Nov. 4, 2000

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Notre Dame women’s tennis team led all schools with four players reaching the final 16 at the at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Region Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Irish also placed its three doubles teams in the final 16, more than any school but Indiana, which also has three teams remaining. Action continues on Sunday with two rounds of singles and doubles.

Senior All-American and top-seeded Michelle Dasso, juniors Becky Varnum and Nina Vaughan and freshman Caylan Leslie each won a pair of singles matches to reach the round of 16. Senior Kimberly Guy beat Northwestern’s eighth-seeded Marine Piriou 1-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 in the first round before falling in the second round. Junior Lindsey Green also won the first round before falling to the second seed in the second round. The top-seeded doubles team of defending champions Dasso and Varnum, third-seeded Katie Cunha and Guy and unseeded Green and freshman Alicia Salas all advanced to the round of 16.

Dasso dropped just three games in beating Indiana’s Linda Tran 6-2, 6-0 and Eastern Michigan’s Lisa D’Amelio 6-0, 6-2 to set up a match with Michigan’s Chrissie Nolan. The No. 9-12 seeded Vaughan was equally efficient, defeating IUPUI’s Natalie Bednar 6-0, 6-0 and Iowa’s Pascale Veraverbeke 6-1, 6-2. She will meet Ohio State’s fourth-seeded Monica Rincon for a spot in the quarterfinals.

In the bottom half of the draw, No. 9-12 seed Leslie defeated Northwestern’s Stacy Kokx 7-6 (2), 6-1 in the first round before downing Valparaiso’s Kate Kollarova 6-1, 6-0. Leslie next meets Michigan’s Kavitha Tipirneni, who knocked off Cincinnati’s third-seeded Kara Molony in the second round. Also seeded No. 9-12, Varnum eased into the round of 16 by beating Indiana’s Martina Grimm 6-4, 6-1 and Drake’s CecilyDubusker 6-2, 6-2 to set up a match with Marquette’s seventh-seeded Laura Garcia. Green rallied to beat Eastern Michigan’s Rebecca Hawkins 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 before falling to Ohio State’s second-seeded and defending champion Kristy Dascoli 6-2, 6-0 in the second round.

In doubles, Dasso and Varnum beat Northwestern’s Shannon Duffy and Marine Piriou 8-3 in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. Green and Salas beat Ball State’s Libby Gerding and Darcy Poulos 8-3 in the first round before blanking Michigan State’s Joi McGueen and Natasha Skogerboe 8-0 in the second round. They next will play Western Michigan’s fourth-seeded team of Larissa Chinwah and Meaghan Colville. In the bottom half of the draw, Cunha and Guy beat Michigan’s Szandra Fuzesi and Jen Vaughn 8-2 in the second round after a bye.