March 25, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The 13th-ranked Notre Dame women's tennis team lost just one match
combined in wins over Iowa and Michigan this week at the Eck Tennis Center. The Irish hit
the road this weekend for a pair of matches at 12th-ranked Tennessee and 18th-ranked
Kentucky.
THIS WEEK FOR THE IRISH: Notre Dame and Tennessee will meet for the 11th time on Sat.,
March 27, at 12:00 p.m. The Lady Vols, who sport a 12-3 record, lead the series with the
Irish 6-4 with the home team winning the last six meetings. Notre Dame beat Tennessee 5-4
last year at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Freshman Agnes Wiske is ranked 89th in singles for
Tennessee, which is 32-13 at Nos. 4-6 singles. Notre Dame heads to Lexington, Ken, for a
Sun., March 28, match at 11:00 a.m. at 18th-ranked Kentucky, which has an 8-5 record prior
to a Friday match against Louisville. The Wildcats lead the series with the Irish 4-3
thanks to a pair of 5-4 wins in 1998 and 1997. Kentucky seniors Massoumeh Emani and
Christy Sigurski are ranked 31st and 88th in singles, while Emani and senior Kelly Brown
are 13th in doubles.
HALL ONE WIN FROM SCHOOL RECORD: Senior two-time All-American Jennifer Hall (Oklahoma
City, Okla.) needs just one more win to match the Notre Dame record for career singles
wins. Her current record of 106-55 stands just one win behind the 107 singles matches
Mary Colligan won from 1982-86. Hall became the first Irish player to reach 100 wins
under head coach Jay Louderback on Feb. 19, when she beat UCLA's Annica Cooper 7-5, 6-3.
IOWA, MICHIGAN RECAP: Notre Dame won five of six singles matches and swept the doubles to
beat 53rd-ranked Iowa 8-1 on Saturday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Four singles matches
went to three sets, with the Irish winning three of them. The Irish built a 3-0 lead with
singles wins at the top and bottom of the lineup. Freshman Lindsey Green (El Cajon,
Calif.) beat Erin Wolverton 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles for the first point. Hall then
rallied for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Natalya Dawaf at No. 2 singles. Michelle Dasso (Long
Grove, Ill.) put Notre Dame ahead 3-0 by beating 97th-ranked Toni Neykova 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
in a tight match. Leading 3-0, Notre Dame put away Iowa by winning two of three close
three-set matches. The Hawkeyes won in three sets at No. 3 singles when Shera Wiegler won
the final three games of the match to beat Marisa Velasco (Chula Vista, Calif.) 6-3, 2-6,
6-4. Irish junior Kelly Zalinski (Greer, S.C.) put Notre Dame ahead 4-1 by beating Erica
Johnson 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 at No. 5 singles. Freshman Becky Varnum (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
then clinched the win in a seesaw match at No. 4 singles. She lead 6-2, 5-3 and served
for the match but lost three match points as Emily Bampton won the second set 7-5.
Bampton then served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but Varnum rallied for a 7-5 win
in the decisive set. The Irish dropped just one set in six singles matches and swept the
doubles for a 9-0 win over Michigan on Wednesday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Notre Dame
has beaten Michigan five consecutive times and for the eighth time in the last nine
meetings. Velasco rallied from 1-4 and 3-5 deficits in the first set to beat Szandra
Fuzesi 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 at No. 3 singles to clinch the win. Zalinski and Green put Notre
Dame ahead 2-0 with two quick wins at Nos. 5 and 6 singles. Dasso held on for a 6-2, 6-4
win over 97th-ranked Danielle Lund at No. 1 singles. Dasso led 5-0 in the second set but
Lund rallied and served at 4-5 before Dasso broke serve for the win. Hall fought off a
tough second set to beat Brooke Hart 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 2 singles. After Velasco
clinched the win for the Irish, Varnum rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jennifer
Boylan to complete the singles sweep, holding off 15-40 in each of her final two service
games to close out the match. In doubles, the eighth-ranked Irish team of Hall and Dasso
beat 24th-ranked Hart and Lund 8-3 at No. 1 singles as Notre Dame swept the doubles for
the second straight match.
