Sept. 29, 2001
Athens, Ga. & Palm Springs, Calif. – Seniors Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.) each won three matches and sophomore Caylan Leslie (Newport Beach, Calif.) advanced to the singles consolation final as the University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team continued play Saturday in the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Ga. and the adidas Invitational in Palm Springs, Calif. The tournaments conclude tomorrow with the Irish taking on national semifinalist Georgia at 9:30 a.m. in the Georgia Invitational, as well as singles action at the adidas Invitational.
All-American team captain Varnum, ranked 48th in singles, won three matches at the Georgia Invitational, including a victory over Kansas State’s Alena Jecminkova 6-1, 6-0. Jecminkova is ranked 56th nationally in singles and she registered a straight-set victory over the number-eight player in the country, Georgia’s Mariel Verban just a day earlier.
Varnum also teamed with Green for two doubles victories. The pair, ranked 23rd, beat the Bulldog team of Agata Cioroch and Tina Hojnik 8-5, as well as Kansas State’s Kathy Chuda and Petra Sedlmajerova 8-4. Green registered a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Petra Sedlmajerova in singles one day after the 100th-ranked Wildcat knocked off Georgia’s 12th-ranked Anne Nguyen 6-2, 6-1.
Sophomore Emily Neighbours (Indianapolis, Ind.) won a pair of matches on Saturday, downing Kansas State’s Paulina Castillejos 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in singles and teaming with classmate Alicia Salas (Engelwood, Colo.) to beat the Wildcat pair of Hayley McIver and Maria Rosenberg 8-3.
Leslie won two matches on Saturday after splitting a pair of singles tilts on Friday at the adidas Invitational. After losing to 46th-ranked Megan Bradley of UCLA on Friday, Leslie won three matches to advance to the consolation final, to be played Sunday against UCLA’s Lauren Fisher, ranked 76th nationally.
The doubles team of Leslie and senior Nina Vaughan (Corona del Mar, Calif.) reached the quarterfinals of the first flight of doubles before losing to UCLA’s third-seeded pair of Walker and Petya Marinova, both ranked in the top 30 nationally in doubles. Vaughan, who also won a consolation match Saturday, will play again in singles on Sunday.
Singles
Georgia Invitational
#48 Becky Varnum (ND) d. #56 Alena Jecminkova (Kansas State) 6-1, 6-0
Lindsey Green (ND) d. #100 Petra Sedlmajerova (KS) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
Kathy Chuda (KS) d. Alicia Salas (ND) 6-4, 6-4
Maria Rosenberg (KS) d. Katie Cunha (ND) 6-2, 6-2
Sarah Jane Connelly (ND) d. Andrea Cooper (KS) 6-3, 6-0
Emily Neighbours (ND) d. Paulina Castillejos (KS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
adidas Invitational
Friday
Cindy Sureephong (Arizona St.) d. #68 Nina Vaughan (ND) 6-3, 6-1
#46 Megan Bradley (UCLA) d. Caylan Leslie (ND) 6-2, 6-3
#98 Courtney Perkins (Portland) d. #68 Vaughan (ND) 6-3, 7-6
Leslie (ND) d. Saras Arasu (Duke) 7-5, 1-0, ret.
Saturday
Leslie (ND) d. Amy Juppenlatz (Portland) 6-2, 6-2
#68 Vaughan (ND) d. Colleen Cheng (Northwestern) 4-6, 7-6, 6-1
Leslie (ND) d. Vanessa Rauh (Wisconsin) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
Georgia Invitational
#23 Green/Varnum (ND) d. Agata Cioroch/Tina Hojnik (Georgia) 8-5
Mariel Verban/Lori Grey (G) d. Connelly/Cunha (ND) 8-4
Anne Nguyen/Alexandra Smith (G) d. Neighbours/Salas (ND) 8-4
#23 Green/Varnum (ND) d. Chuda/Sedjmajerova (KS) 8-4
Cooper/Jecminkova (KS) d. Connelly/Cunha (ND) 8-2
Neighbours/Salas (ND) d. Hayley McIver/Rosenberg (KS) 8-3
adidas Invitational
Friday
Leslie/Vaughan (ND) d. Amy Juppenlatz/Alyson Tyson (Portland) 8-1
Saturday
Petya Marinova/Sara Walker (UCLA) d. Leslie/Vaughan (ND) 8-5