March 25, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Fresh of his 400th career win at Notre Dame, head coach Jay Louderback returns to his alma mater this weekend as the third-ranked Irish women’s tennis team heads to Wichita, Kan., for matches against TCU and Wichita State.
Notre Dame will take on the Horned Frogs at 10:00 a.m. (CT) Saturday, before facing the Shockers at noon Sunday.
The Irish are 13-2 on the season after a 4-3 win against No. 17 Vanderbilt on March 19.
Sophomore Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio/Lehman & Abeka) leads the Irish ranked 14th nationally with a 12-3 record at No. 1 singles. Senior Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, Calif./Troy) is riding a nine-match win streak and holds a 13-2 mark this season. Freshman Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa/Bettendorf) is ranked 99th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll with a 10-5 mark at No. 3 singles, while sophomore Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich./Cranbrook-Kingswood) is 9-6 at second singles and ranks 108th.
The Irish also have two doubles teams ranked in the ITA poll. Frilling and senior Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, Kan./Arkansas City) are the nation’s fourth-ranked doubles tandem with a perfect 11-0 mark at No. 1 doubles, while Frilling and Mathews come in at No. 53 with a 2-0 record. Notre Dame has won the doubles point in 12 of its 15 matches this season.
TCU enters Saturday’s contest with a 1-11 record in 2010. The Horned Frogs have lost 10 straight with their only win of the season coming against Texas (4-3) on Jan. 30. TCU last took the court on March 18, falling to Virginia Commonwealth, 5-2.
Despite struggling as a team this season, the Horned Frogs have three singles players and two doubles teams ranked in the latest ITA poll. Sophomore Kayla Duncan holds a 5-7 mark as the nation’s 88th-ranked player, while senior Nina Munch-Soegaard, an All-American a year ago, ranks 89th at 4-8. Junior Katariina Tuohimaa sits at No. 100 with a 6-6 record.
Duncan and Tuohimaa team up as the 58th-ranked doubles duo with a 3-3 mark at No. 1 doubles, while Duncan and Munch-Soegaard are 67th at 2-4.
Notre Dame is 1-0 all-time against TCU with the Irish taking a 7-2 victory in the teams’ only meeting in 1993.
Wichita State is 6-8 on the year after dropping two matches last weekend. The Shockers fell to Iowa, 6-1, on March 18, before losing to Tulsa, 6-1, the following day. Sophomore Lutfiana Budiharto leads Wichita State with a 7-3 record at No. 1 singles and a No. 34 ranking in the ITA poll. The Shockers also bring the nation’s 22nd-ranked doubles team in sophomore Della Damaschin and senior Stephanie Dalmacio, who are 4-4 at first doubles.
Notre Dame and Wichita State have met only once before with the Irish taking a 5-2 win in 2007.
Louderback graduated from Wichita State in 1976 and won a Missouri Valley Conference title at No. 3 singles during his senior year with the Shockers. He began his coaching career at his alma mater and guided the Shockers to a 122-94 record in seven years, including two Gateway Conference Championships and a Missouri Valley Conference title.
Complete results will be available at www.UND.com following both matches.
–ND–