No. 15 Notre Dame routs Ohio State, Iowa
By KEVIN BERCHOU
Sports Writer
Like Tiger Woods on a Sunday back nine, the Notre Dame women's tennis team charged through the weekend.
After climbing to No. 15 in the national polls, the Irish women made a strong gace to go even higher, as they trounced three ranked opponents in a matter of four days.
"It was a tough week," said head coach Jay Louderback. "I'm happy with the way we rallied in the end."
Notre Dame started off well on Thursday when it traveled to Ohio State to battle the No. 33 Buckeyes. The Irish won five of six singles matches and swept the doubles, winning 8-1.
Junior All-American Michelle Dasso led the onslaught, scoring a 6-2, 6-2 No. 1 singles win over Ohio State's Kristy Dascoli.
In No. 4 singles, sophomore Nina Vaughan rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win that clinched an Irish victory.
With junior doubles star Kimberly Guy out due to a fractured wrist, Louderback was forced to alter his doubles pairings.
Freshman Katie Cunha, usually paired with Guy, was instead partnered with Dasso, and together they notched an easy 8-5 No.1 doubles win.
The win put Notre Dame's season record at 9-4, while Ohio State fell to 7-3.
The Irish returned home on Saturday to do battle with the No. 36 Iowa Hawkeyes. Though the venue changed, the result remained the same.
Once again the Irish won five of the six singles matches, en route to a 6-3 win.
Dasso was at her best, as she made quick work of her opponent with a rare 6-0, 6-0 No. 1 singles win over Shera Wiegler, in match that lasted a mere 45 minutes.
"She's played tremendously of late," Louderback said. "She has improved, it seems, with every match."
Strong singles play has overshadowed the recent problems in the doubles pairings.
Hit hard by the wrist injury that will keep Guy out through April, Notre Dame has been forced to trot out doubles teams that have little to no experience playing together. That lack of experience was particularly evident against Iowa.
Notre Dame lost both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, something that would not likely have happened with a healthy Guy and three complete doubles parings.
"I think we'll get better with more practice time," Louderback said. "It's hard right now because doubles was our strength, but as we practice more and more, I think we can get back to where we were."
Coming into Sunday's showdown with the No. 21 Kentucky Wildcats, the Irish were running on fumes. Having played six matches in the previous nine days, Notre Dame was exhausted but nevertheless found a way to rise to the occasion, pulling out a 7-2 win.
"I was really happy with the way we came together," Dasso said. "Everyone picked it up a notch."
Notre Dame roared through the singles portion of the match, losing nary a set, in establishing a 6-0 lead that rendered doubles play meaningless.
"We were very tired," Louderback said. "I think emotion and guts played a big role in some of those matches. To not lose a set against Kentucky — that's impressive."
Dasso dropped just one game in drilling the Wildcats' Carolina Mayorga 6-1, 6-0. Becky Varnum, Kelly Zalinski, Nina Vaughan, Lindsey Green, and Katie Cunha all scored easy straight set wins, and the rout was on.
The Irish, however, continued their struggles in doubles, dropping two of three matches.
"Losing Kim (Guy) really does hurt," Dasso said. "But I think Katie [Cunha] can step up and play well."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, March 7, 2000
