Oct. 24, 2005
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Notre Dame junior Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) saw her run in the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Championships come to an end in a three-set affair in the singles semifinals on Monday afternoon. She won a match in the morning to reach the final four, but then lost to Northwestern’s Alexis Prousis, finishing Irish action in the annual indoor tournament of the top players in the ITA’s Midwest Region.
Thompson, ranked 27th and the No. 2 seed in the draw, opened the day with a win over a new BIG EAST rival, beating Gergana Ganeva from DePaul 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. She then lost 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-4 against Prousis, seeded third and ranked 50th. The Wildcat junior continued to be a Notre Dame killer, improving to 7-0 in her career against Irish players. She has beaten Thompson three times, previously winning in straight sets in dual-match action twice in 2003-04. Prousis will take on her teammate, Cristelle Grier, in the singles final. That duo also paired together to win the doubles championship.
It was the second time in the last three years that Notre Dame has been represented in the singles semifinals of the tournament, as Alicia Salas lost in the title match in 2003. The Irish also were the only school with two teams in the doubles semifinals this season.
Notre Dame has one weekend of fall action left. Catrina and her twin sister, Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), will play in the second grand slam of the season, the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, set for Nov. 3-6 at The Ohio State University in Columbus. The rest of the Irish will take part in Midwest Blast VII at the University of Illinois in Urbana from Nov. 4-6.
Wilson/ITA Midwest Championships (October 24)Singles Main Draw[2] #27 Catrina Thompson (ND) def. Gergana Ganeva (DePaul) 6-2, 6-1 - quarterfinals[4] #50 Alexis Prousis (Northwestern) def. [2] #27 Catrina Thompson (ND) 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-4 - semifinals