Oct. 24, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – University of Notre Dame senior tennis players Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) and Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) captured the 2011 ITA Midwest Regional doubles championship on Monday, dispatching of Northwestern’s Nida Hamilton and Linda Abu Mushrefova, 8-2, at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Courts.
By securing the Midwest Regional doubles title, Frilling and Mathews earn automatic qualification into the ITA National Individual Indoor Championship taking place Nov. 3-6 in New York, N.Y. It will mark Frilling’s third appearance at the Indoor Championships, while Mathews will be making her first appearance.
After jumping out to a quick 4-1 advantage, Frilling and Mathews continued to put distance between them and the top-seeded Wildcat tandem, winning four of the next five games to secure the convincing victory, 8-2. Over the course of the event, the Irish pairing put together five victories, including dropping only seven total games from the quarterfinals through the championship match. In addition, Frilling and Mathews become the first Irish duo to win the ITA Midwest Regional doubles title since Frilling and current Irish assistant coach Kelcy Tefft brought home the hardware in 2008.
Upon conclusion of the doubles championship, Frilling and Mathews both turned their attention to the singles quarterfinals. Both Irish players entered the singles matchups as the only two to have played in both the singles and doubles draw on Monday. Frilling ran into Northwestern’s Brittany Wowchuk in her quarterfinal matchup and immediately jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Frilling, however, could not keep the momentum going as she dropped the next five games to lose the first set, 6-4, before falling in the second set by an identical 6-4 tally.
Mathews, meanwhile, faced Michigan’s Emina Bektas in her quarterfinal match. The Wolverine freshman proved too much for Mathews in the contest, putting together a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
With the Irish having now completed play at the 2011 ITA Midwest Regional, Frilling and Mathews will enjoy a short break in competitive action until heading to the National Individual Indoor, while the remainder of the Notre Dame roster will prepare to play host to the Eck Tennis Classic (Nov. 4-6) over that same time.
2011 ITA Midwest Regional - Columbus, Ohio
Monday's Notre Dame Results:
Main Doubles Draw - Championship Match#5 Frilling/Mathews (ND) def. #3 Hamilton/Abu Mushrefova (NWU) 8-2
Main Singles Draw - QuarterfinalsBrittany Wowchuk (NWU) def. Kristy Frilling (ND) 6-4, 6-4Emina Bektas (MICH) def. Shannon Mathews (ND) 6-3, 6-4
–ND–