March 24, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Returning home after a four-match road trip, the 17th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team welcomes in Marquette for a BIG EAST showdown Sunday at noon (ET) at the Courtney Tennis Center. Weather permitting, this will be the first outdoor home match of the season for the Irish.
Notre Dame enters the matchup with an overall record of 12-5 after most recently falling at the hands of #20 Michigan, 5-2. Britney Sanders leads the Irish overall in singles, carrying a record of 14-3 on the dual season, while Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) and Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) represent the lone Irish players in the singles rankings at 49th and 84th, respectively.
Frilling and Mathews continue to represent the top doubles team in the nation heading into the weekend, while Sanders and Julie Sabacinski (Plantation, Fla.) have put together an 8-2 record at the No. 2 court since joining forces. Jennifer Kellner (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa) also hold an impressive 12-4 record at the No. 3 court and have won four consecutive matches.
Marquette enters the match with a record of 8-5 on the season. Most recently, the Golden Eagles posted a 5-2 victory over Illinois State Friday. No members of the squad find themselves ranked in either the singles or doubles polls, but Olga Fischer leads the way in the singles lineup with a 6-3 record at No. 1 and Fischer and Gillian Hush carry an 8-6 record at No. 1 doubles.
Notre Dame and Marquette have met 16 times in years past, with the Irish holding a commanding 15-1 advantage in the series. Including a 4-0 victory in the two teams’ last meeting in the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament, the Irish have won 11 consecutive matchups against the Golden Eagles and have dropped only four total points in that span.
Live scoring of the match as well as a post-match recap will be provided via UND.com.
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