IRISH EXTEND MIDWEST DOMINANCE: Notre Dame upped its winning streak against Midwest
region opponents to 15 matches with wins against Iowa and Michigan. The Irish have won 15
consecutive matches against other Midwest teams, a streak that dates back to a loss to
Wisconsin in the 1997 NCAA Midwest Regional. The Irish have rolled through their regional
foes recently, building a 37-4 record against other Midwest teams since the '95 season,
including 30 wins against Big 10 teams.
IRISH IN THE RANKINGS: Notre Dame is ranked 13th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis
Association rankings, up one spot from 14 after beginning the year ranked 16th. Sophomore
Michelle Dasso jumped from 11th to a career-best ranking of eight, while freshman Becky
Varnum is 56th and senior Jennifer Hall 61th. The doubles team of Dasso and Hall remain
in the top 10 at eighth.
HALL HONORED AT USTA/ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR: Jennifer Hall was selected as the
recipient of the USTA Sportsmanship Award by the 16 coaches participating in the event.
Hall is the second Notre Dame player to win the award, following 1994 winner Wendy
Crabtree.
SINGLES LINEUP SOLID: Only three teams have beaten the Irish singles lineup in 1999,
top-ranked Florida, second-ranked Duke and 13th-ranked Arizona State. Against the Blue
Devils, the Irish had won two of four matches before losing two three-set matches 6-4 in
the final sets. Notre Dame won four of six singles matches against 15th-ranked
Pepperdine, 13th-ranked USC, 32nd-ranked Northwestern and ninth-ranked Wake Forest and
split six matches with eighth-ranked UCLA. The Irish won five singles matches against
Ohio State, Kansas and Iowa and swept Michigan, Clemson, Oklahoma, Kansas State and
DePaul. Overall, the Irish are 67-28 in singles in dual matches.
VARNUM, ZALINSKI TOUGH TO BEAT: The middle of Notre Dame's singles lineup has been
solidified by the play of Becky Varnum and Kelly Zalinski. Each have compiled 12-4
singles records in dual matches in 1999 with Varnum playing at No. 4 singles and Zalinski
at No. 5. Overall, Varnum is 25-9 in singles and Zalinski 24-9. Notre Dame is 9-3 when
Varnum wins in singles, 10-2 when Zalinski wins and 7-2 when both Varnum and Zalinski win.
DASSO TOUGH IN DUAL MATCHES: Michelle Dasso has been tough to beat in dual singles matches
in her short career, amassing a 36-7 record and a 12-4 mark in 1999. She won her first 20
dual matches as a freshman in a streak that included wins over M.C. White of Florida and
Christina Moros of Texas. Dasso ended her freshman season with a 24-3 dual match record.
HEAD COACH JAY LOUDERBACK: Jay Louderback is in his 10th year as head coach of the Irish,
compiling a 165-87 (.655) record at Notre Dame and a career mark of 369-265 (.582) in
19-plus seasons of coaching. He has guided the Irish to NCAA championship appearances in
five of the last six years, including a national quarterfinal appearance in 1996. His
teams have finished among the top 20 teams in the country in four of the last six years
and in the top 30 in all but two of his years at Notre Dame. The Arkansas City, Kan.,
native, and 1976 graduate of Wichita State has been named the ITA regional coach of the
year twice in 1995 and 1998 and was named BIG EAST coach of the year after leading the
Irish to BIG EAST championship titles in 1996 and 1997. His Notre Dame players have won
All-America honors seven times in his nine years.
DASSO/HALL DUO POST BIG WINS: The first-year doubles team of Michelle Dasso and Jennifer
Hall moved to No. 8 in the rankings thanks to a number of recent wins. The duo went 3-0
at the USTA/ITA National Women's Team Indoor, with wins over sixth-ranked Lehnhoff and
Nickitas of Florida, eighth-ranked Basica and Cooper of UCLA and 19th-ranked Huber and
Warkentin of USC. The duo also beat seventh-ranked Dascoli and Harris of Ohio State for
three wins over top 10 teams and most recently beat 24th-ranked Brooke Hart and Danielle
Lund of Michigan. Dasso and Hall are 12-4 in dual matches and 17-6 overall.
