Feb. 26, 2000

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The 15th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team won four singles matches and then won at No. 3 doubles to beat 28th-ranked North Carolina 5-4 in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Saturday. Irish senior Kelly Zalinski and sophomore Lindsey Green clinched the win with an 8-4 win over Zalinski’s younger sister Courtney and Jessica Zaganczyk at No. 3 doubles. Notre Dame improves to 7-3 with the win and concludes its trip to North Carolina with a match at fifth-ranked Wake Forest on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. The Tar Heels fall to 1-4 after their fourth loss to a top 25 team.

Notre Dame picked up singles wins at No. 1 singles and in the bottom half of the lineup, while North Carolina claimed wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles. Junior All-American and 82nd-ranked Michelle Dasso rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over 83rd-ranked Marlene Mejia at No. 1 singles. Sophomores Nina Vaughan and Green posted wins at Nos. 4 and 5 singles. Vaughan defeated 101st-ranked Kendrick Bunn 6-4, 6-1, while Green came back to beat Caroline Hill 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Junior Kimberly Guy beat Courtney Zalinski 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.

Trailing 2-4 after singles, North Carolina joined top-ranked Stanford as the only teams to win two doubles matches from Notre Dame and the only team to win at both Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. Mejia and Erin Niebling beat 33rd-ranked Dasso and Becky Varnum at No. 1 doubles, and Bunn and Kate Pinchbeck edged 17th-ranked Katie Cunha and Kimberly Guy 9-8 at No. 2 doubles. Green and Zalinski’s win at No. 3 doubles marked the second clinching win of the season for the pair. After recording the clinching win in singles in Notre Dame previous three wins, Green has now been part of four consecutive clinching matches and five of the seven Irish wins.

#15 NOTRE DAME 5, #28 NORTH CAROLINA 4

Singles No. 1: #82 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. #83 Marlene Mejia (NC) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

No. 2: Jessica Zaganczyk (NC) def. Becky Varnum (ND) 6-4, 7-6 (3)

No. 3: Erin Niebling (NC) def. Kelly Zalinski (ND) 6-4, 6-4

No. 4: Nina Vaughan (ND) def. #101 Kendrick Bunn (NC) 6-4, 6-1

No. 5: Lindsey Green (ND) def. Caroline Hill (NC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

No. 6: Kimberly Guy (ND) def. Courtney Zalinski (NC) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles

No. 1: Mejia/Niebling (NC) def. #33 Dasso/Varnum (ND) 8-6

No. 2: Bunn/Kate Pinchbeck (NC) def. #17 Katie Cunha/Guy (ND) 9-8

No. 3: Green/Kelly Zalinski (ND) def. Zaganczyk/Courtney Zalinski (NC) 8-4