Katie Cunha Hometown: Mercer Island, WA High School: Mercer Island Height: 5-6 Birthdate: 09/25/1981

Outstanding doubles player contributed to Irish success throughout the last four years ... provided leadership as captain of 2002-03 squad, helping it to the BIG EAST title and the second round of the NCAA Championship ... very athletic player with big serve and effective slice backhand ... quick hands help her top-notch doubles game ... played at the top of the Irish doubles lineup during the latter half of her career ... finished career with nine victories over ranked doubles teams ... began “Ace for the Cure” benefit match to raise awareness and funds to fight against colon cancer.

AS A SENIOR: Veteran leadership helped youthful Irish squad (featuring five freshmen) excel ... served as team captain ... honored with Francis Patrick O'Connor Award, given annually to one male and one female student-athlete who best display the total embodiment of the true spirit of Notre Dame as exemplified by their contribution and inspiration to their teams and possess such characteristics as caring, courage, confidence, encouragement, humility, honesty, humor, kindness and patience ... was the fifth women's tennis player to earn the award, the most of any sport ... also gained Midwest Region Tennis Magazine/ITA Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Scholarship ... played No. 1 doubles throughout the regular season, finishing with a 9-12 record ... was ranked as high as 27th in the nation with Kristina Stastny, before finishing 43rd ... in a span of just over a month, the pair notched upset victories against #19 Bunn/Pinchbeck (North Carolina), #13 Adams/McCain (Duke), #22 Castellvi/Schaub (Tennessee), and #19 Grasic/Strohm (Texas) ... provided clinching victories to give Irish 1-0 lead vs. #5 North Carolina and #13 Texas ... also at No. 1, was 1-0 with Lauren Connelly and 1-3 with Jennifer Smith ... in fall action, reached round of 16, with Stastny, in Omni Hotels Midwest Championships and final of Eck Classic, posting 5-2 mark ... played with Lauren Connelly in adidas Invitational ... missed season-opening OSU/Prince Cup due to wrist injury ... chose to sit out of both singles and doubles lineups in postseason ... was 9-18 in singles ... posted 7-10 record in dual-match singles action, playing mostly No. 3 ... chose to sit out of singles lineup in first four matches of spring before debuting with three consecutive victories ... had straight-set wins at No. 4 vs. Virginia Tech and Boston College before moving up to the No. 3 position ... in first career match in that spot, upset #36 Julie DeRoo of top-ranked Duke, notching the highest-ranked win of her career ... also had wins vs. Wake Forest, Texas (in Ace for the Cure), Michigan, and Ohio State ... played No. 2 singles for first time in her career vs. Indiana ... won two of three matches in blue flight of Eck Classic, reaching singles quarterfinals ... faced ranked players in first three matches of the fall (#23 Marine Piriou of Northwestern, #28 Julie DeRoo of Duke, #90 Christelle Grier of Northwestern) ... was 8-4 in singles at home and 9-3 when winning the first set ... honored by ITA with its Scholar-Athlete Award for having a 3.50+ GPA for the year … at the end of 2003, ranked eighth in Irish record book in career doubles dual-match wins (53).

AS A JUNIOR: Was a force for Irish in 2002 … led team with six clinching victories in singles and doubles and finished the season at No. 1 doubles with Lindsey Green, earning an invitation to the NCAA Doubles Championship ... posted 18-22 mark in doubles, including 13-14 in dual matches, with three different partners ... first paired with Green with a month remaining in the regular season and posted a 6-4 mark, rising as high as 54th in the national rankings ... finished season as second-ranked doubles team in the midwest region ... won tiebreaker in final match on-court to clinch doubles point for Irish against Wisconsin in first round of NCAA tournament ... also defeated Duke All-Americans Hillary Adams and Kelly McCain, as well as 35th-ranked team from Northwestern ... in debut together, fell to national No. 1 team, Wake Forest’s Janet Bergman and Bea Bielik ... Cunha/Green fell to the same Deacon pair in the first round of the NCAA doubles tournament ... eventual NCAA singles champion Bielik went on to advance to the third round of the singles main draw in the 2002 U.S. Open ... began playing with Nina Vaughan at No. 2 on February 16, losing debut against Tennessee before running off four straight wins ... clinched doubles point for Irish in consecutive matches against Iowa, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin ... teamed with Sarah Jane Connelly 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 #7 USC ... advanced to the semifinals of the Omni Hotels Region IV Championships, leading to a national ranking of No. 53 ... posted 20-17 singles mark, including 14-12 in dual matches, playing mostly at No. 5 ... put together four winning streaks of four matches or more ... started spring with four straight victories at No. 4, posting clinching wins in the first three matches of the year and then registering a three-set victory over 92nd-ranked Amy Trefethen of Kentucky for her first career win over a ranked opponent ... provided clinching victories in 4-3 wins over Miami and Illinois ... won final four matches of season ... strung together five consecutive wins in advancing through qualifying to the round of 16 of the Region IV Championships before falling to #34 Lia Jackson of Northwestern.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Contributed mainly in doubles in ’01 ... teamed with Kimberly Guy for second consecutive year for all but one doubles match ... compiled a 14-9 record at No. 2 doubles ... posted dual-match wins over Georgia, Wake Forest, Pepperdine, Miami, and Illinois ... reached quarterfinals of Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest doubles championships ... pair was ranked 14th in preseason ITA national rankings … was sixth in final regional doubles rankings ... paired with Caylan Leslie for No. 3 doubles win over Virginia Tech ... provided depth in singles lineup with 7-2 dual-match record ... won at No. 4 singles vs. Illinois State and No. 5 vs. Western Michigan ... compiled 5-2 record at No. 6 singles including wins over BYU, Kansas, and William & Mary.

