No. 6 Irish tennis squad looks for best start in 5 years
By STEVE KEPPEL
Sports Writer
When Michelle Dasso broke the all-time singles victory record last weekend, she didn't even know it. The senior All-American was too concerned with beating then-No. 7 Pepperdine.
Led by Dasso's victory at No. 1 singles, the 123rd of her career, Notre Dame paced to a 6-1 win over Pepperdine. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association rewarded Notre Dame by moving them from No. 11 to No. 6, matching their highest ranking ever.
"It was really exciting," she said. "It was rewarding to see everyone pull together [against Pepperdine]. It was great for our confidence."
Entering this weekend's tournament in Kansas, the Irish, at 7-2, are off to one of the best starts in their history. In fact, if the Irish win all three matches this weekend against Kansas State, BYU and Kansas, they will match their best start since they went 17-2 in 1995-'96.
Last weekend's tournament was highlighted by Dasso's singles victory over Pepperdine's Ipek Sengolu. Dasso, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, broke Kelly Zalinski's career singles victory record set last year.
However, the senior didn't even realize she had the record until Monday morning.
"I thought about it last week at Oklahoma State, but in the Pepperdine match, it really didn't cross my mind once," Dasso said. "I didn't realize it until the next day."
Breaking the record was even sweeter for Dasso considering her parents were in attendence.
This weekend, the Irish have a slightly easier slate of teams to play, but Dasso knows the pressure is still there.
"I think we definitely should win all three matches," Dasso said. "Now that we are ranked No. 6, we have to step it up even further and stay focused."
They hope to jump out to an early lead by winning the doubles matches. Dasso believes that winning these early contests gives the Irish a huge advantage. Last week against Pepperdine, the Irish swept all three doubles matches, highlighted by Dasso and doubles partner Becky Varnum's upset over the No. 1-ranked team of Senoglu and Paola Palencia.
"It just makes the whole match that much easier when you start off with a point," she said.
Notre Dame's win over Pepperdine was the second time this month the Irish have beat a top 10 team. But they know that they can't afford to get complacent.
"Now we cant take anyone lightly," Dasso said. "We can't let up and we need to keep practicing and stay focused."
Notre Dame begins their weekend today by playing No. 44 Kansas State. Saturday, the Irish take on No. 46 BYU. They wrap up their weekend by facing unranked Kansas on Sunday.
Sports writer Andrew Soukup contributed to this report.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 23, 2001
