Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Thompson Twins Garner Invitation To Main Draw Of ITA All-American Championships

Sept. 24, 2004

Sophomore twins Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), ranked seventh nationally in doubles, were among 11 doubles teams to earn invitations to the main draw of next month’s Riviera/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Women’s All-American Championships, the first leg of the collegiate grand slam. The event, which begins Oct. 2 with prequalifying rounds and culminates with the main draw from Oct. 7-10, will take place at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and feature a 16-team doubles main draw of the top teams in Division I college tennis.

The Thompsons, who were the first all-freshman team in Division I since 1998 to earn a berth in the NCAA Doubles Championship last spring, will be making their second appearance in a collegiate grand slam event. In last May’s NCAAs, they reached the round of 16 before falling in three sets.

It will be the first time since 2000 – and sixth time overall – that Notre Dame is represented in the main draw of the All-American Championships. In the first appearance by an Irish duo, then-sophomore Wendy Crabtree teamed with Lisa Tholen to win a pair of matches in advancing to the semifinals of the 1993 event before losing in three sets to the top-seeded team of Keirsten Alley and Pam Nelson of California. In four subsequent appearances, Notre Dame teams have failed to win a match, though in the most recent result, current assistant coach Michelle Dasso and Becky Varnum lost in three sets in the opening round.

The remaining spots in the main draw of the All-American Championships, the premier hard-court event of the fall collegiate season, will be filled by teams making their way through a qualifying draw of 32. The prequalifying portion features 64 more teams, and four of those will reach the qualifying rounds.

The Thompsons lead a strong contingent of Midwest Region teams invited to the main draw of the All-American Championships. It is the only region to have three squads among the initial 11 garnering berths, as Northwestern’s ninth-ranked duo of Cristelle Grier and Alexis Prousis, as well as Michelle DaCosta and Kara Delicata of Michigan, ranked eighth, were also tabbed.

The Irish team, which opened the 2004-05 season at the Colorado Invitational last weekend with three wins in as many matches including a triumph over the 24th-ranked pair in the nation, has faced two of the other teams that will definitely be in the main draw of the All-Americans. The Thompsons lost to both Texas’ Katie Ruckert and Kendra Strohm (now ranked 19th) and twice to William & Mary’s second-ranked pair of Amy Wei and Megan Muth last season.

The All-American Championships, the Nov. 4-7 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, and the year-end NCAA Championships are college tennis’ three national championship events.

The Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships date back to 1983 and the famous Riviera Tennis Club has played host to this event since 1988 (it also hosted an intercollegiate women’s championship from 1986-88).