May 24, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. – After another successful season and a deep run into the national tournament, the sixth-ranked Irish women’s tennis team saw its 2010 campaign come to an end Monday with a 4-1 loss to No. 8 Stanford in the NCAA Championship semifinals at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
Notre Dame ends its season with a 26-4 record, while Stanford improves to 25-1. Just two days after knocking off Baylor, the nation’s top-ranked squad, in the quarterfinals, the Cardinal advances to Tuesday’s final match against third-ranked Florida.
The Irish made their second straight appearance in the NCAA semifinals and advanced to the finals site for the fourth time in five years. Notre Dame is now 28-17 all-time in NCAA tournament action.
“I thought that we played very well especially during doubles, but Stanford played extremely well,” Irish head coach Jay Louderback said. “We did everything that we could against them today and played in some tight matches. But we knew they were very good going in and knew that we were probably the underdog in this match, which we really haven’t had to deal with much. Overall, I’m really proud of the way that our team battled and I’m very proud of all that we accomplished this year.”
The Irish took an early 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. Cosmina Ciobanu (Brea, Calif.) and Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) earned their first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent and their 10th win of the season with an 8-3 defeat of No. 56 Mallory Burdette and Stacey Tan at second doubles. Stanford’s Carolyn McVeigh and Veronica Li evened the match with an 8-4 win over Chrissie McGaffigan (Davenport, Iowa) and Kristen Rafael (Grand Prairie, Texas) at No. 3 doubles. The third-ranked tandem of Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) and Kali Krisik (Arkansas City, Kan.) continued their winning ways, improving to a stellar 25-0 as they clinched the doubles point for the Irish with an 8-6 victory over No. 2 Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette at first doubles.
No. 33 Mallory Burdette tied the match at 1-1 for Stanford with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over McGaffigan at third singles. McGaffigan ends her freshman campaign with a 16-9 singles mark. No. 83 Lindsay Burdette put the Cardinal up 2-1 with 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 108 Mathews at second singles. Mathews moved to 17-11 to end the season. The 86th-ranked Tan snapped Ciobanu’s 11-match win streak with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat at No. 4. Ciobanu her final season with the Irish at 26-4, the second-most singles dual-match wins in a season all-time at Notre Dame.
The fourth-ranked Barte clinched the win for Stanford with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 16 Frilling at first singles.
Krisik led McVeigh, 6-4, 2-3, at No. 5, and Rafael was battling Li, 6-7, 2-2, at sixth singles when the match was clinched.
Although team competition is finished, Frilling and Krisik will represent the Irish in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships beginning Thursday in Athens. Frilling enters the singles tournament as a 9-16 seed and will team with Krisik as the No. 3 seed in the doubles championship. Check UND.com for complete coverage of every Irish match.
#8 Stanford 4, #6 Notre Dame 1
Singles
1. #4 Hilary Barte (SU) def. #16 Kristy Frilling (ND) 6-4, 6-4
2. #83 Lindsay Burdette (SU) def. #108 Shannon Mathews (ND) 6-1, 6-2
3. #33 Mallory Burdette (SU) def. Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) 6-0, 6-1
4. #86 Stacey Tan (SU) def. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) 6-2, 6-4
5. Kali Krisik (ND) vs. Carolyn McVeigh (SU) 6-4, 2-3, unf.
6. Veronica Li (SU) vs. Kristen Rafael (ND) 7-6, 2-2, unf.
Order of finish: 3,2,4,1
Doubles
1. #3 Frilling/Krisik (ND) def. #2 Barte/L. Burdette (SU) 8-6
2. Ciobanu/Mathews (ND) def. #56 M. Burdette/Tan (SU) 8-3
3. McVeigh/Li (SU) def. McGaffigan/Rafael (ND) 8-4
Order of finish: 2,3,1
–ND–