DASSO WINS ROLEX CONSOLATION SINGLES: Michelle Dasso rallied from a first-round loss to
win the singles consolation draw at the Rolex National Intercollegiate Indoor
Championships, the third leg of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association collegiate grand
slam. After Washington's 22nd-ranked Kristina Kraszewski bounced Dasso 6-3, 6-3 in the
first round, Dasso won three straight matches to win the consolation singles. She beat
Arkansas' 43rd-ranked Tara Reid 6-3, 6-1, USC's 13th-ranked Ditta Huber 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) and
Cal's 32nd-ranked Amanda Augustus 7-6 (8-6), 3-2, retired. Dasso took advantage of
another injury when Petra Gaspar of BYU-Hawaii could not play in the singles consolation
final due to injury.
FRESHMEN SPARK IRISH: Notre Dame's freshman class of Berica Day (San Antonio, Texas),
Lindsey Green, Becky Varnum and Nina Vaughan (Corona del Mar, Calif.) combined for a 38-22
record during an impressive fall season. Green, Varnum and Vaughan all saw action in
Notre Dame's first two matches of the season, the biggest immediate contributions for a
freshman class since the 1993 freshman class of Wendy Crabtree, Holyn Lord and Sherri
Vitale all played in the singles or doubles lineup in their first dual match.
IRISH FACE TOUGH SLATE: The Irish, who finished 20-10 a year ago, will play at least 22
matches against ranked teams and nine ranked teams at home. BYU, Duke, Wake Forest and
William & Mary, four of the 16 teams that came to Courtney Tennis Center for the 1998 NCAA
championships, return to Notre Dame to face to the Irish this year. All five of Notre
Dame's losses have come against higher ranked teams.
1998-99 Notre Dame WOMEN'S TENNIS (11-5)
September
18-20 Eck Classic NTS
24-27 at T. Rowe Price National Clay Courts NTS
October
9-11 at Ohio State Invitational NTS
16-18 at Michigan Invitational NTS
22-25 at ITA All-American NTS
November
5-8 ITA Midwest Singles/Doubles NTS
January
22 Fri. vs. DePaul W, 9-0
(Minneapolis, Minn.)
23 Sat. vs. #15 Pepperdine L, 4-5
30 Sat. vs. #58Kansas State W, 9-0
(Oklahoma City, Okla.)
31 Sun. at #45 Oklahoma W, 9-0
February
4-7 Th.-Sun. at Rolex National Indoor NTS
(Dallas, Texas)
12 Fri. #59 Ohio State W, 8-1
13 Sat. Clemson W, 9-0
14 Sun. #2 Duke L, 3-6
18-21 Th.-Sun. at USTA/ITA National Team Indoor
(Madison, Wis.)
Thurs. vs. #1 Florida L, 2-7
Fri. vs. #8 UCLA L, 4-5
Sat. vs. #13 USC W, 5-3
March
3 Wed. at #32 Northwestern W, 5-4
6 Sat. #9 Wake Forest W, 7-2
10 Wed. at #13 Arizona State L, 1-8
13 Sat. at #23 Kansas W, 8-1
20 Sat. #53 Iowa W, 8-1
24 Wed. Michigan W, 9-0
27 Sat. at Tennessee 12:00 p.m.
28 Sun. at Kentucky 11:00 a.m.
31 Wed. Illinois 3:30 p.m.
April
3 Sat. Purdue, Illinois St. 10 a.m./3 p.m.
5 Mon. at Wisconsin 2:00 p.m.
9 Fri. BYU 3:30 p.m.
11 Sun. William & Mary 12:00 p.m.
15 Thurs. at Indiana 3:00 p.m.
22-25 Th.-Sun. at BIG EAST Champ. (Miami, Fla.)
