Feb. 1, 2002
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 13th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team will play host to a pair of top-40 schools this weekend in action at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish will face #24 Kentucky Saturday at Noon and #40 Indiana at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
LAST WEEK’S ACTION: Notre Dame opened its season with three victories over the past week. Last Saturday, the Irish swept a home doubleheader, defeating both #59 Illinois State and Northern Iowa by 6-1 scores. In both matches, Notre Dame won the doubles point and the bottom five singles matches to gain the victory.
On Wednesday, the Irish went on the road for a 5-2 victory over #69 Michigan. Notre Dame won the doubles point and one singles match before the Wolverines rallied to tie the match 2-2. The Irish swept the remaining singles matches, gaining wins at Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 5 overall.
THIS WEEK FOR THE IRISH: On Saturday, Kentucky will visit the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Wildcats are 5-1 this season with their only loss coming in a 5-2 decision last Saturday to #2 Duke. In that match, Kentucky swept the doubles and also gained a win by Leigh Bradwell at No. 5. The Wildcats are ranked 24th nationally after finishing last year ranked 25th. Kentucky was 14-11 a season ago and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Northwestern. The Wildcats have three singles players ranked as well as all three of their doubles teams. Carolina Mayorga is 30th, Sarah Witten is 53rd and Amy Trefethen is 92nd. In doubles, Mayorga and Witten are ranked seventh nationally, while Trefethen and Jill Buckley are 27th and Bradwell and Lauren Rookledge are 49th.
Indiana enters this weekend having won all four of its matches this season. The Hoosiers, ranked 40th, will be on the road against Ball State on Saturday afternoon before coming to Notre Dame. Last season, Indiana was 16-10, lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Washington State and finished with a ranking of 40th. In 2002, the doubles team of Karie Schlukebir and Linda Tran are ranked 30th. That team defeated Notre Dame’s team of Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) 8-4 in the semifinals of the Omni Hotels Region IV Championships. Indiana and Notre Dame faced off in November’s Eck Classic, as well, with the Irish taking five of six singles matches and both doubles matches played. Seniors Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.) and Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) defeated Schlukebir and Tran 8-3 in the Eck Classic.
IRISH vs. WILDCATS: The Irish and the Wildcats will meet for the 11th time with Notre Damed holding a 6-4 advantage in the series. The Irish have won each of the past three matches. The two schools did not meet until 1991, but have met in every season except one since then.
Last season, seventh-ranked Notre Dame beat #35 Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. The Irish won the doubles point and four of six singles matches to gain the win. Three matches were not decided in straight sets with Carolina Mayorga, ranked 77th, upsetting #4 Michelle Dasso 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 at No. 1, Caylan Leslie (Newport Beach, Calif.) beating Leigh Bradwell 6-7, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 and Kimberly Guy downing Amy Trefethen 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (9-7) at No. 6.
IRISH vs. HOOSIERS: The Irish and the Hoosiers will meet for the 16th time. The two schools met first in 1985 and Indiana won each of the first nine meetings before the Irish gained a victory in 1996. Notre Dame has not lost to the Hoosiers since then, taking each of the past six matches.
In 2001, the eighth-ranked Irish beat #41 Indiana 6-1 in Bloomington, Ind. The Hoosiers won the doubles point, but Notre Dame swept all six singles matches, though four were decided in three sets.
ITA RANKINGS: Notre Dame is 13th in this week’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association top 75, moving up a spot from its preseason rank. Senior All-American Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) is ranked 58th in singles and combines with classmate Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.) to hold the No. 29 ranking. Also in doubles, junior Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) and freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.) broke into the rankings at No. 53. Team rankings are released weekly during the season, while individual rankings are released on a less-frequent basis with the next occurring on Feb. 20.
HOME, SWEET HOME: The Irish have had excellent success at home over the past few years. The Irish were 10-1 at home last season and 12-0 in 1999-2000. The only loss was a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Duke in last year’s season opener after which Notre Dame won 10 straight home matches. After sweeping last Saturday’s doubleheader at home, the Irish have won 28 of the past 29 home regular-season matches. Over the past five seasons, Notre Dame is 43-5 (.896) at home. In the Jay Louderback era, the Irish are 111-23 (.828) in the friendly confines of the Courtney Tennis Center and Eck Tennis Pavilion.
IT TAKES TWO, BABY: Seniors Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Lindsey Green (El Cajon, Calif.) each have an opportunity to break the Notre Dame school record for career doubles victories. Varnum has 93 wins and Green has 92, putting them 16 and 17 shy of 2001 graduate Michelle Dasso’s 109. Varnum set the school record last year for doubles wins in a season with 37.
SALAS TENNIS PAVILION?: Sophomore Alicia Salas (Engelwood, Colo.) has been dominating at home this season. She is 6-0 in singles and 5-0 in doubles in the Eck Tennis Pavilion this season. In her six singles matches, Salas has lost only 11 games, an average of less than one game lost per set. Last year as a freshman, she lost her first match in the Eck Tennis Pavilion, but has since won all 11 singles matches she has played at home.
FABULOUS FROSH: Freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.) has hit the college tennis scene with a splash. She shares the team lead in singles wins with a 10-4 record and has achieved a national ranking of 53 in doubles. She advanced through qualifying at the Omni Hotels Region IV Championships and won her first two singles matches in the dual-match season.
CLINCHING CUNHA: After not registering a match-clinching victory all of last season, junior Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) has been responsible for the clincher in each of the first three matches in 2002. Also, after starting the fall with four straight losses, she has won nine of her last 10 matches.
C, C, C, C, C: Junior Katie Cunha (Mercer Island, Wash.) and freshman Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla.) have combined to be a strong doubles team this season. After losing their first six matches of the fall, the pair has won eight of its last nine matches, including a run to the semifinals of the Region IV Championships. Cunha and Connelly were not ranked in the preseason rankings, but obtained a No. 53 ranking in the fall rankings.