April 7, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The second-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team (20-1, 1-0) posted its ninth 7-0 victory of the season on Friday afternoon, defeating BIG EAST Conference rival DePaul (14-5, 5-2) in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish – winners of 20 matches for the first time since 2000-01 – will wind up the regular season on Sunday by playing host to another conference foe, Marquette, at Noon (ET). That match will take place at the Courtney Tennis Center unless weather forces it into the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Notre Dame won the doubles point for the 21st time in as many matches and then did not lose a set in singles to clinch the victory. The Irish lost just 17 total games in the 12 singles sets – and more than two in only a pair of sets. It was the third time this season Notre Dame dropped fewer than 20 games in singles, after losing 11 against Xavier and 15 vs. Eastern Michigan.
The doubles point came down to the No. 3 match, where the team of senior Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) and freshman Katie Potts (Brookfield, Wis./Divine Savior Holy Angels H.S.) – pairing together for the first time – won 8-3 over Serbian Bojana Murisic and Petra Rehusova from Slovakia. The Irish veteran improved to 6-0 in her career as the last match remaining with the doubles point still undecided, and she also earned her career-high 30th doubles win of the season (in 36 matches). Potts has won nine in a row in doubles and is 11-4 overall and 6-0 in dual play.
Off the court first was the team of sophomore Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School) and freshman Kelcy Tefft (Enid, Okla./Chisholm H.S.), ranked 39th in the nation, who beat Dunja Antunovic from Serbia and Croatian Anja Mihaldinec by an 8-2 score at No. 2. The Irish duo has won seven in a row and is 29-4 on the season, including 19-2 in dual matches.
DePaul’s only win came in an upset at No. 1 doubles, where Beatrix Csordas from Hungary and Bulgarian Gergana Ganeva knocked off the nation’s fourth-ranked team of junior All-America twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) by a score of 8-4. The DePaul team is 10-1 on the season, while the Thompsons lost for just the fourth time in 23 matches.
Catrina Thompson got a measure of revenge with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Csordas at No. 1 in singles to put Notre Dame up 2-0. It was the third “double bagel” for Thompson this spring at No. 1, and she is now 24-10 on the season, including 14-4 in dual play at the top spot.
Potts bounced back from suffering just her second defeat of the spring on Wednesday to beat Rehusova 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6. The Irish rookie has now won 20 in a row indoors and stands 25-4 on the season, including 19-2 in dual play.
Buck clinched the win for the fourth consecutive match after having just three career clinching victories in her career prior to this stretch. She beat Antunovic 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 after providing the decisive point in 4-3 ND victories on Sunday and Wednesday. Buck is now 20-9 on the season, including 14-6 in dual action. She is 14-2 vs. players from the Midwest Region this season.
After the outcome was determined, Stastny beat Murisic 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5 to increase her team lead in singles victories and move to 26-7 this season, including 17-3 in dual matches. Tefft then got a 6-1, 6-2 win against Mihaldinec at No. 4 to move to 23-5 on the season, including 15-4 in dual play. In the longest match, Christian Thompson beat Ganeva 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2. The Notre Dame junior is 19-10 on the season, including 12-7 in dual matches.
Notre Dame has 20 victories for the 10th time, but the first since a 25-5 campaign in 2000-01. This is just the second time since moving to the Division I level in 1985-86 that the Irish have won 20 matches during the regular season. The ’00-01 squad was 21-4 heading into the postseason.
The Irish have won all eight meetings with DePaul, and all of the last five have been shutouts. Notre Dame improved to 32-1 (.970) all-time against fellow conference opponents in regular-season action.
Notre Dame’s nine 7-0 victories are its most in one season since the current seven-point scoring format was adopted in 2000-01.
Notre Dame improved to 12-0 against Midwest Region opponents this season and has now won 13 in a row at home against the region. The Irish have now won 17 in a row overall at home, which is the longest home winning streak since a 24-match stretch from 1988-91.
#2 Notre Dame 7, DePaul 0SinglesNo. 1: #26 Catrina Thompson (ND) def. Beatrix Csordas (D) 6-0, 6-0No. 2: #73 Christian Thompson (ND) def. Gergana Ganeva (D) 6-4, 6-1No. 3: * Brook Buck (ND) def. Dunja Antunovic (D) 6-2, 6-1No. 4: Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. Anja Mihaldinec (D) 6-1, 6-2No. 5: Kristina Stastny (ND) def. Bojana Murisic (D) 6-3, 6-2No. 6: Katie Potts (ND) def. Petra Rehusova (D) 6-1, 6-0Order of Finish: 1, 6, 3*, 5, 4, 2DoublesNo. 1: Csordas/Ganeva (D) def. #4 Thompson/Thompson (ND) 8-4No. 2: #39 Buck/Tefft (ND) def. Antunovic/Mihaldinec (D) 8-2No. 3: * Potts/Stastny (ND) def. Murisic/Rehusova (D) 8-3Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3** - indicates clinching victory