May
15-16 Sat.-Sun. NCAA 1st and 2nd Rounds
20-28 Sat.-Sun. NCAA Championship (Gainesville, Fla.)
Home matches in bold held at the Courtney Tennis
Center or Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Senior All-American Jennifer Hall is ready to break Irish records for career singles wins and combined singles and doubles wins set in 1986.
Jennifer Hall (1995-) Mary Colligan (1982-86)
Singles: 106 (29 wins/yr.) Singles: 107 (27/yr.)
Doubles: 82 (21 wins/yr.) Doubles: 88 (22/yr.)
Combined: 188 (50 wins/yr.) Combined: 195 (49/yr.)
Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings
Team Release: March 9, 1999
This Last School Total
Rank Year
1. 1. Florida * 375
2. 2. Duke * 370
3. 3. Georgia 365
4. 4. California 360
5. 5. Stanford 355
6. 6. Texas 349
7. 10. William & Mary * 341
8. 11. Vanderbilt 340
9. 6. Mississippi 339
10. 8. UCLA * 329
11. 13. USC * 326
12. 15. Pepperdine * 315
13. 12. Arizona State * 313
14. 16. Notre Dame 309
15. 21. South Carolina 308
16. 9. Wake Forest * 307
17. 14. Arkansas 306
18. 23. Kentucky * 284
19. 20. VCU 281
20. 26. Tennessee * 279
T21. 42. Washington 263
T21. 38. Fresno State 263
T23. 17. Kansas * 262
T23. 25. Arizona 262
25. 19. South Alabama 254
* indicates Notre Dame opponents
Singles Release: March 9, 1999
This Last Name School
Rank Rank
1. 1. Zuzana Lesenarova San Diego
2. 2. Marissa Irvin Stanford
3. 5. Vanessa Webb Duke
4. 4. Agnes Muzamel Mississippi
5. 9. Teryn Ashley Stanford
6. 6. Mariel Verban Wake Forest
7. 3. Marissa Catlin Georgia
8. 8. Anousjka Van Exel Tulsa
9. 13. Cristina Popescu UCLA
10. 7. Dora Djilinova Fresno State
11. 10. Michelle Dasso Notre Dame
12. 12. Mirela Vladulescu UAB
13. 27. Lioudmila Skavronskaia Miami
14. 25. Anita Kurimay California
T15. 60. Whitney Laiho Florida
T15. 18. Kris Sell Kansas
17. 16. Kristina Kraszewski Washington
18. 17. Celeste Frey Mississippi
19. 48. Stephanie Hazlett Florida
20. 14. Julie Ditty Vanderbilt
21. 15. Elisa Penalvo Marquette
22. 11. Vanessa Castellano Georgia
23. NR Sandy Sureephong Texas
24. 21. Traci Green Florida
25. 30. Baili Camino Florida
47. T40. Becky Varnum Notre Dame
54. 93. Jennifer Hall Notre Dame
doubles Release: March 9, 1999
This Last Name School
Rank Rank
1. 1. Catlin/Castellano Georgia
2. 2. Ashley/Irvin Stanford
3. 3. Augustus/Jensen California
4. 4. Goldstein/Webb Duke
5. 6. Lehnoff/Nickitas Florida
6. 22. Dasso/Hall Notre Dame
7. 5. Ondrejkova/Puflerova So. Ala.
