May 20, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. – The sixth-ranked Irish women’s tennis team will make its fifth appearance in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals after defeating No. 12 California, 4-2, Thursday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
With the win, Notre Dame improved to 25-3, while the Bears ended their season with a 20-6 mark. The Irish are now 27-16 all-time in NCAA action and 5-4 in the round of 16.
Notre Dame will face Tennessee at 4:00 p.m. (ET) Saturday in the quarterfinal match. The Irish and the Lady Vols have met once before this season with Notre Dame earning a 5-2 victory at the Eck Tennis Pavilion on Feb. 28. Notre Dame is 9-11 all-time against Tennessee, but has won four straight matches.
The Irish took the early 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. The third-ranked duo of Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) and Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, Kan.) improved to 23-0 on the season with an 8-2 victory over No. 9 Jana Juricova and Mari Andersson at No. 1 doubles. Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa) and Kristen Rafael (Grand Prairie, Texas) kept their perfect record intact, moving to 10-0 at No. 3 doubles with an 8-4 besting of Tayler Davis and Annie Goransson. Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, Calif.) and Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) led No. 89 Marina Cossou and Kasia Siwosz, 7-4, at second doubles when the point was clinched.
No. 108 Mathews put the Irish up 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-0 upset of No. 18 Cossou at second singles. The win was the 16th on the season for Mathews and the third straight in NCAA action. No. 35 Andersson gave the Bears their first point of the match with a 6-4, 6-0 win over McGaffigan at third singles.
The second-ranked Juricova topped No. 16 Frilling, 6-4, 6-3, at first singles to tie the match at 2-2. Krisik answered with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Goransson at No. 5 singles to put the Irish ahead, 3-2. With the win, Krisik improved to 17-3 on the season.
Ciobanu won her 25th match of the season and clinched the win for the Irish with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Siwosz at No. 4 singles. Ciobanu also earned the victory for Notre Dame in first-round action against IPFW.
Rafael was battling Davis, 4-6, 5-5, at sixth singles when the point was clinched.
Live stats and video for Saturday’s match against Tennessee will be available at www.ncaa.com.
#6 Notre Dame 4, #12 California 2
Singles
1. #2 Jana Juricova (CAL) def. #16 Kristy Frilling (ND) 6-4, 6-3
2. #108 Shannon Mathews (ND) def. #18 Marina Cossou (CAL) 6-3, 6-0
3. #35 Mari Andersson (CAL) def. Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) 6-4, 6-0
4. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) def. Kasia Siwosz (CAL) 6-2, 6-4
5. Kali Krisik (ND) def. Annie Goransson (CAL) 6-1, 6-4
6. Tayler Davis (CAL) vs. Kristen Rafael (ND) 6-4, 5-5, unf.
Order of finish: 2,3,1,5,4
Doubles
1. #3 Frilling/Krisik (ND) def. #9 Juricova/Andersson (CAL) 8-2
2. Ciobanu/Mathews (ND) vs. #89 Cossou/Siwosz (CAL) 7-4, unf.
3. McGaffigan/Rafael (ND) def. Davis/Goransson (CAL) 8-4
Order of finish: 1,2
–ND–