Jan. 23, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The sixth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores (4-0) saved seven match points en route to winning the doubles point and then used three tiebreaker victories to spur them to a 6-1 triumph over the 21st-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team (1-1) Sunday afternoon in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish, who got their lone point from junior Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) at No. 4 singles, will continue a stretch of three matches against top-30 foes in eight days by playing host to #20 Michigan on Wednesday at 4 p.m. (EST).
The doubles point proved to be a turning point in the match. It came down to the No. 2 contest between Vanderbilt’s 20th-ranked team of Amanda Fish and Taka Bertrand and the Irish duo of Connelly and freshman Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School). The teams traded breaks in the fourth and fifth games of the match, but most of the contest saw the squads on serve. With VU serving at 7-6, the Notre Dame team nearly broke serve to win. Connelly and Buck first had a match point at 30-40, but a furious flurry of volleys ended in one off Connelly’s racket finding the net. She quickly atoned for the miscue, stepping back and angling a backhand return winner crosscourt on the ensuing point to give the Irish a second match point. This time it was a Buck backhand down the line that missed by just inches and forced another deuce. Bertrand and Fish, who are now 8-3 on the season and unbeaten in six matches against unranked opponents, fought to a hold of serve and then played a strong return game – punctuated by a net-cord winner on break point – to take an 8-7 advantage. A solid service game then delivered a 9-7 victory for the Commodores and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Notre Dame sophomore twins Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), the #2-ranked doubles team in college tennis, prevailed in a hard-fought match at No. 1, eventually claiming an 8-6 victory against Audra Falk and Annie Menees, ranked 35th in the nation. Like in the No. 2 match, the Irish had a number of chances to end the contest with Vanderbilt serving and down 7-6. The Thompsons won the first three points of the game to take a Love-40 lead and garner three match points. But Falk and Menees would not go easily, as they won the next three points and then saved two more match points before the Notre Dame twins could finish the contest. The Thompsons are now 10-2 on the season, including 7-1 against nationally-ranked opponents.
Vanderbilt, which finished last season ranked #2 in the nation after losing to eventual national champion Stanford in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship, got a quick victory at No. 3, where freshmen Caroline Ferrell and Amanda Taylor won 8-0 against senior captain Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) and junior Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy).
For the second day in a row, Lauren Connelly was victorious in a match tiebreaker at No. 4 singles, this time winning nine straight points after being down 6-1 in the tiebreaker to top Menees 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-6). The Vanderbilt senior had been 10-3 on the season, while Connelly improved to 12-2. She is now 3-0 in match tiebreakers this season after winning just twice in seven chances during the first two years of her collegiate career. The Notre Dame junior has now won seven straight singles matches in the Eck Tennis Pavilion, and she boasts a 20-9 career record in the facility. She also is 2-2 when dropping the opening set this season after rallying from a one-set deficit to win just twice in 27 chances during her first two seasons.
Falk, ranked 38th in the nation, was first off the court in singles, as she defeated 69th-ranked Catrina Thompson 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1. It was just the second defeat of the season for the Irish sophomore, and both have come against top-50 opponents. Bertrand then won a battle of talented rookies at No. 2, upsetting 85th-ranked Buck 6-4, 6-2 to put the Dores within a point of victory. Taylor clinched the Vanderbilt triumph – the 13th in a row in regular-season action for the Commodores – with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Stastny at No. 5.
The other three matches were closely contested. After Connelly got the Irish on the board, 116th-ranked Fish completed a comeback to defeat Christian Thompson 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 at No. 3. In the final match remaining, Ferrell eventually fought off junior Liz Donohue (Sioux Falls, S.D./O’Gorman H.S.), winning 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 at No. 6.
The match was the first-ever visit by Vanderbilt to Notre Dame for women’s tennis competition. It also was a battle of top-25 teams, making 2004-05 the 15th consecutive season that the Irish have taken part in at least one of those tussles.
#6 Vanderbilt Commodores 6, #21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 1
Singles
No. 1: #38 Audra Falk (VU) def. #69 Catrina Thompson (ND) 6-2, 6-0
No. 2: Taka Bertrand (VU) def. #85 Brook Buck (ND) 6-4, 6-2
No. 3: #116 Amanda Fish (VU) def. Christian Thompson (ND) 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
No. 4: Lauren Connelly (ND) def. Annie Menees (VU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)
No. 5: *Amanda Taylor (VU) def. Kristina Stastny (ND) 6-4, 6-3
No. 6: Caroline Ferrell (VU) def. Liz Donohue (ND) 7-6 (9-7), 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 5*, 4, 3, 6
Doubles
No. 1: #2 Thompson/Thompson (ND) def. #35 Falk/Menees (VU) 8-6
No. 2: *#20 Bertrand/Fish (VU) def. Buck/L. Connelly (ND) 9-7
No. 3: Ferrell/Taylor (VU) def. Sarah Jane Connelly/Stastny (ND) 8-0
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*