April 16, 2001

MADISON, Wis. — The seventh-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis did not drop a set in sweeping host Wisconsin 7-0 on Monday. Junior Becky Varnum improved to 18-4 in dual singles matches with her 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles to record her team-leading sixth clinching win of the season. The Irish upped their record to a 21-4 with their fifth straight victory over the Badgers and continue their best start under 14th-year head coach Jay Louderback. Notre Dame returns to action as the top-seeded team in the six-team field at the BIG EAST Championship in Miami, Fla. The Irish will meet the winner of the match between fourth-seeded Virginia Tech and fifth-seeded Syracuse at 9:00 a.m. on Sat., April 21.

The fifth-ranked team of senior All-American Michelle Dasso and Varnum were 8-2 winners at No. 1 doubles over Katie Dougherty and April Gabler. Sophomore Katie Cunha and senior Kimberly Guy clinched the point by beating Teresa Gonzaga and Lara Vojnov 8-6 at No. 2 doubles. Juniors Lindsey Green and Nina Vaughan also won 8-6 at No. 3 doubles.

Fourth-ranked Dasso improved to a team-best 19-3 in dual singles matches with her 6-3, 6-2 win over Gabler at No. 1 singles. Vaughan matched Dasso with her 19th dual singles win, defeating Dougherty 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles. Freshman Caylan Leslie won her second 6-0, 6-0 match of the season against Linde Mues at No. 4 singles. Green downed Vojnov 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 singles, while Guy beat Gonzaga 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 at No. 6 singles. Varnum’s win over Vanessa Rauh improved her singles record to 15-2 since Feb. 17.

The Irish will be in search of their fourth BIG EAST title in their sixth appearance at the championship and first title since 1999. Other teams in the field include second-seeded and 41st-ranked host Miami, third-seeded and 64th-ranked Boston College and sixth-seeded West Virginia. Notre Dame has a 3-0 record this season against the field, defeating Virginia Tech 7-0 at home on Feb. 9, and beating Miami 6-1 and West Virginia 7-0 in matches played at Miami on March 17.

#7 NOTRE DAME 7, WISCONSIN 0

Singles

No. 1: #4 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. April Gabler (W) 6-3, 6-2

No. 2: Becky Varnum (ND) def. Vanessa Rauh (W) 6-1, 6-3

No. 3: #100 Nina Vaughan (ND) def. Katie Dougherty (W) 6-1, 6-2

No. 4: Caylan Leslie (ND) def. Linde Mues (W) 6-0, 6-0

No. 5: Lindsey Green (ND) def. Lara Vojnov (W) 6-3, 6-3

No. 6: Kimberly Guy (ND) def. Teresa Gonzaga (W) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3

Doubles

No. 1: #5 Dasso/Varnum (ND) def. Dougherty/Gabler (W) 8-2

No. 2: Katie Cunha/Guy (ND) def. Gonzaga/Vojnov (W) 8-6

No. 3: Green/Vaughan (ND) def. Mues/Rauh (W) 8-6