8. 9. Eberle/Frey Mississippi
9. 8. Basica/Cooper UCLA
10. 7. Fernandez/Penalvo Marquette
1998-99 Notre Dame women's tennis statistics
Singles
Player Open Dual Overall Career '98 Fall '99 Spring
Michelle Dasso 9-5 12-4 21-9 61-17 6-4 15-5
Berica Day 4-8 4-8 4-8 4-8
Lindsey Green 11-4 6-4 17-8 17-8 11-4 6-4
Kimberly Guy 9-6 2-2 11-8 22-15 9-6 2-2
Jennifer Hall 5-6 14-2 19-8 106-55 5-6 14-2
Sarah Scaringe 6-7 6-7 21-18 6-7
Becky Varnum 13-5 12-4 25-9 25-9 13-5 12-4
Nina Vaughan 10-5 1-0 11-5 11-5 10-5 1-0
Marisa Velasco 3-4 8-8 11-12 90-42 3-4 8-8
Kelly Zalinski 12-5 12-4 24-9 88-33 12-5 12-4
Totals 82-55 67-28 149-83 445-210 79-54 70-29
ITA Rankings
Michelle Dasso
Preseason: 17
Fall: 23
Winter: 10
Spring 1: 11
Spring 2: 8
Jennifer Hall
Preseason: 23
Fall: 100
Winter: 93
Spring 1: 54
Spring 2: 61
Becky Varnum
Preseason: NR
Fall: 51
Winter: 40
Spring 1: 47
Spring 2: 56
Marisa Velasco
Preseason: 54
Fall: NR
Winter: NR
Spring 1: NR
Spring 2: NR
Dasso/Hall
Preseason: 18
Fall: 39
Winter: 22
Spring 1: 6
Spring 2: 8
Vaughan/Zalinski
Preseason: NR
Fall: 37
Winter: 46
Spring 1: NR
Spring 2: NR
1998-99 Notre Dame women's tennis (11-5)
September
Fri.-Sun. 18-20 Eck Classic NTS
Thurs.-Sun. 24-27 at T. Rowe Price National Clay Courts (Baltimore, Md.) NTS
October
Fri.-Sun. 9-11 at Ohio State Invitational NTS
Fri.-Sun. 16-18 at Michigan Invitational NTS
Thurs.-Sun. 22-25 at Riviera All-American (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) NTS
November
Thurs.-Sat. 5-8 ITA Midwest Region Singles and Doubles Championships NTS
January
Fri. 22 (16) vs. DePaul (Minneapolis, Minn.) W, 9-0
Sat. 23 (16) vs. Pepperdine (15) (Minneapolis, Minn.) L, 4-5
Sat. 30 (16) vs. Kansas State (58) (Oklahoma City, Okla.) W, 9-0
Sun. 31 (16) vs. Oklahoma (45) (Oklahoma City, Okla.) W, 9-0
February
Thurs.-Sun. 4-7 at Rolex National Indoor (Dallas, Texas) NTS
Fri. 12 (16) Ohio State (59) W, 8-1
Sat. 13 (16) Clemson W, 9-0
Sun. 14 (16) Duke (2) L, 3-6
Thurs.-Sun. 18-21 at National Team Indoor (Madison, Wis.)
Thurs. (16) vs. Florida (1) L, 2-7
Fri. (16) vs. UCLA (8) L, 4-5
Sat. (16) vs. USC (13) W, 5-3
March
Wed. 3 (16) at Northwestern (32) W, 5-4
Sat. 6 (16) Wake Forest (9) W, 7-2
Wed. 10 (14) at Arizona State (13) L, 1-8
Sat. 13 (14) at Kansas (23) W, 8-1
Sat. 20 (14) Iowa (53) W, 8-1
Wed. 24 (13) Michigan W, 9-0
Sat. 27 at Tennessee 12:00 p.m.
Sun. 28 at Kentucky 11:00 a.m.
Wed. 31 Illinois 3:30 p.m.
April
Sat. 3 Purdue, Illinois State 10 a.m./3 p.m.
Mon. 5 at Wisconsin 2:00 p.m.
Fri. 9 BYU 3:30 p.m.
Sun. 11 William & Mary 12:00 p.m.
Thurs. 15 at Indiana 3:00 p.m.
Thurs.-Sun. 22-25 at BIG EAST Championship (Miami, Fla.) All day
May
Sat.-Sun. 15-16 NCAA First and Second Rounds All day
Sat.-Sun. 20-28 NCAA Championship (Gainesville, Fla.) All day
Home matches in bold held at Eck Tennis Pavilion or Courtney Tennis Center.
All times are local. Number to left of opponents is Notre Dame ITA ranking
and number to right is opponent ranking at time of match. NTS --
No team scoring.
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