Feb. 14, 2007
Coach Louderback on Inside ND Sports –
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 2 Notre Dame women’s tennis team cruised past No. 23 and previously undefeated Michigan, 6-1, Wednesday night in college tennis action from inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish improved to 7-1 on the season, while the Wolverines dropped to 3-1.
After winning the doubles point, junior Brook Buck (Yukon, OK) quickly gave the Irish a 2-0 advantage. Buck breezed past Tania Mahtani, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 5 singles. Buck improved to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in dual action. She has won four of her last five matches.
Michigan cut the Irish lead to 2-1 following Chisako Sugiyama’s victory over freshman #31 Colleen Rielley (Overland Park, KS) at No. 2. Sugiyama was victorious in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Rielley dropped to 13-9 overall and 2-6 in dual action following her fourth straight loss.
Notre Dame pushed its lead to 3-1 when senior #41 Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) cruised past #81 Jenny Kuehn, 6-3, 6-1. Thompson upper her overall record to 11-5 and improved to 6-2 in dual action with her third straight victory. Thompson now stands 84-45 for her career, including 52-26 in dual play. The 84 career victories rank 18th all-time in Notre Dame history.
Within seconds of Catrina Thompson’s win, freshman Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, CA) clinched the match for the Irish with another dominating straight-set win. Ciobanu hammered Elizabeth Exon, 6-0, 6-3, to improve to 18-4 overall and 8-0 in dual action. She remains the only Notre Dame player undefeated in dual play and leads the Irish in total victories. Ciobanu had registered three straight, 6-0, set victories, before dropping three points in the second set triumph.
Leading 4-1, Notre Dame put away any doubt with victories from senior Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) at No. 3 and sophomore Katie Potts (Brookfield, WI) at No. 6.
Thompson dropped her opening set to Kara Delicata, 7-5, but answered back with a convincing 6-2 win in the second set and captured the match with a 1-0 (10-6) victory in the third set tie-breaker. She evened her overall record at 7-7 and improved to 4-3 in dual action.
Potts had no trouble in her first set against Allie Shafner, winning 6-1, but trailed 4-1 in the second set. She slowly cut the deficit to 6-5, before winning the final two points, including a 7-1 edge in the second-set tiebreaker. Potts improved to 11-6 overall and 3-3 in dual play.
Notre Dame grabbed a 1-0 lead over the Wolverines following their sweep of all three doubles matches. The Irish have captured the doubles point in seven of their eight matches this season and 35 times in their last 37 matches when including 2006.
Notre Dame’s fifth-ranked tandem of Buck and sophomore Kelcy Tefft (Enid, OK) were the first Notre Dame duo to win their match. They took the first three points from Jenny Kuehn and Allie Shafner at No. 2 doubles. After the Wolverines drew within a point, 3-2, Buck and Tefft applied the pressure and extended the lead to 5-2 before running away with an 8-3 rout. They improved to 15-4 overall and 7-0 in dual action. Buck and Tefft, riding a seven-match winning streak, remain the only Irish doubles team undefeated to this point of the dual season.
The freshman tandem of Ciobanu and Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, KS) clinched the doubles point for the Irish with their victory at No. 3. They raced out to a 6-1 lead over Elizabeth Exon and Tania Mahtani and never looked back in an 8-4 triumph. Ciobanu and Krisik improved to 12-3 overall and 6-2 in dual action. They have won four of their last five matches.
The 11th-ranked duo of Christian Thompson and Catrina Thompson found themselves in an early 3-1 hole to Kara Delicata and Chisako Sugiyama at No. 1, but rallied for an 8-4 win. The Thompson twins now stand 14-4 overall and 5-1 in dual action.
The Irish return to action this weekend inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion with two more difficult matches. Notre Dame faces No. 7 North Carolina on Fri., Feb. 16 and No. 20 Wake Forest on Sun., Feb. 18. First-serve against the Tar Heels is scheduled for 5:00 p.m., while the match against the Demon Deacons will get underway at noon.
#2 NOTRE DAME 6, #23 MICHIGAN 1
Singles
1. #41 Catrina Thompson (ND) def. Jenny Kuehn (UM); 6-3, 6-1
2. Chisako Sugiyama (UM) def. #31 Colleen Rielley (ND); 6-4, 6-3
3. Christian Thompson (ND) def. Kara Delicata (UM); 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6)
*4. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) def. Elizabeth Exon (UM); 6-0, 6-3
5. Brook Buck (ND) def. Tania Mahtani (UM); 6-0, 6-1
6. Katie Potts (ND) def. Allie Shafner (UM); 6-1, 7-6 (1)
Doubles
1. Thompson/Thompson (ND) def. Delicata/Sugiyama (UM); 8-4
2. Buck/Tefft (ND) def. Kuehn/Shafner (UM); 8-3
*3. Ciobanu/Krisik (ND) def. Exon/Mahtani (UM); 8-4
Order of Finish
Doubles (2,3,1)
Singles (5,2,1,4,3,6)
* clinched point/match
— ND —