Sarah Jane Connelly Class: Senior Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK High School: Bishop McGuinness Height: 5-9 Birthdate: 08/02/1982

Strong leader served as team captain during 2004-05 campaign and combines with younger sister Lauren (`05-06 captain) to be the first Irish tennis sister captains (just the fifth sister captain duo at Notre Dame in any sport) ... was a contributor in both singles and doubles throughout her career and was a key to Notre Dame's dual-match fortunes, playing a variety of big matches ... along with basketball player Chris Thomas, was recipient of the Francis Patrick O'Connor Award, which recognizes one male and one female student-athlete who best display the total embodiment of the true spirit of Notre Dame as exemplified by their contributions and inspirations to their respective teams ... sixth women's tennis player to be so honored since award debuted in 1993 (most of any team) ... worked on her serve to make it more of a weapon ... strong player who works very hard ... hits the ball hard, but is very consistent ... an all-BIG EAST selection in both singles and doubles in 2003 and again in singles in `05 ... finished career with 22 victories that clinched the doubles point, breaking the Notre Dame record (was 17 by Alicia Salas) ... also ended up 10th in Irish career record book in doubles wins in dual-match action (51) ... was an extremely difficult player to beat in her sophomore season, when she rallied to win after losing the first set on nine occasions, including a 7-0 midseason stretch in matches where she dropped the opening frame ... posted a 32-14 career record in home singles matches ... rallied to win after dropping the opening set 21 times ... was 60-7 when winning the first set ... graduated with 3.466 cumulative grade-point average and was a member of Notre Dame's Academic Honors Program for Student-Athletes ... four-year monogram winner.

AS A SENIOR: Again was a regular for the Irish, playing No. 3 doubles all season and splitting time in the singles lineup, mostly at No. 6 ... tabbed to BIG EAST Championship all-tournament team in singles for the second time ... posted career-high doubles victories, finishing with career-best 25-11 record, including 15-8 in dual action, all at No. 3 ... played all but two matches with Kristina Stastny, going 24-10 together and 14-7 in dual matches, with six clinching wins ... began the spring with victories in eight of first 10 matches ... won 8-6 against #13 Texas to clinch doubles point in final match on court ... clinched doubles point with tiebreaker victory in 4-3 upset of #16 William & Mary ... also provided victories in 4-3 matches against #5 Duke, #9 North Carolina, and Illinois ... other notable wins came vs. #20 Michigan and Wake Forest ... went 10-3 in fall play, winning eight of first nine matches before falling in the round of 16 of the ITA Midwest Championships ... paired with Jennifer Smith for two matches, losing a tiebreaker in the final match on court against #23 Tennessee and beating Purdue ... registered 16-8 mark in singles, including 7-5 in dual play ... was 5-3 at No. 6 and 2-2 at No. 5 ... notched a victory at No. 6 in 4-3 win at Illinois ... also provided win there against #3 Northwestern during the regular season and was up 6-1, 5-5 when her match was abandoned in the second round of the NCAA tournament ... lost 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 to Nicole Beck at No. 5 in final match remaining in 4-3 loss at Wisconsin ... clinched win against Long Beach State ... finished season on four-match winning streak (with two abandoned matches) ... began season with eight consecutive victories and posted 9-3 record during the fall ... first defeat came in the second round of the ITA Midwest Championships against #37 Dora Vastag of Indiana ... was outstanding at home, going 5-1 in singles and 12-2 in doubles ... concluded her career with seven consecutive victories in the Eck Tennis Pavilion in singles ... also posted 19-5 mark indoors in partnered play.

