Oct. 23, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – University of Notre Dame women’s tennis senior co-captains Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) and Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) punched their ticket Sunday to the championship of the ITA Midwest Regionals doubles draw, which will take place Monday at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center. The Irish duo recorded a pair of victories on the day to put them in the title matchup.
After opening up with a decisive 8-1 opening match against Belinda Niu and Brittany Wowchuk of Northwestern, Frilling and Mathews found themselves in a semifinal matchup against Rachel White and Melissa Kopinski of Illinois. The Irish tandem jumped out to a quick 4-1 advantage in their semifinal tilt but saw the Illinois team win the next two games to close the margin to one game. Frilling and Mathews were undeterred, however, claiming four of the next five games to pull away for an 8-4 victory.
Junior Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa) and sophomore Jennifer Kellner (Smithtown, N.Y.) were not as fortunate in their quarterfinal matchup, running into the No. 1 seeded pairing of Linda Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton of Northwestern. The Wildcat pairing looked to be running away to an easy victory, leading the Notre Dame team 7-2. The Irish, however, fought to the very last game, winning four consecutive to bring the score to 7-6 but could not win the next, losing a close 8-6 contest. Mushrefova and Hamilton went on to win their semifinal match and will be Frilling and Mathews’ opposition in the championship match.
Both Frilling and Mathews’ days did not end with doubles, however, as they each recorded a singles victory to move into the quarterfinals of that draw. Frilling posted a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Marisa Lambropoulos of Illinois, while Mathews dropped only one game in her round of 16 matchup, disposing of Ohio State’s Kara Cecil, 6-1, 6-0. Frilling now squares off against Northwestern’s Brittany Wowchuk and Mathews will compete against Emina Bektas of Michigan.
Irish sophomore Britney Sanders (Ontario, Calif.) also took to the court in a round of 16 contest, falling to Turvy in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1. After jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, Sanders was unable to hold off Turvy, who battled back to win six of the next seven games to claim the first set before pulling away in the second set.
The doubles championship match is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. (ET) with the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of singles play being played shortly thereafter. For continued updates of in-progress matches please visit the Midwest Regional Tournament Central page at www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ot/tennis-2011-ita-midwest.html and be sure to continue to check back with und.com for daily recaps of all the Irish matches and results.
2011 ITA Midwest Regional - Columbus, Ohio
Sunday's Notre Dame Results
Main Singles Draw - Round of 16Kristy Frilling (ND) def. Marisa Lambropoulos (ILL) 6-2, 6-3Shannon Mathews (ND) def. Kara Cecil (OSU) 6-1, 6-0Kate Turvy (NWU) def. Britney Sanders (ND) 7-5, 6-1
Main Doubles Draw - QuarterfinalsFrilling/Mathews (ND) def. Niu/Wowchuk (NWU) 8-1Mushrefova/Hamilton (NWU) def. McGaffigan/Kellner (ND) 8-6
Main Doubles Draw - SemifinalsFrilling/Mathews (ND) def. White/Kopinski (ILL) 8-4
Monday's Notre Dame Scheduled Matches
Main Doubles Draw - ChampionshipFrilling/Mathews (ND) vs. Mushrefova/Hamilton (NWU)
Main Singles Draw - QuarterfinalsKristy Frilling (ND) vs. Brittany Wowchuk (NWU)Shannon Mathews (ND) vs. Emina Bektas (MICH)
–ND–