April 15, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 13th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team won four of six singles matches and won two doubles matches to beat 43rd-ranked Miami 6-3 on Saturday outdoors at the Courtney Tennis Center. Senior Kelly Zalinski won her 117th singles match to set the Irish career record, while 11th-year head coach Jay Louderback recorded his 400th coaching victory. The win concludes Notre Dame’s regular season with a 19-5 record, its best regular-season mark under Louderback. The Irish return to action when they travel to Miami for the BIG EAST Championship, to be held April 20-23, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Complex.
Zalinski beat Marcy Hora 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles to break the previous Irish record of 116 career singles wins held by former Irish All-American Jennifer Hall. Zalinski’s win gave the Irish a 1-0 lead before junior All-American and 16th-ranked Michelle Dasso beat Alanna Broderick 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 singles for Notre Dame’s second point. Nina Vaughan made it 3-0 when she beat Katia Bogomolova 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. Bogomolova saved five set points at 3-5 to break serve Vaughan’s before the Irish sophomore broke right back to win the first set.
Meredith Laughlin won Miami’s first match when she beat sophomore Becky Varnum 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Irish freshman Katie Cunha won a tight third set to beat Eva Jimenez 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 at No. 6 singles for a 4-1 Notre Dame lead. Cunha served at 4-3 but lost a 40-0 lead in a long eighth game won by Jimenez for 4-4. Cunha then broke Jimenez’s serve in another long game and closed out the match by winning another multiple deuce game at 5-4. Miami’s Lauren Scaglione forced the outcome to be determined in doubles by holding off sophomore Lindsey Green 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 at No. 5 singles. Scaglione led 3-1 in the final set before Green rallied for 3-3, but Scaglione held serve at 5-4 after four consecutive service breaks for a 4-2 Irish lead after singles.
The 27th-ranked team of Dasso and Varnum clinched the win with an 8-2 victory over Bogomolova and Hora at No. 1 doubles. Green and Zalinski beat Broderick and Jimenez 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, before Laughlin and Scaglione completed the 6-3 match with an 8-1 win over Cunha and senior Sarah Scaringe at No. 3 doubles.
The win improved Notre Dame’s home record to 10-0, marking its first unbeaten regular season at home since the 1990 team finished 8-0 in Louderback’s first year at Notre Dame. Today’s match involved the likely top two seeds at next weekend’s BIG EAST Championship. The Irish and Hurricanes have met in each of the four championship matches held since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST in 1995-96. Notre Dame won 4-0 in 1996 and 1997, while Miami won 4-2 in 1998. The Irish reclaimed the BIG EAST title with a 4-2 win last year.
#13 NOTRE DAME 6, #43 MIAMI 3
Singles
No. 1: #16 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. Alanna Broderick (M) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2: Meredith Laughlin (M) def. Becky Varnum (ND) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3: Kelly Zalinski (ND) def. Marcy Hora (M) 6-3, 6-3
No. 4: Nina Vaughan (ND) def. Katia Bogomolova (M) 6-4, 6-1
No. 5: Lauren Scaglione (M) def. Lindsey Green (ND) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
No. 6: Katie Cunha (ND) def. Eva Jimenez (M) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1: #27 Dasso/Varnum (ND) def. Bogomolova/Hora (M) 8-2
No. 2: Green/Zalinski (ND) def. Broderick/Jimenez (M) 8-3
No. 3: Laughlin/Scaglione (M) def. Cunha/Sarah Scaringe (ND) 8-1