April 6, 2008
The Notre Dame women’s tennis team had little trouble extending their season-long winning streak to nine matches Sunday afternoon at the Courtney Tennis Center as the Irish posted a 6-1 win over the Orange of Syracuse. Notre Dame (16-7) dropped just six games in doubles on their way to a sweep and posted five straight-set singles wins to claim the match.
Katie Potts was the first Notre Dame singles victor Sunday as she earned a 6-2, 6-2 win over Chelsea Jones at No. 5. The Irish junior won four of the first five games on her way to an easy win. Potts earned her fourth win in five matches and improved to 18-8 on the year.
Cosmina Ciobanu made it 3-0 Notre Dame with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 win over Simone Kalhorn at No. 2. The Irish sophomore was playing in just her third match at No. 2 this year, but had little trouble after sprinting to a 3-0 lead. Kalhorn cut the lead to 3-2 in the first set, but Ciobanu responded by winning the last nine games of the match to clinch her 22nd win of the year. She is now an even 11-11 in dual play.
Brook Buck earned the clinching win for the Irish with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Christina Tan at No. 1. The senior captain won the first eleven games of the match and dominated play on her way to the win. Buck was playing in just her second match of the year at No.1 and is now 1-1 at the top singles position this season. Her overall record stands at 14-15 on the year.
Colleen Rielley overcame a small hiccup in the first set to defeat Maria Vasilyeva in straight sets 6-4, 6-0. Rielley led the first set 5-2 before dropping two straight games to the Orange junior. The Notre Dame sophomore responded by winning the match’s final seven games in the victory. Rielley is now 18-12 on the year and 12-9 in dual play.
Kali Krisik extended a team-best singles winning streak to five by soundly defeating Ashley Spicer 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4. With a 4-1 lead, Krisik left little doubt by winning eight of the final ten games to win in her first match at No. 4 this season. The sophomore also boasts a team best 29-5 singles record and is the first Notre Dame player this season to record 20 dual singles wins.
Jacquelynn Tang prevailed over Denise Ellison, who was playing the first singles dual match of her Irish career, in a tight match at No. 6 to prevent the shutout. The first set went to a tiebreaker after Ellison fought back from a 4-3 deficit to take a 5-4 lead. Tang would win the next two games to surge ahead 6-5, but Ellison would force a tiebreaker with a win in the next game. The Orange freshman emerged with a 7-4 win in the tiebreaker to take a set lead. Ellison appeared to be in control of the second set with a 3-0 lead, but she could not hold on as Tang battled to get the second set to a tiebreaker. In a marathon final game, Ellison fought off three match points on her way to a 12-10 win. The two freshmen played a match tiebreaker to decide the contest and again Ellison appeared on her way to a win when she grabbed an 8-5 lead. Tang would not give in, however, and won the next four points. She went on to capture the tiebreaker 11-9. Ellison is now 3-5 this season in singles play.
Notre Dame opened the match with one of its most impressive doubles performances of the season. With Kelcy Tefft sitting out Sunday’s match, Kali Krisik stepped into the No. 1 doubles position with Buck and battled to an 8-3 win over Jones and Spicer. The win was the third in four matches as a team for Buck and Krisik.
Rielley and Ciobanu were first off the doubles court after dominating Tang and Kalhorn at No. 2 by an 8-1 tally. The Irish sophomores have won nine matches in a row and are 16-1 on the season.
Ellison stepped into the No. 3 position with Potts and defeated Vasilyeva and Tan 8-2. The win was Ellison’s first career victory in a dual match and the first ever doubles victory. It was also the first time Potts and Ellison had ever played a doubles match together.
The Irish will continue their season-ending home stand when they welcome top ranked and 18-1 Northwestern to the Courtney Tennis Center Wednesday afternoon. The Irish defeated Northwestern the last time the Wildcats came to South Bend in 2006 by a 4-3 score. First serve Wednesday afternoon is scheduled for 3:30.