April 1, 2007
TULSA, Okla. – The No. 2 Notre Dame women’s tennis team knocked off No. 38 Tulsa, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon for its 13th consecutive victory. The Irish improve to 18-1 on the year, while the Golden Hurricane drop to 16-4.
Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead after sweeping all three doubles matches. Senior twin sisters Catrina Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) and Christian Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) opened doubles action with an 8-2 rout of Kindsay Grimes and Carla Zabaleta at No. 1. The fourth-ranked duo improves to 22-6 overall and 14-3 in dual matches.
Freshman Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, CA) and sophomore Katie Potts (Brookfield, WI) were equally impressive in their 8-3 victory over Thalia Diaz-Barriga and Jie Zeng at No. 3. Ciobanu and Potts improve to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in dual action.
Freshman Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, KS) and sophomore Kelcy Tefft (Enid, OK) upended Santie Delport and Marta Marcinkowska, 8-4, at No. 2. Krisik and Potts now stands 2-0 overall and 2-0 in dual matches.
The Irish took a 2-0 lead following Catrina Thompson’s victory over Grimes at No. 1. Thompson cruised for a 6-2, 6-2 straight-set victory. She improves to 20-7 overall and 15-4 in dual action.
After Tulsa narrowed the gap to 2-1, the Irish rattled off three consecutive victories at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6. Ciobanu, Tefft and Krisik all registered straight-set wins. Ciobanu now stands 29-4 overall and 19-0 in dual matches. She remains the only Notre Dame player undefeated in dual play. Tefft improves to 18-6 overall and 13-3 in dual action, while Krisik upper her overall record to 10-4 overall and 3-0 in dual matches.
Agostina Santoro of Tulsa fashioned the final of 5-2 by taking out Potts at No. 5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. Potts has lost her last two matches, stands 12-8 overall and 5-4 in dual action.
The Irish return action on Tuesday, April 3 against Purdue. First-serve with the Boilermakers is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Weather permitting, the match is slated for the Courtney Tennis Complex.
— ND —