February 12, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 16th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team won five of six singles match and swept the doubles for an 8-1 win over 59th-ranked Ohio State on Friday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The win improves the Irish to 4-1, while the Buckeyes fall to 3-2. The win also marked the 12th consecutive victory for the Irish over a Midwest region opponent, since the start of the 1998 season. Notre Dame, now 26-3 in singles in five dual matches in 1999, returns to the court on Saturday to take on Clemson at the Eck Tennis Pavilion at 1:00 p.m.
Senior Jennifer Hall, junior Kelly Zalinski and sophomore Michelle Dasso gave Notre Dame a 3-0 lead with straight-set singles wins. Freshman Becky Varnum wasted a match point in the second set tiebreaker and fell behind 3-1 in the third set before rallying for a 6-0, 6-7 (8), 6-4 win at No. 4 singles. After Ohio State’s Michelle Matko beat Marisa Velasco 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles, Irish freshman Nina Vaughan clinched the match with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Laura Maloney at No. 6 singles.
Notre Dame’s doubles lineup swept the Buckeyes to complete the 8-1 win. Dasso and Hall, ranked 39th in the country, won five consecutive games from 2-3 to beat the seventh-ranked Buckeye team of Kristy Dascoli and Briana Harris 8-4. The 37th-ranked Irish team of Vaughan and Zalinski beat Matko and Rincon 8-4, while Lindsey Green and Sarah Scaringe downed Castro and Maloney 8-3.
#16 NOTRE DAME 8, #59 OHIO STATE 1
Singles
No. 1: #23 Michelle Dasso (ND) def. Kristy Dascoli (OSU) 6-2, 6-2No. 2: #100 Jennifer Hall (ND) def. Briana Harris (OSU) 6-4, 6-0No. 3: Michelle Matko (OSU) def. Marisa Velasco (ND) 6-3, 6-3No. 4: #51 Becky Varnum (ND) def. Monica Rincon (OSU) 6-0, 6-7 (8), 6-4No. 5: Kelly Zalinski (ND) def. Claudio Castro (OSU) 6-2, 6-3No. 6: Nina Vaughan (ND) def. Laura Maloney (OSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1: #39 Dasso/Hall (ND) def. #7 Dascoli/Harris (OSU) 8-4No. 2: #37 Vaughan/Zalinski (ND) def. Matko/Rincon (OSU) 8-4No. 3: Lindsey Green/Sarah Scaringe (ND) def. Castro/Maloney (OSU) 8-3