Womens Tennis: Women lose to a 5th-ranked Tar Heels team
By JOE LINDSLEY
Sports Writer
Notre Dame began its Saturday match against North Carolina with a promising start. The No. 21 Irish won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead.
The lead was extremely short-lived, however, as the fifth-ranked Tarheels dominated in singles play, and visiting North Carolina claimed the match, 5-2.
Senior Katie Cunha and freshman Kristina Stastny registered a doubles upset of Kendrick Bunn and Kate Pinchbeck, the No. 19-ranked pair in the nation, to secure the doubles point for Notre Dame.
Prior to their triumph, freshman Jennifer Smith and sophomore Sarah Jane Connelly improved to 11-6 as a pair this season when they won 8-4 at No. 3 doubles.
Cunha and Stastny did not know they were playing a highly ranked opponent until after the match had been settled in their favor.
"When we were playing them, I had no idea they were ranked," Cunha said.
Cunha said she had to check the program after one of her friends claimed that the Bunn-Pinchbeck duo was ranked.
"After I found that out, I was really pleased," said Cunha, the team's captain. "That was just an added bonus."
With the doubles point secured, Connelly would be the only Irish player to claim a singles victory. The sophomore defeated North Carolina's Lee Bairos, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Her victory came only after the Tarheels had already won five straight singles matches.
"They are a highly ranked team," Cunha said. "Regardless, we kind of let them off the hook in singles."
Although Cunha believed the Irish showed improvement coming off their anguishing 7-0 defeat at Northwestern on Thursday, she sees much room for refinement.
"Knowing our team's capabilities, I think we could have played a lot better," Cunha said. "I think we let some matches slip away a little bit. But it's early in the season, and we have a young team."
The Irish certainly have to deal with inexperience. Three players in the singles lineup Saturday were freshmen, one a sophomore, and one is making her comeback after a 14-month absence from the competitive courts.
Junior Alicia, the most experienced Irish player in the singles matches, was defeated in straight sets by No. 38 Marlene Mejia. Salas is currently ranked No. 124. Freshman Kristina Stastny lost 6-0, 6-3 to the Tarheels' Aniela Mojzis, ranked No. 61 nationally.
Cunha acknowledged that gaining experience and becoming better able to deal with tough opponents will take a little time for the Irish.
"I am not worried," Cunha said. "Winning the doubles point [Saturday] gave us a lot of confidence. "North Carolina is an excellent team. There's nothing to be ashamed of."
The Irish will not compete again until a Feb. 14 home match against Virginia Tech.
Over the next two weeks, the Irish have plenty of work to do.
"I think everyone has something they want to work on individually," Cunha said. "We'll probably be playing a lot of practice matches amongst ourselves. We can work really hard without worrying about getting too tired for matches."
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 3, 2003
