March 1, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. — The fifth-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team won the doubles point but then lost four of six singles matches to fall 4-3 to 11th-ranked Northwestern on the road in a match completed late Thursday. The loss snaps a 36-match regular-season winning streak versus Midwest region opponents for the Irish — a streak that began on April 23, 1996 — and marks the first the time the Wildcats have beaten the Irish since 1995 following five straight losses. Notre Dame falls to 10-3 on the season and returns to action on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. match at 21st-ranked Ohio State.
The Irish took a 1-0 lead after winning doubles point with victories at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles. The seventh-ranked team of senior All-American Michelle Dasso and junior Becky Varnum were 8-2 winners over Colleen Cheng and Jessica Rush at No. 1 doubles. With the Wildcat’s winning at No. 2 doubles, junior Lindsey Green and Nina Vaughan clinched the point for the Irish with a 9-8 (7-5) win over Lia Jackson and Simona Petrutiu at No. 3 doubles.
Dasso and Varnum each won in singles to give the Irish a 3-1 lead before Northwestern swept the bottom four singles matches for the win. Third-ranked Dasso beat 39th-ranked Cheng 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, while Varnum rallied to beat 53rd-ranked Jackson 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) at No. 2 singles for her fifth straight win and her ninth victory in her last nine singles matches.
#11 NORTHWESTERN 4, #5 NOTRE DAME 3
Singles
No. 1: #3 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. #39 Colleen Cheng (NU) 7-5, 6-2
No. 2: Becky Varnum (ND) def. #53 Lia Jackson (NU) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1)
No. 3: Shannon Duffy (NU) def. Nina Vaughan (ND) 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1
No. 4: Marine Piriou (NU) def. Caylan Leslie (ND) 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1
No. 5: Simona Petrutiu (NU) def. Kimberly Guy (ND) 6-4, 6-4
No. 6: Jessica Rush (NU) def. Lindsey Green (ND) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1: #5 Dasso/Varnum (ND) def. Cheng/Rush (NU) 8-2
No. 2: Duffy/Piriou (NU) def. Katie Cunha/Guy (ND) 8-4
No. 3: Green/Vaughan (ND) def. Jackson/Petrutiu (NU) 9-8 (7-5)