March 3, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 2 Notre Dame women’s tennis team completed its weekend sweep of No. 23 Texas A&M and No. 19 Texas with a 7-0 rout of the Longhorns inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion on Saturday. The Irish, who defeated the Aggies 5-2 on Friday night, improve to 12-1 this season, while Texas drops to 5-3. Notre Dame has now blanked the Longhorns, 7-0, each of the last two seasons.
Notre Dame extended its school-record winning streak in home dual matches to 27. The winning streak dates back to Feb. 26, 2005. The Irish also improved to 9-1 this season against teams ranked in the top 25.
After the Irish took the doubles point, sophomore Kelcy Tefft (Enid, OK) pushed the Notre Dame advantage to 2-0 with her 6-3, 6-2 straight-set victory over Sarah Lancaster at No. 4. Tefft, who lost in straight sets last night against Texas A&M, cruised to her 13th victory of the season (13-5). She also upper her record in dual matches to 8-2.
Freshman #73 Colleen Rielley (Overland Park, KS) quickly increased the Irish lead to 3-0 at No. 3. Rielley rallied past Petra Dizdar in the opening set, 7-5, before cruising in the second set, 6-2. She has now captured five consecutive matches and improved to 18-9 overall and 7-6 in dual matches. Rielley is 5-0 since her move down into the No. 3 spot in the lineup from No. 2.
Senior #16 Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) clinched the victory for Notre Dame at No. 1. She upended #87 Vanja Corovic in straight sets, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Thompson has now registered three match-clinching victories this year. She improved to 15-6 overall and 10-3 in dual matches. Thompson also picked up her 88th career singles victory. She ranks 17th all-time at Notre Dame and trails Christy Faustmann (1991-94) for 16th by just three wins.
Senior Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) made the score, 5-0, in favor of the Irish with her three-set victory over #100 Courtney Zauft. Thompson took the first set in a heartbeat, 6-1, but Zauft evened the match at one set apiece with an equally quick, 6-2, win in the second set. Thompson jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set, before Zauft climbed within a game, 4-3, but Thompson took the next two games to secure the match. She now stands 11-8 overall and 8-4 in dual matches.
Junior Brook Buck (Yukon, OK) gave Notre Dame a 6-0 lead with her three-set victory over Ristine Olson at No. 6. Buck soared past Olson, 6-2, in the opening set only to drop the second set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (4). Buck then trailed 5-2 in the third and deciding set, but rallied for a 7-5 victory. Buck improved to 11-5 overall and 8-1 in dual matches.
In a match that lasted nearly three hours, freshman Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, CA) survived a pair of tiebreakers in a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) victory over Stephanie Davison at No. 5 to round out the scoring. Ciobanu improved to 23-4 overall and remains undefeated at 13-0 in dual matches. Each of her 23 victories this season has come in straight sets.
Notre Dame grabbed the all-important doubles point from Texas, but the Longhorns stiffly pushed the Irish at No. 1 and No. 3. Buck and Tefft opened doubles action with a convincing, 8-2, victory over Lancaster and Zauft at No. 2. The Irish duo raced out to a 4-1 lead and never looked back. Buck and Tefft rebounded from yesterday’s upset defeat against Texas A&M and improved to 18-5 overall and 10-2 in dual matches.
The Thompson twins followed the victory by Buck and Tefft with a win at No. 1 doubles. They outlasted Dizdar and Olson, 8-6. The Thompsons rallied from a pair of deficits (2-1 and 5-4) for their 17th victory of the season (17-5). They have won four consecutive matches and improved to 9-2 in dual action. The Thompsons also upped their career record to 89-36 overall and 59-22 in dual matches.
With the doubles point already decided, Ciobanu and freshman Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, KS) were not able to survive a marathon match with Corovic and Marija Milic at No. 3. The match lasted over an hour and 30 minutes and the Longhorn tandem walked away with an 8-7 (4) victory in a tiebreaker. Ciobanu and Krisik saw their six-match winning streak come to an end. They dropped to 16-4 overall and 10-3 in dual matches.
The Irish have now captured the doubles point in 11 of their 13 matches this season and 39 of their last 42 matches overall. They improve to 11-0 when winning the doubles point this season.
With the victory, Notre Dame improves its all-time record against the Texas to 4-8. The Irish also improve to 31-15 all-time against current members of the Big 12.
The Irish return to action one week from today on Saturday, March 10 against BYU in Provo, Utah. First-serve is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (MT). Notre Dame has won seven of the last eight meetings with the Cougars and leads the all-time series, 9-4.
#2 NOTRE DAME 7, #19 TEXAS 0
Singles
*1. #16 Catrina Thompson (ND) def. #87 Vanja Corovic (UT); 7-6 (3), 6-4
2. Christian Thompson (ND) def. #100 Courtney Zauft (UT); 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
3. #73 Colleen Rielley (ND) def. Petra Dizdar (UT); 7-5, 6-2
4. Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. Sarah Lancaster (UT); 6-3, 6-2
5. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) def. Stephanie Davison (UT); 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5)
6. Brook Buck (ND) def. Ristine Olson (UT); 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-5
Order of finish: 4,3,1,2,6,5
* clinching point
Doubles
*1. #5 Thompson/Thompson (ND) def. Dizdar/Olson (UT); 8-6
2. #15 Buck/Tefft (ND) def. Lancaster/Zauft (UT); 8-2
3. Corovic/Marija Milic (UT) def. Ciobanu/Kali Krisik (ND); 8-7 (4)
Order of finish: 2,1,3
* clinching point
— ND —