March 5, 2000

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 15th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team swept the singles matches without the loss of a set and won at No. 2 doubles to beat 21st-ranked Kentucky 7-2 on Sunday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Freshman Katie Cunha won the clinching singles win for the second consecutive day with her 6-3, 6-2 win over Lauren Rookledge at No. 6 singles. The victory completed an undefeated week for the Irish that included four wins over 12th-ranked Northwestern, 33rd-ranked Ohio State, 36th-ranked Iowa and Sunday’s victory in a five-day span. Notre Dame begins its spring break trip on Sat., March 11, at 51st-ranked BYU before travelling to sixth-ranked Pepperdine on Sat., March 18.

Irish junior All-American Michelle Dasso continued her solid play at No. 1 singles with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Carolina Mayorga. In taking a 4-0 lead in the first set, Dasso put together a streak of 21 consecutive games won at No. 1 singles by winning the final five games of her victory against Ohio State’s Kristy Dascoli on Thursday and then beating Iowa’s Shera Wiegler 6-0, 6-0 on Saturday. She has won 29 of her last 30 games and has a cumulative games score of 36-5 in her last three singles matches.

After Dasso’s quick win, sophomore Nina Vaughan used a break of serve at 6-5 to beat Amy Trefethen 6-1, 7-5 at No. 4 singles. Senior Kelly Zalinski made it 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Sarah Witten at No. 3 singles. Sophomore Lindsey Green won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 6 singles against Jill Buckley to set up Cunha’s clinching win. Sophomore Becky Varnum completed the sweep of singles with her 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) win over 55th-ranked Brooke Skeen at No. 2 singles.

Kentucky came back to win two of the three doubles matches, with 26th-ranked Mayorga and Witten 8-3 winners at No. 1 doubles over Cunha and Dasso. Buckley and Rookledge edged Varnum and Vaughan 8-6 at No. 3 doubles, before Green and Zalinski won a long 9-8 (7-3) match against 24th-ranked Leigh Bradwell and Skeen at No. 2 doubles for the 7-2 final.

#15 NOTRE DAME 7, #21 KENTUCKY 2

Singles

No. 1: #48 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. Carolina Mayorga (K) 6-1, 6-0

No. 2: Becky Varnum (ND) def. #55 Brooke Skeen (K) 6-3, 7-6 (0)

No. 3: Kelly Zalinski (ND) def. Sarah Witten (K) 6-2, 6-2

No. 4: Nina Vaughan (ND) def. Amy Trefethen (K) 6-1, 7-5

No. 5: Lindsey Green (ND) def. Jill Buckley (K) 6-4, 6-3

No. 6: Katie Cunha (ND) def. Lauren Rookledge (K) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1: #26 Mayorga/Witten (K) def. Cunha/Dasso (ND) 8-3

No. 2: Green/Zalinski (ND) def. #24 Leigh Bradwell/Skeen (K) 9-8 (3)

No. 3: Buckley/Rookledge (K) def. Varnum/Vaughan (ND) 8-6