 overall and extended their winning streak to six matches. Mijacika and van Adrichem became just the fifth doubles team in Clemson women’s tennis history to reach to the second round of the national tournament and will attempt to become just the second to make the quarterfinals.
Earlier in the day, Catrina Thompson dropped a hard-fought three-set affair to second-ranked Megan Falcon of LSU, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. It marked the third consecutive year that Catrina Thompson fell just one victory shy of being named All-American in singles.
“Catrina played quite well,” said Louderback. “It was an extremely tight match. She fell behind early in the third set and was fighting up hill the rest of the way. She was very aggressive, but Falcon (the tournament’s #2 seed) was just a little to good today.”
Falcon held a 3-0 advantage in the first set before Thompson began to fight back. However, Falcon’s lead was too much for Thompson to overcome as the two spilt the next six games to give Falcon a 6-3 set victory.
The momentum quickly shifted in the second set as Thompson came out firing to take the set by a 6-2 score. The set loss marks only the 11th time in Falcon’s 38 matches this season that she has lost a set.
Falcon regained her swagger in the third set as she coasted to a 6-2 victory to advance to the round of 16. Thompson closes her 2006-07 singles season with an overall record of 27-12. She also finishes her singles career with a 100-49 mark.
— ND —