Jan. 30, 2002
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The 13th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team took the doubles point and won four singles matches to gain a 5-2 road victory over No. 69 Michigan at the Varsity Tennis Center Wednesday. The Irish open the season 3-0 for the first time since 1998, when Notre Dame won its first five matches. Michigan suffered its first loss in three matches this spring and dropped its eighth consecutive match to Notre Dame. The Irish will return to action this weekend with a pair of matches at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Notre Dame will play host to 24th-ranked Kentucky Saturday at Noon and No. 40 Indiana at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The Irish swept three matches to win the doubles point. Junior Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) and freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.), ranked 53rd nationally, registered an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles before senior Nina Vaughan (Corona del Mar, Calif.) and sophomore Alicia Salas (Engelwood, Colo.) clinched the point with an 8-6 victory at No. 3. The 29th-ranked doubles team, seniors Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.), completed the sweep with a 9-7 triumph at No. 1.
Salas opened up a 2-0 lead for Notre Dame by notching a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 5 for her sixth consecutive victory and the ninth in her last 10 matches. Joanne Musgrove and Chrissie Nolan helped Michigan rally to a 2-2 tie with wins at No. 6 and No. 2, respectively. The Irish then took the final three matches to gain the victory. Varnum got a win on her seventh match point at No. 1 before Cunha clinched the Irish victory with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) win at No. 4 — the ninth win in her last 10 matches. After the outcome was decided, Vaughan added a three-set win at No. 3 singles.
#13 Notre Dame 5, #69 Michigan 2
Singles
No. 1: #58 Becky Varnum (ND) d. Kavitha Tipirneni (M) 6-3, 7-6 (13-11)
No. 2: Chrissie Nolan (M) d. Lindsey Green (ND) 6-2, 7-5
No. 3: Nina Vaughan (ND) d. Michelle DaCosta (M) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
No. 4: Katie Cunha (ND) d. Leanne Rutherford (M) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
No. 5: Alicia Salas (ND) d. Jen Duprez (M) 6-3, 6-2
No. 6: Joanne Musgrove (M) d. Sarah Jane Connelly (ND) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1: #29 Green/Varnum (ND) d. DaCosta/Rutherford (M) 9-7
No. 2: #53 Connelly/Cunha (ND) d. Duprez/Tipirneni (M) 8-4
No. 3: Salas/Vaughan (ND) d. Kim Plaushines/Lisa So (M) 8-6