Guy guides Irish by winning singles title
By STEVE KEPPEL
Sports Writer
Kimberly Guy led the 13th-ranked women's tennis team as she won the adidas College Invitational in Orlando, while three of the doubles teams advanced to the quarterfinals and semifinals.
The Irish faced Duke and Florida, two of the top ranked teams in the country, as well as Northwestern and Tennessee in the tournament.
The Gators gave the Irish trouble right off the bat as they knocked off All-American Michelle Dasso, Nina Vaughan and Becky Varnum, all in the second round of the Flight-A singles. Freshman Caylan Leslie also went down the first day, losing to second-ranked Ansley Cargil of Duke, which the Irish beat the previous weekend in South Bend.
The Irish continued to struggle a bit throughout the day. Only freshman Alicia Salas and Guy emerged from the Flight-B singles bracket for the Irish.
In the quarterfinals Guy advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Crystal Cleveland of Tennessee. Salas lost to Florida's Annika Bengtsson in a close match, 6-3, 6-4.
"We faced some really good competition out there and it's a little hard to play an individual tournament after team dual matches [Duke last weekend]," said Guy, the senior from Portola Valley, Calif. "Tennis is a little different being out there on a court all by yourself without the rest of your team."
The doubles teams for the Irish fared a little better on the first day. The eighth-ranked duo of Dasso and Varnum reached the quarterfinals by beating Jessica Rush and Colleen Chang of Northwestern 8-6. Guy continued to play well, winning the first round match 8-4 with teammate Katie Cunha.
The second day proved to be much of the same for the Irish women. Some struggled, while Guy proved to be unstoppable. Guy advanced to the singles final by defeating Northwestern's Jessica Rush 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals of the second singles flight.
Junior Lindsay Green and Salas also grabbed wins on Saturday. Green rallied to beat Northwestern's Ruth Barnes 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second flight singles consolation, and Salas held off Tennessee's Brooke Cordell 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.
Dasso and Vaughan both dropped consolation singles matches on Saturday. Unfazed by her teammates' losses, Guy continued to mow through the competition.
"I got a lot of confidence in my game after the dual match [against Duke] and every win gave me more and more confidence," said Guy.
That confidence was illustrated in the final, as Guy took down Annika Bengtsson of Florida 7-5, 6-2. Guy finished the weekend 4-0 and went through the second flight of singles with out losing a single set.
"The final was pretty close, especially in the beginning of the first and second sets, but all the games were tight," said Guy. "She's [Bengtsson] a good player but after winning a couple of close games I think she might have gotten a little rattled."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, January 30, 2001
