Feb. 18, 2000

MADISON, Wis. — The 17th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team lost 5-2 to top-ranked Stanford on Friday in the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. The Cardinal lineup, which features five ranked singles players, was too much for the Irish, who fall to 6-2 with the loss. Stanford improves to 8-0 with its 27th consecutive win and will face fourth-ranked Georgia in the semifinals on Saturday. The Irish, who beat 12th-ranked William & Mary in the first round on Thursday, will play in the consolation on Saturday night against yet to be determined.

Stanford won the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles. The seventh-ranked Cardinal team of Laura Granville and Keiko Tokuda handed the 17th-ranked team of Irish freshman Katie Cunha and junior Kimberly Guy their first dual-match loss with an 8-4 victory to clinch the win at No. 2. The 33rd-ranked Irish team of junior All-American Michelle Dasso and sophomore Becky Varnum won 8-4 at No.1 doubles over Teryn Ashley and Marissa Irvin, who were ranked as high as second last year. The Cardinal also won at No. 3 doubles to take a 1-0 lead heading into singles.

Senior Kelly Zalinski gave Notre Dame its first point when she beat 55th-ranked Ashley 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. Irvin, who is unranked in college after playing the professional tour last fall and earning a world ranking of 99, beat Dasso 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, and sixth-ranked Lauren Kalvaria defeated sophomore Nina Vaughan 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4 singles to give Stanford a 3-0 lead. The Cardinal clinched the win when 62nd-ranked Gabriela Lastra beat Lindsey Green 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 singles. Guy won Notre Dame’s second point with a 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 win over 71st-ranked Jennifer Heiser at No. 6 singles. Second-ranked Granville beat Varnum 6-3, 6-5 at No. 2 singles for the final point.

The quarterfinal match against top-ranked Stanford marked the fourth match for the Irish against the top-ranked team in seven appearances at the event after previously losing to Georgia in 1995 and Florida in 1996 and 1999 when they were the top-ranked team. The Irish and Cardinal had played twice before at the USTA/ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships, with Stanford also winning in the quarterfinals in 1994 and in the consolation in 1995.

The tournament is using the experimental dual match format that consists of three eight-game pro-set doubles matches followed by six singles matches with a match tiebreaker (first to 10, win by two) to be played instead of a third set in singles. A team winning two doubles matches wins one point and wins two points for sweeping the doubles. If a match is tied 4-4 after singles, overtime is played – the same three doubles teams return to play match tiebreakers with the team that wins two of the three winning the match 5-4.

#1 STANFORD 5, #17 NOTRE DAME 2

Singles

No. 1: Marissa Irvin (S) def. #82 Michelle Dasso (ND) 6-4, 6-2

No. 2: #2 Laura Granville (S) def. Becky Varnum (ND) 6-3, 6-4

No. 3: Kelly Zalinski (ND) def. #56 Teryn Ashley (S) 6-2, 6-3

No. 4: #6 Lauren Kalvaria (S) def. Nina Vaughan (ND) 6-3, 6-1

No. 5: #63 Gabriela Lastra (S) def. Lindsay Green (ND) 6-2, 6-4

No. 6: Kimberly Guy (ND) def. #72 Jennifer Heiser (S) 7-6 (9-7), 7-5

Doubles

No. 1: #33 Dasso/Varnum (ND) def. Ashley/Irvin (S) 8-4

No. 2: #9 Granville/Tokuda (S) def. #17 Katie Cunha/Guy (ND) 8-4

No. 3: Kalvaria/Lastra (S) def. Green/Zalinski (ND), 8-4