Irish start season 2-1 in Hawaii
Observer Staff Report
The 18th-ranked Notre Dame women's tennis team kicked off its 2000 dual-match season in Kahuku, Hawaii with a 2-1 record with victories over Hawaii and No. 23 Wisconsin and a loss to No. 4 Duke. The Irish were scheduled to play the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers but the match was rained out.
On Jan. 12, the Irish blanked the Rainbow Warriors 9-0 to pick up their first victory of the year. The Irish lost just one set in sweeping the singles matches and then won all three doubles for the victory.
Junior All-American and 42nd-ranked Michelle Dasso beat Nina Wenger 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, and 101st-ranked sophomore Becky Varnum defeated Suzie Saunders 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2. Senior Kelly Zalinski blanked Petra Holma 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, while sophomore Nina Vaughan held off Lynn Novack 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. Sophomore Lindsey Green beat Georgina Sesto 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles, while junior Kimberly Guy downed Stacey Hakikawa 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.
The 10th-ranked doubles team of Dasso and Varnum beat Wenger and Hakikawa 8-3 at No. 1 doubles. Freshman Katie Cunha and Guy won 8-5 at No. 2 doubles over Novack and Saunders, while Green and Zalinski blanked Holma and Jennifer Oshita at No. 3 doubles.
The Irish suffered their first loss of the season as the Blue Devils won five of six singles matches before rained cancelled the doubles competition last Thursday. The Blue Devils used straight-set wins at Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 singles and a three-set victory at No. 1 singles to win their season opener.
Green the only match for the Irish with a 6-2, 6-0 decision over 97th-ranked Brooke Siebel at No. 5 singles. Green and Zalinski were leading Katie Granson and Kathy Sell 7-6 at No. 3 doubles when the rains came and cancelled the doubles matches.
The Irish responded to their loss to the Blue Devils by winning four of six singles matches and two doubles matches to beat Washington 6-3 on Friday at BYU-Hawaii in Laie, Hawaii.
Green and Zalinski clinched the win with an 8-3 win over Colleen Gray and Ilona Kordonskaya at No. 3 doubles.
Guy won a key three-set match to lead the Irish, Washington fell to 0-1
Varnum beat Zuzana Stunova 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, while Green won 7-6, 6-3 over Zeta Wagner at No. 5 singles to get the Irish their first two wins.
After Zalinski held off 98th-ranked Kordonskaya 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 at No. 3 singles, Guy put Notre Dame ahead 4-2 with a three-set win at No. 6 singles. After losing a number of match points in a third-set tiebreaker, Guy saved a match point against her at 6-7 and held on for a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8) victory.
The Huskies rallied for wins at Nos. 1 and 4 singles after losing the first set in both matches for their two singles wins.
After Green and Zalinski clinched the win, Cunha and Guy beat Peggy Wu and Stunova 8-5 at No. 2 doubles. Washington's third point was an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, January 19, 19100
