May 13, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 13th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team won five singles matches in straight sets to beat UIC 5-0 on Saturday in the NCAA first round at the Courtney Tennis Center. With the win, the Irish advance to the second round for a match against 20th-ranked South Carolina at noon on Sunday. The Gamecocks defeated Western Michigan 5-1 on Saturday. Notre Dame, now 22-6 on the season with the win, won the remaining matches against UIC but those exhibition victories do not count toward the overall team score.
Sophomore Becky Varnum beat Emina Curic 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles for Notre Dame’s first point. Freshman Katie Cunha won her first-ever NCAA match with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Alyson Stalzer at No. 6 singles. Sophomore Nina Vaughan also was victorious in her first NCAA match when she defeated Zorica Malesevic 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles for a 3-0 lead.
Junior All-American Michelle Dasso (Long Grove, Ill./Stevenson) put the Irish ahead 4-0 with her 100th career singles win. She defeated Jacki Farr 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 singles to become the fastest Irish player and only Irish junior under 11th-year head coach Jay Louderback to win 100 singles matches. Sophomore Lindsey Green then clinched the win when she defeated Zvjezana Malesevic 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 singles.
With the outcome of the match already determined, senior Kelly Zalinski rallied from a 2-4 deficit in the third set for a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) win over Nicole Derouin at No. 3 singles. The Irish then swept the doubles to complete the match. Junior Kimberly Guy was reunited in doubles with Cunha for the first time since Feb. 26 due to an injury to Guy. The 51st-ranked pair — 17th at the time of Guy’s injury — defeated Curic and Zorica Malesevic 8-3 at No. 2 doubles.
“I thought we played well today,” said Louderback. “They were a good team and it was good for us to get the doubles in because we hadn’t played in three weeks.”
In the first match of the day, 20th-ranked South Carolina held on for a 5-1 win over 67th-ranked Western Michigan. The Gamecocks played without 25th-ranked sophomore Katarina Markovski and won three matches in straight sets and a pair of three-set matches. Freshman Catherine Brown played in her first singles match since Feb. 24, and clinched the win at No. 6 singles.
#13 NOTRE DAME 5, UIC 0
Singles
No. 1: #27 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. Jacki Farr (UIC) 6-1, 6-2
No. 2: Becky Varnum (ND) def. Emina Curic (UIC) 6-0, 6-1
No. 3: Kelly Zalinski (ND) def. Nicole Derouin (UIC) 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (3)
No. 4: Nina Vaughan (ND) def. Zorica Malesevic (UIC) 6-2, 6-2
No. 5: Lindsey Green (ND) def. Zvjezana Malesevic (UIC) 6-1, 6-2
No. 6: Katie Cunha (ND) def. Alyson Stalzer (UIC) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1: #20 Dasso/Varnum (ND) def. Derouin/Farr (UIC) 8-5
No. 2: #51 Cunha/Kimberly Guy (ND) def. Curic/Zorica Malesevic (UIC) 8-3
No. 3: Green/Zalinski (ND) def. Kim Harris/Stalzer (UIC) 8-2