Dec. 9, 1999

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Notre Dame women?s tennis will enter the 2000 dual-match season ranked 18th in the country, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association fall rankings. The Irish finished the 1999 season ranked 15th with a 23-7 record. Notre Dame opens its season on Jan. 10, against Hawaii-Pacific. The Irish also will play Hawaii, fourth-ranked Duke, 23rd-ranked Washington and 14th-ranked Tennessee in a six-day span in Honolulu. The 2000 Irish schedule will feature at least 19 ranked teams, including matches at eighth-ranked Pepperdine, 11th-ranked Wake Forest and 15th-ranked William & Mary.

Junior two-time All-American Michelle Dasso and sophomore Becky Varnum both enter the dual-match season with singles rankings. Dasso is ranked 42th after reaching the quarterfinals of the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships. She finished the fall season with a 5-2 record. Varnum went 5-5 in the fall and is ranked 101st. Notre Dame joins ?99 NCAA team finalists Florida and Stanford as the only schools with two doubles teams ranked among the top 15 tandems. Dasso and Varnum teamed for the first time and went 5-0 to win the ITA Midwest Region doubles title. They enter the season ranked 10th. Freshman Katie Cunha and junior Kimberly Guy beat two ranked teams on their way to a 9-1 record and the ITA Midwest Region consolation doubles title for a ranking of 15.

Notre Dame leads all regional schools with the three of the top 11 players ranked among ITA Region IV singles players. Dasso is the top-ranked regional singles player, while Varnum is seventh and senior Kelly Zalinski 11th. Sophomore Nina Vaughan is 25th. Three of the 15 regionally-ranked doubles teams hail from Notre Dame, more than any other Midwest school. Those three doubles team all are ranked in the top 12, while no other school has more than one team in the top 12. Dasso and Varnum are first, with Cunha and Guy 10th and sophomore Lindsey Green and Zalinski 12th.