Oct. 23, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Notre Dame women’s team placed three players in the round of 16 at the 2011 ITA Midwest Regionals on Saturday at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center. In addition, two Irish doubles teams made their way into the quarterfinals of the doubles draw.
Seniors Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) and Shannon Mathews (ND), the singles draw No. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, made short work of their opponents in the singles round of 32 to advance to the final 16. Frilling took down Michigan Michelle Sulahian, 6-4, 6-2, while Mathews knocked off Ohio State’s Fidan Manashirova, 6-2, 6-3, to advance. Frilling now faces Marisa Lambropoulos of Illinois, while Mathews moves on to play Kara Cecil of Ohio State.
Sophomore Britney Sanders (Ontario, Calif.) represents the third Irish player in the round of 16 after she turned in a dominant 6-2, 6-1 performance over Western Michigan’s Nina Sujashvilli in her round of 32 matchup. Sanders now faces Kate Turvy of Northwestern in the round of 16.
Two additional Irish players took to the court in the round of 32, but failed to advance. Sophomore Jennifer Kellner (Smithtown, N.Y.) dropped a hard-fought three-set decision to Patricia Fargas of DePaul (6-2, 3-6, 6-2), while freshman Katherine White (Columbus, Ga.) was unable to get past Michigan’s Emina Bektas (6-3, 6-2). White did win one singles match Saturday, however, defeating Ohio State’s Tiffany Dittmer in the round of 48, 6-3, 6-2.
Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa) and Julie Sabacinski (Plantation, Fla.) both saw their singles draw come to an end in the round of 48. McGaffigan fell in three sets to Toledo’s Chrissy Coffman (6-3, 5-7, 6-2), while Sabacinski dropped her contest with Ohio State’s Cecil (6-4, 6-3).
In doubles action, both Irish teams that remained in the draw in the round of 16 notched victories to continue their quest into the quarterfinals. Frilling and Mathews, the draws overall No. 2 seed, put together an 8-5 victory over Trgovich and Stracar of Wisconsin. The Irish duo now faces Wowchuck and Niu of Northwestern, who advanced 8-3 over Haviland and Malley of Ohio State.
The other Irish pairing of McGaffigan and Kellner also advanced by a score of 8-5, taking down Toledo’s pairing of Harutyunyan and Pantusart of Akron. They will also face a Northwestern duo in the quarterfinals as they square off with the brackets No. 1 seeded team of Mushrefova and Hamilton, who advanced with an 8-6 victory over Westerink and Mebuke of Eastern Michigan.
Two rounds of main doubles draw action is set to be played on Sunday, while one round of main draw singles action will take place. 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
Saturday's Notre Dame Results:
Main Singles Draw - Round of 48Katherine White (ND) def. Tiffany Dittmer (OSU) 6-3, 6-2Chrissy Coffman (TOL) def. Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2Kara Cecil (OSU) def. Julie Sabacinski (ND) 6-4, 6-3
Main Singles Draw - Round of 32Kristy Frilling (ND) def. Michelle Sulahian (MICH) 6-4, 6-2Shannon Mathews (ND) def. Fidan Manashirova (OSU) 6-2, 6-3Britney Sanders (ND) def. Nina Sujashvilli (WMU) 6-2, 6-1Patricia Fargas (DPU) def. Jennifer Kellner (ND) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2Emina Bektas (MICH) def. Katherine White (ND 6-3, 6-2
Main Doubles Draw - Round of 16Frilling/Mathews (ND) def. Trgovich/Stracar (WIS) 8-5McGaffigan/Kellner (ND) def. Harutyunyan/Pantusart (AKRON) 8-5
Consolation Singles DrawNida Hamilton (NWU) def. Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) 6-2, 6-1Anna Livadaru (NWU) def. Julie Sabacinski (ND) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
Consolation Doubles DrawSanders/White (ND) def. Remynse/Sujashvilli (WMU) 8-3McKnight/Lawson (DPU) def. Sabacinski/Manningham (ND) 9-7
Sunday's Notre Dame Matches:
Main Singles Draw - Round of 16Kristy Frilling (ND) vs. Marisa Lambropoulos (ILL)Shannon Mathews (ND) vs. Kara Cecil (OSU)Britney Sanders (ND) vs. Kate Turvy (NWU)
Main Doubles Draw - QuarterfinalsFrilling/Mathews (ND) vs. Wowchuck/Niu (NWU)McGaffigan/Kellner (ND) vs. Mushrefova/Hamilton (NWU)
–ND–