Feb. 11, 2001

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 11th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team swept the singles after losing the doubles point to beat 28th-ranked North Carolina 6-1 on Sunday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Senior All-American Michelle Dasso lost just one game combined in both her singles and doubles matches to lead the Irish, who improve to 4-1 with the win. Notre Dame returns to action when it travels to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Team Championships Feb. 15-18, in Madison, Wis.

The eighth-ranked doubles team of Dasso and junior Becky Varnum rolled to an 8-0 win over North Carolina’s 25th-ranked team of Kendrick Bunn and Kate Pinchbeck at No. 1 doubles. The Tar Heels then won 8-6 matches at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles to take a 1-0 lead heading into singles.

Dasso once again stormed through her match, building a 6-0, 5-0 lead before defeating 11th-ranked Marlene Mejia 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. The win over Mejia improved Dasso career record to 121-31, moving her one win from tying the school record for career singles victories set just last year by Kelly Zalinski. Senior Kimberly Guy improved to 18-3 in singles this season with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Caroline Hill at No. 5 singles for a 2-1 Irish advantage. Junior Nina Vaughan made it 3-1 with her 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory over 54th-ranked Bunn at No. 3 singles. Freshman Caylan Leslie then clinched the win by beating Kristin Koenig 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.

After winning four quick singles matches, Notre Dame then won a pair of long matches to complete the single sweep. Varnum rallied from 1-5 in the third set and saved a match point on her serve at 5-6 to beat Pinchbeck 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 2 singles. Junior Lindsey Green came back to beat Elina Bairos 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 7-5 at No. 6 singles.

#11 NOTRE DAME 6, #28 NORTH CAROLINA 1

Singles

No. 1: #3 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. #11 Marlene Mejia (NC) 6-0, 6-1

No. 2: Becky Varnum (ND) def. Kate Pinchbeck (NC) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6)

No. 3: Nina Vaughan (ND) def. #54 Kendrick Bunn (NC) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1

No. 4: Caylan Leslie (ND) def. Kristin Koenig (NC) 6-1, 6-1

No. 5: Kimberly Guy (ND) def. Caroline Hill (NC) 6-2, 6-1

No. 6: Lindsey Green (ND) def. Elina Bairos (NC) 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 7-5

Doubles

No. 1: #8 Dasso/Varnum (ND) def. #25 Bunn/Pinchbeck (NC) 8-0

No. 2: Bairos/Mejia (NC) def. Katie Cunha/Guy (ND) 8-6

No. 3: Niebling/Courtney Zalinski (NC) def. Green/Vaughan (ND) 8-6