Irish split Tobacco Road trip
By KEVIN BERCHOU
Sports Wriiter
The results came as no surprise.
When the members of the Notre Dame women's tennis team glanced at the schedule and saw that they would be playing two ranked teams on the road on consecutive days, they knew they were in for a battle.
That's exactly what they got.
After beating 33rd ranked North Carolina 5-4 on Saturday, the Irish figured they were in great shape to make an upset-minded run at the fifth-ranked Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. Notre Dame did make a run, but couldn't manage the upset, as Wake Forest took two of three doubles matches, after splitting singles, to pull out a 5-4 victory.
"They were both tight matches," head coach Jay Louderback said. "I thought we adjusted well against North Carolina and won some big matches there, and against Wake we gave it all we had."
The Irish kicked off the weekend by sticking it to the Tar Heels on their home court. Michelle Dasso, Nina Vaughan, Lindsey Green and Kimberly Guy won singles matches to give the Irish a 4-2 advantage as the match shifted to doubles play.
Normally strongest in doubles, the Irish women were a bit out of sorts Saturday.
North Carolina shocked the Irish by taking the first two doubles matches to knot the score at 4. The Irish tandem of Dasso and Becky Varnum lost a tight match 8-6 to Marlene Mejia and Erin Niebling, while Guy and Katie Cunha lost an even closer match to the Tar Heels' Kendrick Bunn and Kate Pinchbeck 9-8. Green and Kelly Zalinski staved off North Carolina's upset bid by winning the No. 3 doubles match 8-4.
"That was uncharacteristic for us," Louderback said. "Our doubles have just been so good. It was just one of those days."
Uncharacteristic doubles play was again a problem as losses in No. 1 and No. 2 doubles thwarted an Irish upset bid on Sunday.
Notre Dame played brilliantly in the singles portion of the match, earning a 3-3 split with the nation's fifth ranked team. Dasso led the charge by stunning seventh ranked Adria Engel in straight sets. Vaughan and Green also netted victories.
"Michelle was just fantastic," Louderback said. "She came out against Engel who has to be one of the best in the country and just drilled her."
Tied heading into doubles play, the Irish figured to have a great chance to stun the Demon Deacons on their home courts. The Irish have typically been much better in doubles play than in singles and were thought to have a decided advantage as tandem play got underway.
However, a wrist injury to Guy dealt a cruel blow to Notre Dame's upset hopes. Guy fell during her singles match, and was unable to compete in doubles. Louderback opted to play Vaughan in her place.
Taking advantage of Guy's injury, Wake Forest was not about to have its
No. five ranking diminished and it quickly served notice to Notre Dame that an upset would not come easily.
Engel and Bea Bielik knocked off Dasso and Varnum while Cunha and Vaughan fell to Wake's Janet Bergman and Annemarie Milton. In winning two of the three doubles matches, Wake assured itself of the win.
The newly assembled coupling of Cunha and Vaughan played hard, and considering they had never played together before, they staged quite a run.
"They played hard together," Louderback said. "But with no real chemistry it's hard to expect them to win, especially against a good Wake Forest team."
The Irish were attempting to beat a top five team for the first time since 1996, when they outlasted the Longhorns of Texas in a tight match.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame hopes Guy's injury is not serious. She was to undergo X-rays late Monday.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 29, 2000