AS A JUNIOR: Helped Irish at the bottom of both lineups in 2003-04, playing Nos. 5 and 6 singles, as well as No. 3 doubles ... finished 14-17 in singles, including 7-12 in dual action (3-6 at No. 5, 4-6 at No. 6) ... posted 16-15 mark in doubles, including 11-9 in dual play (all at No. 3), and led team with six clinching victories ... started season teaming with Kristina Stastny, ranked 43rd in the preseason, and went 12-11 together ... opened spring with wins in four of first five matches (two clinching) ... clinched doubles point against Indiana ... won in tiebreaker against Tennessee ... in fall play, lost in round of 16 at adidas Invitational and finished fourth in blue flight of Kentucky Fall Classic ... won at No. 3 in exhibition match against USC ... reached round of 16 in ITA Midwest Championships before falling to #6 Grier/Rush of Northwestern ... lost two of three in Illinois Midwest Blast ... paired with Emily Neighbours for the final month of season, going 4-4 ... clinched doubles point against William & Mary and #11 Northwestern ... also won in BIG EAST semifinals against Virginia Tech and NCAA first round vs. Iowa ... doubles point came down to a tiebreaker (lost 7-5) in their match in NCAA second round vs. #9 Northwestern ... in singles, started spring at No. 5 before moving to No. 6 on March 10 ... top win at the higher slot came against Karie Schlukebir of Indiana ... lost three-setter (7-5 in third set) against Leanne Rutherford in clinching match of Michigan's season-opening victory ... at No. 6, lost just three games in defeating Sihem Bennacer in helping the Irish to a win over Miami ... lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 to Kristen Dunbar of William & Mary with the match tied 3-3 ... also fell in the final match on court of a 4-3 decision against Purdue, losing a third-set tiebreaker against Melissa Woods ... had final three matches of the season abandoned ... was 13-1 when winning the opening set.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Proved integral to Irish in 2002-03 as most consistent singles winner, making a habit of rallying from deficits for thrilling victories ... led Notre Dame in singles wins with career-best 25-12 record, including team-best 17-7 dual-match mark, playing the bottom three positions ... earned BIG EAST all-tournament honors in both singles and doubles ... started season at No. 5, playing there for most of the year prior to filling the No. 4 spot in the postseason ... won 12 of final 14 matches, including a nine-match winning streak ... rallied from 6-0 first-set defeat for victory over Hadley MacFarlane with the match tied 3-3 vs. BYU ... came back to win after losing the first set a total of nine times, highlighted by a 7-0 midseason streak in matches in which her opponent won the first set ... provided lone Irish singles triumph vs. #5 North Carolina ... had victory in 4-3 win over Iowa ... in BIG EAST title match, won the first set before losing the second and falling behind 5-1 in the third, but rallied by winning six straight games for a thrilling triumph over Staci Stevens at No. 4, helping the Irish to a 4-3 victory ... also had victories against #11 Tennessee, Wake Forest, #7 Arizona State, #13 William & Mary, and #24 Illinois ... in fall action, reached round of 16 in OSU/Prince Cup and "das" flight of adidas Invitational ... won consolation title in blue flight of Eck Classic ... was 8-3 in three-setters on the year ... posted 16-1 mark when winning the opening set ... won all five match tiebreakers she played ... was 17-12 in doubles, moving in and out of the No. 3 position throughout the spring ... playing No. 2 in the postseason, teamed with Kristina Stastny for biggest Notre Dame victory of season, holding on for 8-6 win over de Villiers/Smith in the final match on court with the score tied 3-3 vs. Miami in the BIG EAST final ... the pair was 5-3 together ... started the spring playing with Jennifer Smith at No. 3 ... helped Irish win doubles point against #5 North Carolina ... the two played together throughout the fall season, going 9-4 ... reached semifinals of OSU/Prince Cup and Eck Classic.

AS A FRESHMAN: Provided solid results in both singles and doubles for Irish in first collegiate season ... posted 22-15 overall mark in singles, playing mostly at No. 6 ... defeated Bernadette Bayani of USC to clinch 5-2 Irish upset of #7 Trojans in National Team Indoor Championships ... put together midseason streak of seven straight wins, including clinching victories over Wisconsin and Ohio State ... also notched wins against #3 Wake Forest, #14 William & Mary, and #10 Texas ... dropped three-set decision to Ruth Barnes in last match on court of #19 Northwestern's 4-3 defeat of the Irish ... posted wins at No. 5 against Air Force and Texas ... won six of first seven collegiate singles matches and went on to lead Irish with eight fall victories ... advanced through qualifying to the singles main draw of the Omni Hotels ITA Midwest Championships ... was 23-19 in doubles, including 17-11 in dual matches, playing with three different partners ... her 17 dual-match wins in doubles matched the second-highest total ever by an Irish freshman ... shared team lead with six clinching victories ... from mid-February to the end of the season, played with Alicia Salas at No. 3, putting together a 14-6 mark ... won 10 of first 11 matches together ... in last month of season, clinched doubles point in last match on court vs. #19 Northwestern, #14 William & Mary and Miami (BIG EAST final) ... helped Irish win doubles point in 4-3 regular-season victories over Illinois and Miami ... teamed with Katie Cunha for first eight matches of spring after a successful fall season together ... provided clinching win in last match on court with 8-6 upset victory over Anita Loyola/Luana Magnani at No. 2 in Notre Dame's 5-2 victory over USC ... advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Midwest Championships, leading to a national ranking of 53rd ... paired with Becky Varnum for one match in the Eck Classic.

IN NON-COLLEGIATE ACTION: Reached singles quarterfinals in 2003 ITA Summer Circuit event at Notre Dame.

HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Ranked 31st in singles and fourth in doubles in United States Tennis Association national 18s rankings ... won 1998 National Indoor doubles title with eventual Vanderbilt player Aleke Tsoubanos ... that pair also finished second at '98 National Clay Court Championships and third at 2000 National Hardcourt Championships ... also reached final of 2000 Easter Bowl ... four-year MVP at Bishop McGuinness High School ... led team to three state titles ... also won three state singles titles ... first three-time girls' high school player of the year in Oklahoma City ... did not lose a singles match until her junior year ... lost one match in both her junior and senior seasons ... sister Lauren is a senior on Irish tennis team ... one of just seven pairs of sisters to play on the team at the same time, including teammates Catrina and Christian Thompson ... from same hometown as former Irish women's tennis All-American Jennifer Hall (1996-99) ... brother Andy is a sophomore on the Tulsa tennis team and father Jim played baseball at Oklahoma State ... three uncles graduated from Notre Dame ... cousins J. Robert and Joe Ross Merritt play basketball for Samford ... member of National Honor Society ... born Aug. 2, 1982, in Oklahoma City, Okla. ... a member of Notre Dame's Academic Honors Program for Student-Athletes ... earned ITA Scholar Athlete Award in 2004-05 ... four times tabbed a BIG EAST Academic All-Star ... posted 3.466 cumulative grade-point average ... graduated in May 2005 from the Mendoza College of Business with a degree in marketing.