April 23, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The top-seeded Irish women’s tennis team cruised to the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship Friday with a 4-0 sweep of West Virginia at Courtney Tennis Center.
Notre Dame earned its 20th win of the season and continued its undefeated streak in the early rounds of the conference tournament. The Irish are undefeated in 24 early rounds of competition (first round through semifinals) and have recorded shutouts in 23 of those matches.
Notre Dame will play the winner of the Marquette-Syracuse match at 9:00 a.m. Saturday at Courtney Tennis Center.
The Irish took advantage early, taking a 1-0 lead after clinching the doubles point. The third-ranked duo of Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio/Lehman & Abeka) and Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, Kan.) won their 19th straight match with an 8-0 victory over Stephanie LaFortune and Monique Burton, 8-0, at No.1 doubles. Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, Calif./Troy) and Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich./Cranbrook-Kingswood) earned their seventh win of the season as they clinched the doubles point for the Irish with an 8-0 win over Veronica Cardenas and Emliy Mathis at second doubles.
Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa/Bettendorf) and Kristen Rafael (Grand Prairie, Texas/Nolan Catholic) led Ashley Pilsbury and Liv Pettersson, 6-1, at third doubles when the point was clinched.
Ciobanu gave the Irish a 2-0 lead as she snagged her 20th win of the season with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Kathryn Haught at fourth singles. Mathews topped Cardenas, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 2 singles to improve to 13-10 and put Notre Dame up 3-0. Krisik cruised past Pilsbury, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 5 singles to move to 14-4 on the year and clinch the win for the Irish.
At No. 1 singles, No. 16 Frilling led Burton, 6-2, 5-0, when the match was clinched. No. 112 McGaffigan was trailing Mathis, 0-1, in the second set after taking the first, 6-3, at third singles, and Rafael led Pettersson, 6-2, 1-0, at No. 6 singles when the match was called.
BIG EAST Quarterfinals
Notre Dame 4, West Virginia 0
Singles
1. #16 Kristy Frilling (ND) vs. Monique Burton (WVU) 6-2, 5-0, unf.
2. Shannon Mathews (ND) def. Veronica Cardenas, 6-1, 6-0
3. #112 Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) vs. Emily Mathis 6-3, 0-1, unf.
4. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) def. Kathryn Haught (WVU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Kali Krisik (ND) def. Ashley Pilsbury (WVU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Kristen Rafael (ND) vs. Liv Pettersson (WVU) 6-2, 1-0, unf. Order of finish: 4,2,5
Doubles
1. #3 Frilling/Krisik (ND) def. LaFortune/Burton (WVU) 8-2
2. Ciobanu/Mathews (ND) def. Cardenas/Mathis (WVU) 8-0
3. McGaffigan/Rafael (ND) vs. Pilsbury/Pettersson (WVU) 6-1, unf.
Order of finish: 1,2
–ND–