Nov. 11, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
FINAL RESULTS FROM THE 2001 ECK CLASSIC AVAILABLE VIA LINK ABOVE.
The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team won five of six matches Sunday on the final day of play at the Eck Classic in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Five different players were victorious in singles, completing the final event on the Irish fall schedule.
Four Notre Dame players defeated opponents from Indiana, while junior Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) downed Danielle Lee of Texas A&M 6-1. Senior Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.) defeated Hoosier Karie Schlukebir 6-4, 7-5, while sophomore Alicia Salas (Engelwood, Colo.) beat Martina Grimm 6-2, 6-1. Senior Michelle Hamilton (Diamond Bar, Calif.) and junior Maggie Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D.) each notched victories over Indiana’s Lindsay Ray.
Salas finished the Eck Classic with a combined 6-0 record and has won six of her last seven singles matches and five straight doubles matches. Cunha also was undefeated in the tournament, but played only one singles and one doubles match because of injury. She has won six of her last seven singles contests and four of her last five doubles matches. Sophomore Caylan Leslie (Newport Beach, Calif.), also hampered by injury, won each of her three matches — all in doubles. Sophomore Emily Neighbours was 4-1 in the Eck Classic, while Green, classmate Nina Vaughan (Corona del Mar, Calif.) and freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.) were 4-2 in combined play. Donohue’s two singles wins were the first of her career and Hamilton’s victory Sunday marked her first triumph of the year.
Connelly and Salas, two young players who did not see regular time in the Irish lineup a season ago, completed successful fall seasons. Connelly’s eight singles victories in her first collegiate semester led the Irish. She and Salas each had a team-high 14 combined victories.
In doubles play, Green’s nine wins were the most on the team and bring her career total to 90. Senior Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) posted eight doubles victories this fall, giving her 90 career wins as well. Both are just 19 short of the school record of 109, set by 2001 graduate Michelle Dasso.
The Irish competed in four tournaments throughout the fall season and took on USC in an exhibition dual match, dropping a 5-2 decision. Notre Dame will open its dual-match season at home on January 26 when the Irish face Illinois State at 10 a.m. and Northern Iowa at 3 p.m.
For the 20th time in the history of the program, Notre Dame hosted a women’s tennis tournament. The Eck Classic, the most recent incarnation, has been held in the fall of nine of the past 10 seasons in the Eck Tennis Pavilion on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. It was changed this year from a “flight” format to a “hidden dual” format. Teams play simulated matches against each other, but there are no team scores recorded.
Eck Classic
Singles
Amanda Field (IU) d. #48 Becky Varnum (ND) 6-4, 7-6
Lindsey Green (ND) d. Karie Schlukebir (IU) 6-4, 7-5
Alicia Salas (ND) d. Martina Grimm (IU) 6-2, 6-1
Maggie Donohue (ND) d. Lindsay Ray (IU) 6-3
Michelle Hamilton (ND) d. Lindsay Ray (IU) 7-5
Katie Cunha (ND) d. Danielle Lee (A&M) 6-1