May 1, 2004
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The top-seeded and 28th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team (11-11) saved five championship points and was in a position to stage a comeback victory before the second seed, #26 Miami (17-3), clinched a 4-0 victory Saturday morning in the title match of the BIG EAST Championship at the Neil Schiff Tennis Complex, the Hurricanes’ home courts. The Irish and Miami were playing for the league title for the ninth consecutive year, and the ‘Canes prevailed for the fourth time.
Despite trailing 3-0, Notre Dame, which beat the Hurricanes 5-2 during the regular season, had an opportunity to rally for the victory, as it had won the first set in two of the matches on the court, and appeared to be on the verge of forcing third sets in the other contests. Freshman Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.) ignited the Irish comeback by saving four championship points to force a third set in her match at No. 2 against Miami’s Melissa Applebaum. After the Hurricane took the first set, Thompson gained an early break and sprinted out to a 3-1 advantage in the second. Applebaum then won four consecutive games to lead 5-3. She had three team match points on Thompson’s ensuing service game, but could not convert any of them. After the Irish freshman held serve, Applebaum served for the match and again had a championship point, at 40-30, but Thompson stepped inside the baseline and sent a hard forehand crosscourt for a winner. She proceeded to break Applebaum, who could not convert on a number of match points in losing in three sets in last year’s 4-3 loss to Notre Dame in the BIG EAST title match. Thompson won the second set 7-5 and was leading 2-1 in the third when Miami clinched the team match.
Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman H.S.), Christian’s twin sister, appeared to be ready to follow suit in forcing a third set after dropping the first in her match against Mari Toro, the 2002 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player, at No. 3. Thompson broke serve in the ninth game and served for the set at 5-4, but Toro broke back and then held serve to go up 6-5. Thompson’s attempt to serve her way into a tiebreaker eventually proved unsuccessful, but not before she supplemented her sister’s heroics by saving a championship point of her own with a big serve. On the following point, a Thompson backhand landed wide, and the hometown crowd celebrated Toro’s 6-4, 7-5 win to clinch the title. Toro, who topped Thompson in straight sets in the regular season after losing to her last fall, improved to 19-8 this season, including 14-4 in dual matches.
One of the remaining matches was in a third set, and the other appeared headed for one. At No. 5, junior Sarah Jane Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.) won the first set 6-4 and was up two service breaks at 4-0 in the second before Miami’s Sara Robbins staged a comeback. The Hurricane won nine of the next 10 games, taking the second set 7-5 and winning the opening two game of the decisive frame before the match was abandoned.
Sophomore Lauren Connelly (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness H.S.), Sarah Jane’s sister, also won the opening set in her match (7-5), but Miami’s Staci Stevens was serving for the second set at 5-4 when the team decision was clinched.
The doubles point came down to the No. 1 match, which was the last left on the court. The nation’s 36th-ranked team, Applebaum and Megan Bradley, broke serve at 6-6 and then held for an 8-6 triumph over the 50th-ranked Thompson twins, avenging a defeat in last month’s regular-season match by the same score. Bradley and Applebaum are 16-5 this season, including 15-4 in dual matches.
Lauren Connelly and senior co-captain Alicia Salas (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek H.S.) provided the lone Irish victory of the day, beating Robbins and Stevens 8-6 at No. 2. The Irish duo, who won by the same score in the regular season, has won seven matches in a row and is 22-7, including 16-5 in dual matches.
The Irish also had chances to win at No. 3 doubles, which finished first. Sarah Jane Connelly and senior Emily Neighbours (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor School) got a service break in the seventh game and led 6-5 before Toro and Audrey Banada broke serve, held, and broke again to post an 8-6 win and give Miami a leg up in securing the first point.
Notre Dame went on to lose after dropping the doubles point for the 11th consecutive time, including on eight occasions in 2004.
Bradley, the fourth-ranked player in college tennis, delivered a dominating performance against #23 Salas, winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 to put Miami up 2-0. In taking on a pair of ranked players (#110 Szilvia Szegedi of Boston College on Friday), Bradley dropped just two games in four sets in the BIG EAST tournament and figures to be a favorite to repeat as the event’s Most Outstanding Player. Her win over Salas was the 15th in a row for Bradley, who is 30-4 on the season, including 19-1 in dual matches. It took three sets for her to beat the Irish senior during the regular season.
Banada moved Miami within a point of victory by downing sophomore Kristina Stastny (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph’s Academy) 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5. Banada is 27-2 on the season and 18-1 in dual matches, but her loss was a three-set decision against Stastny last month.
Notre Dame still leads the all-time series with Miami 10-5, including 5-4 in BIG EAST finals. The teams may not meet again for some time, with the Hurricanes’ departure to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season and no plans to continue the regular-season series.
With the victory, the Hurricanes gained the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship, slated to begin with first- and second-round action on campus sites May 14-16. Notre Dame will be forced wait for the announcement of the NCAA field, set for a selection show to be televised by ESPNews on May 5 between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. (EST). The Irish have gained entrance to eight straight NCAA tournaments and 10 of the last 11 and will be seeking one of the at-large bids to this year’s event.
[2] #26 Miami 4, [1] #28 Notre Dame 0
Singles
No. 1 #4 Megan Bradley (M) d. #23 Alicia Salas (ND) 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 Christian Thompson (ND) led Melissa Applebaum (M) 2-6, 7-5, 2-1, abandoned
No. 3 *Mari Toro (M) d. Catrina Thompson (ND) 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 Lauren Connelly (ND) led Staci Stevens (M) 7-5, 4-5, abandoned
No. 5 Audrey Banada (M) d. Kristina Stastny (ND) 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 Sara Robbins (M) led Sarah Jane Connelly (ND) 4-6, 7-5, 2-0, abandoned
Order of finish: 1, 5, 3*
Doubles
No. 1 !#36 Applebaum/Bradley (M) d. #50 Thompson/Thompson (ND) 8-6
No. 2 L. Connelly/Salas (ND) d. Robbins/Stevens (M) 8-6
No. 3 Banada/Toro (M) d. S.J. Connelly/Emily Neighbours (ND) d. 8-6
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1!