Oct. 1, 1999
The Notre Dame men?s and women?s tennis teams beat Illinois 30-12 in the first round of the WingspanBank.com/WORLD TEAM TENNIS National Collegiate Championships on Friday at Stanford University. The team of Michelle Dasso, Trent Miller, Ryan Sachire and Kelly Zalinski swept all five sets of men?s and women?s singles and doubles and mixed doubles for the cumulative score of 30-12. The Irish, who received an automatic bid into the event as the top combined team in the Midwest, advance in the 16-team field and will face South Carolina, 27-25 winners over Fresno State, on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. PDT for a spot in the semifinals later in the day.
Other winners in the first round include top-seeded Duke, who beat Princeton 23-21 after trailing 17-19 after four sets, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, second-seeded Mississippi and Texas A&M, which upset third-seeded and host Stanford 25-23.
Dasso, ranked seventh in singles and 21st in doubles in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason rankings, led the Irish with wins in all three of the set she played. She and Zalinski started off the match with a 6-4 win over Carla Rosenberg and Brooke Ferney in women?s doubles. Sachire, ranked second in singles, then beat Royce Ramey 6-3 in men?s singles for a 12-7 Irish lead.
The 25th-ranked doubles team of Sachire and Miller beat Ramey and Matt Snyder 6-2 in men?s doubles as Notre Dame stretched its lead to 18-9. Dasso gave Notre Dame a commanding 24-9 lead when she won 6-0 at women?s singles. She went ahead 4-0 over Ferney before Rosenberg subbed in the set and lost the last two games. Dasso?s 6-0 win was the only shutout of 40 sets played in the eight first-round matches. She then teamed with Miller in mixed doubles for a 6-3 win to complete the 30-12 victory.
Notre Dame 30, Illinois 12
Women?s doubles: Michelle Dasso/Kelly Zalinski (ND) def. Carla Rosenberg/Brooke Ferney (I) 6-4 (6-4)
Men?s singles: Ryan Sachire (ND) def. Royce Ramey (I), 6-3 (12-7)
Men?s doubles: Trent Miller/Sachire (ND) def. Ramey/Matt Snyder (I) 6-2 (18-9)
Women?s Singles: Dasso (ND) def. Ferney/Rosenberg sub for Ferney at 0-4 (I) 6-0 (24-9)
Mixed doubles: Dasso/Miller (ND) def. Snyder/Ferney (I) 6-3 (30-12)