March 10, 2007
PROVO, Utah – The No. 2 Notre Dame women’s tennis team knocked off No. 29 BYU, 5-2, Saturday afternoon. The Irish improved to 13-1 on the season with their eighth consecutive victory, while BYU dropped to 8-5.
After Notre Dame dropped the doubles point, the Irish took five of six singles matches — all in straight sets — to race past BYU.
Sophomore Kelcy Tefft (Enid, OK) quickly tied the match, 1-1, with her 6-0, 6-1 victory over Chie Hayasaka at No. 4. Tefft improved to 14-5 overall and 9-2 in dual matches.
#27 Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) gave Notre Dame a lead it would never relinquish. Thompson upended Lauren Jones at No. 1, 6-2, 6-1. She improved to 16-6 overall and 11-3 in dual action.
Freshman Colleen Rielley (Overland Park, KS) registered the third straight singles victory for the Irish. Rielley defeated Kristina Doerr 6-4, 6-3. She has won six consecutive matches overall and improved to 19-9 overall and 8-6 in dual action. Rielley is 6-0 since her move down into the No. 3 spot in the Irish lineup.
After the Cougars cut the Notre Dame lead to 3-2, junior Brook Buck (Yukon, OK) clinched the victory for the Irish. Buck cruised past Dolly Chang 6-4, 6-1. She now stands 12-5 overall and 9-1 in dual matches.
Freshman #31 Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, CA) extended her dual match winning streak to 14 (14-0). Ciobanu, who remains the only Irish player undefeated in dual action, held off Sofia Holden 6-4, 7-5 to register her team-high 24th (24-4) victory of the season. Amazingly, all 24 of Ciobanu’s victories have come in straight sets.
The Irish return to action on Thursday, March 15 against Duke in San Diego, California. First-serve is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. (PT).
#2 NOTRE DAME 5, #29 BYU 2
Doubles
1. Anastasia Surkova/Jenny Miccoli (BYU) def. No. 5 Catrina Thompson/Christian Thompson (ND) 8-3
2. No. 24 Brook Buck/Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. Lauren Jones/Sofia Holden (BYU) 8-4
*3. Kristina Doerr/Dolly Chang (BYU) def. No. 52 Cosmina Ciobanu/Kali Krisik (ND) 8-4
Order of finish: 1,2,3
*clinches doubles point
Singles
1. No. 27 Ca. Thompson (ND) def. Jones (BYU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Surkova (BYU) def. No. 89 Ch. Thompson (ND) 6-3, 6-3
3. Colleen Rielley (ND) def. Doerr (BYU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Tefft (ND) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) 6-0, 6-1
5. No. 31 Ciobanu (ND) def. Holden (BYU) 6-4, 7-5
*6. Buck (ND) def. Chang (BYU) 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 4,1,3,2,6,5
* clinches win
— ND —