May 3, 2007
Indianapolis, Ind. – For the third consecutive year, Notre Dame senior Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) earned invitations to both the NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Singles Championship and the NCAA doubles tournament – along with her twin sister, Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) – when the fields for the national individual championships were announced Wednesday. Junior Brook Buck (Yukon, OK) and sophomore Kelcy Tefft (Enid, OK) also qualified for the doubles tournament.
The All-American twins are the only team in the nation to have been invited to the last four NCAA doubles tourneys, while Catrina Thompson is one of just six players who have earned spots in both the singles and doubles draws in the last three years. The events are slated for May 23-28 at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
The other elite players who earned NCAA invitations in both singles and doubles in 2005, `06 and `07 are Audra Cohen (Miami), Zsuzsanna Fodor (California), Kristi Miller (Georgia Tech), Anne Yelsey (Stanford) and Riza Zalameda (UCLA).
Catrina Thompson, who enters the postseason ranked 32nd nationally in singles, was an at-large qualifier this season after earning automatic berths the previous two years. Last season the NCAA changed the qualification process to mirror that of the team event, meaning that the top singles player and top doubles team (providing they are nationally-ranked) in each of the 31 conferences earned automatic bids, with the remainder being filled by at-large selections. USF’s Shadisha Robinson – the tournament MVP – earned the BIG EAST’s automatic bid in singles as its highest-ranked player. Thompson was the league’s only at-large berth.
The Thompson sisters, ranked 12th in college tennis, earned the league’s automatic bid in doubles. The tandem will be the only doubles team in the field that has participated in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. In fact, the tandem of Olga Borisova and Marianna Yuferova of VCU are the only doubles team to compete in three straight tournaments.
Buck and Tefft, ranked 22nd, earn the BIG EAST’s only an at-large invitation in doubles. They went 23-5 overall and 15-2 in dual action. Buck and Tefft not only captured the ITA Midwest Regional Championship, but also reached the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship.
The Irish are one of just four teams across the country to place two doubles’ teams in the field. Notre Dame joins North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Miami (Fla.).
This marks the 12th time in the last 15 years that a Notre Dame player has garnered a spot in both the NCAA singles and doubles championships, but it was done previously by just three individuals other than Thompson: Wendy Crabtree (1993, ’94, ’95), Jennifer Hall (1997, ’98, ’99), and current assistant coach Michelle Dasso (1999, 2000, ’01).
The Most Outstanding Performer in the BIG EAST Tournament in 2005 and `06, Thompson went 2-1 in her three matches in this past tournament. She cruised past Christine Burek of UConn and Kylie Moore of Marquette in the quarterfinals and semifinals, dropping just a single game, before losing a heartbreaking, three-set affair to BIG EAST Player of the Year Shadisha Robinson of USF in the title match. Thompson, ranked 32nd in the most recent FILA/ITA rankings, is 25-10 on the season and 20-7 in dual action – all at No. 1 singles. She has also posted an impressive 11-7 mark against nationally ranked players.
Thirteen of her matches this season (37%) came against players that earned NCAA berths, and Thompson held a 5-8 record against that group, with the victories coming against Beier Ko of Harvard, Vanja Corovic of Texas, Amanda Taylor of Vanderbilt, Blakeley Griffith of Tennessee and Kristi Miller of Georgia Tech.
A season ago, Thompson moved into the second round of the event following her three-set triumph over Margarita Karnaukhova of Sacramento State. She became the third Irish player ever to win a match in the tournament on multiple occasions, but ran into Zemenova of Baylor, the defending NCAA singles champion, in the second round and lost in straight sets.
Two years ago, Thompson was one set away from being an All-American in singles, as well. She beat Arizona State’s Sophia Capannolo 6-0, 6-2 in the opening round of the NCAA singles bracket and then lost 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 to Mississippi’s Chloe Carlotti.
The Thompson twins stand 28-8 together on the season and 20-5 in dual matches. They have won consecutive matches and 11 of their last 12. The sisters are 10-4 on the road and 10-2 in outdoor matches.
Last season, the third seeded Thompsons were upset in the first round of the doubles tournament. They had reached the round of 16 during their freshman (2004) and sophomore (`05) campaigns.
The Thompsons played 10 matches against NCAA qualifiers this season – in addition to several more against teams featuring one player that earned a bid to the NCAAs – posting a 4-6 mark. They reached the finals of the Riviera/ITA All-American for the third straight season, but were unable to repeat as champions. The Thompsons lost in the first round of the second leg of the grand slam, the ITA National Indoors. The twins hope to achieve the school’s second-ever grand slam title after another strong showing at the NCAAs, which has never seen a Notre Dame duo reach the semis (three have lost in the quarterfinals).
The eight seeded teams already have assured themselves of being named ITA All-Americans in doubles, and they will be joined by the tournament’s quarterfinalists, as well as any squad finishing in the national top 10.
This will be the 13th time in the last 15 years that Notre Dame has had at least one entry in both the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments. Since 1989 (a span of 19 years), Notre Dame competitors have garnered 22 invitations to the national singles tournament and 15 to the doubles event.
The singles championship will begin May 23 with opening-round play and will continue with one round per day. The doubles tournament starts the 24th and also proceeds with one round each day. A full list of all qualifiers can be found on www.ncaasports.com. The Tennis Channel will provide coverage of the singles and doubles finals.
The Thompsons will first lead Notre Dame in the NCAA Team Championship, which gets underway May 11. The Irish, ranked seventh and seeded No. 6, will play host to early-round action at the Courtney Tennis Center, playing Illinois-Chicago at 9:00 a.m. (ET) in the opening round.
— ND —