AS A FRESHMAN: Stepped in at No. 6 singles in ’00 after injury to Kimberly Guy ... won most matches at that spot with highest winning percentage of any Irish player under head coach Jay Louderback ... played her first match at No. 6 against then 12th-ranked Northwestern and beat Jennifer Lutgert 6-4, 6-4 after losing to Lutgert twice in a 6-3 fall season ... posted dual-match wins versus William & Mary, Kentucky, Ohio State, and Iowa ... only losses came against Pepperdine and Miami ... rallied from 2-4 in third set to provide clinching win against Iowa ... won her flight at Indiana Invitational in first collegiate matches ... earned ITA doubles ranking of No. 15 after teaming with Kimberly Guy for a 9-1 record in the fall and finished 39th in ranking despite Guy’s missing most of second half of dual-match season ... beat Iowa’s sixth-ranked Toni Neykova and Shera Wiegler in winning the Illinois Invitational ... defeated USC’s Tiffany Brymer and Kara Warkentin at No. 1 doubles in fall exhibition dual match ... qualified for Rolex National Indoor Championships ... had 6-2 record at No. 2 before Guy’s injury against Wake Forest ... three of those wins came against USC, William & Mary, and Illinois ... reunited with Guy for NCAA first round and improved to 17-5 with No. 2 doubles victory against UIC ... went 2-4 at No. 1 doubles with Michelle Dasso in March ... beat Northwestern’s Colleen Cheng and Katherine Nasser in first match together to clinch team’s 6-3 win over 12th-ranked Wildcats ... followed that by beating Ohio State’s Kristi Dascoli and Monica Rincon before losing at No. 1 doubles to Iowa, Kentucky, BYU and Pepperdine ... beat No. 3 doubles teams from Wisconsin, William & Mary, and Indiana with Sarah Scaringe ... went 2-1 with Nina Vaughan, losing to Wake Forest at No. 2 and defeating Michigan and Purdue at No. 3.

IN NON-COLLEGIATE ACTION: Had quality results in a pair of ITA summer circuit events in summer of 2002 … teamed with Michigan’s Kavitha Tiperneni to win doubles title at Ohio State tournament … seeded fourth, advanced to quarterfinals in singles at Notre Dame event … earned fifth seed at Ohio State in singles before falling in second round … won singles back draw at 2000 ITA summer circuit event at Notre Dame and reached final in doubles with Caylan Leslie before falling to teammates Michelle Dasso and Becky Varnum.

HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Advanced to round of 32 at National 18s Clay Court Championships ... reached round of 16 in doubles at girls’ 18s Easter Bowl ... ranked as high as 24th nationally in both 16s and 18s doubles ... top-ranked Pacific Northwest player in girls’ 16s and 18s ... won three consecutive state singles titles and led Mercer Island High School to three straight team titles as well ... spent seven hours on court in one day in winning third state title with 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 semifinal match and 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 championship match ... won 52 consecutive matches to end high school career ... Eastside Journal ’99 female athlete of the year ... also standout golfer who placed fifth at state championships as a sophomore and 12th as a freshman ... from same high school as former Irish women’s tennis player Erin Gowen (1994-97) ... born Sept. 25, 1981, in The Hague, Netherlands ... member of Notre Dame’s Academic Honors Program for Student-Athletes ... named to dean’s list on three occasions ... graduated from the Mendoza College of Business in May ’03 with a degree in marketing.

Katie Cunha's Career Record