Nov. 4, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s tennis players Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) and Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) moved one step closer to claiming the ITA National Individual Indoor on Friday, advancing to the semifinals of the event hosted at the USTA-Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
The Irish duo battled with Duke’s Beatrice Capra and Ester Goldfield in quarterfinal action. After the two teams played toe-to-toe through the first 11 games that saw the Irish hold a 6-5 advantage, Frilling and Mathews proceeded to claim each of the next two games to put the Blue Devil tandem away, 8-5. The Irish pair will now face top-seeded Mallory Burdette and Nicole Gibbs of Stanford in the semifinals on Saturday. Frilling and Mathews reaching the semifinals marks the first time a Notre Dame doubles team has reached this point in the event since ’08 when Frilling and now-assistant coach Kelcy Tefft advanced to the championship match.
Frilling later competed in the main singles consolation bracket against UNLV’s Aleksandra Josifoska. The match would not go Frilling’s way, as she fell to Josifoska in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
The remainder of the Irish roster, meanwhile, stayed home to begin play at the Eck Classic. On the day, the squad recorded seven victories between singles and doubles competition, mainly against member of Wake Forest. Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa) got the day started for the Irish, knocking off Nicole Long of Oklahoma in singles action, 6-4, 6-3.
In the afternoon session, Notre Dame posted victories in four of their five matches against the Demon Deacons. Julie Sabacinski (Plantation, Fla.) battled from a slight deficit in the first set against Rebecca Siegler to capture it 7-5 before reeling off six consecutive games to win the second set 6-0 and claim the match. Jennifer Kellner (Smithtown, N.Y.) was next to finish, taking down Ryann Cutillo in a 6-3, 6-4 decision.
Britney Sanders (Ontario, Calif.) and Katherine White (Columbus, Ga.) each earned three-set victories, as they took down Zane Zarina and Karen Forman, respectively. After dropping the first set, Sanders claimed each of the final two sets for her win, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. White, meanwhile, took the first set down before Forman countered with the second to even the match. The decisive third set would go the way of White, however, as she closed out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win.
The lone loss of the day in singles came as JoHanna Manningham dropped her match against Brigita Bercyte, 6-4, 6-4. Despite the loss, Manningham scrapped until the end as, trailing 5-0 in the second set, she pulled out four-straight games before losing the deciding game.
In doubles action, the Irish posted a pair of impressive decisions as McGaffigan and Kellner took down Forman and Bercyte and Sanders and White defeated Cutillo and Zarina by identical 8-1 counts. Sabacinski and Manningham fell to Oklahoma’s tandem of Wofford and Lancaster, 8-3, for the lone doubles loss on the opening day.
Frilling and Mathews square off with Burdette and Gibbs Saturday at 9:30 a.m. (ET), while the Eck Classic resumes play at 10:00 a.m. Be sure to check back with und.com for continued recaps of the Irish over the weekend and for updates of this weekends Eck Classic matches follow @NDSIDBrent on twitter.
ITA National Individual Indoor:
Doubles Main Draw:#5 Frilling/Mathews (ND) def. Capra/Goldfield (DUKE) 8-5
Singles Consolation Draw:Aleksandra Josifoska def. #3 Kristy Frilling (ND) 6-4, 6-4
Eck Tennis Classic:
Singles:Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) def. Nicole Long (OU) 6-4, 6-3Jennifer Kellner (ND) def. Ryann Cutillo (WF) 6-3, 6-4Britney Sanders (ND) def. Zane Zarina (WF) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3Katherine White (ND) def. Karen Forman (WF) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3Julie Sabacinski (ND) def. Rebecca Siegler (WF) 7-5, 6-0Brigita Bercyte (WF) def. JoHanna Manningham (ND) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles:McGaffigan/Kellner (ND) def. Forman/Bercyte (WF) 8-1Sanders/White (ND) def. Cutillo/Zarina (WF) 8-1Wofford/Lancaster (OU) def. Manningham/Sabacinski (ND) 8-3
–ND–