Dasso, Varnum play top singles for Irish
By KEVIN BERCHOU
Sports Writer
Notre Dame women's tennis team head coach Jay Louderback thinks he knows exactly how to help his squad continue their red-hot play.
He speaks about it constantly, believing that it will propel his team to the top. The key to winning, the coach said, is focus, and in order to continue to succeed, Notre Dame will have to summon the ultimate power of concentration.
A string of impressive wins has the Irish focusing on the big picture.
"We're really looking at the Big East and the NCAAs right now," Louderback said.
Even though their thoughts are drifting to the potential glories that lie ahead, the Irish must find a way to focus on each match.
That task will never loom larger than it will today as Notre Dame heads to West Lafayette to battle the lowly Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue, at 7-9 on the season, is not a particularly strong opponent. But if the Irish are not careful, they could get caught looking ahead and get blindsided from behind.
"They've had an up and down year, and they've struggle at times," Louderback said. "But we have to be careful, they do have quite a bit of talent."
Purdue comes into the match fresh off of a win over Southern Methodist this past weekend, and will surely be looking to capitalize on that success. The Boilermakers are led by No.1 player Jennifer Embry who took Irish star Michelle Dasso to three sets before succumbing last year.
"[Embry's] a real good player, at singles and at doubles," Louderback said. "She could hurt us."
After Embry, the Boilermakers will send Shannon Taheny to battle the Irish's Becky Varnum in No. 2 singles. Taheny is coming off a loss in her last match and will no doubt give Varnum all she can handle.
It's probable that the Irish will have already clinched the match when doubles play begins, but Louderback has been pleased with the pairs success of late and sees that portion of the match as important for his team, even if victory has is already clinched.
"We'll still be looking to improve in doubles," Louderback said. "Michelle and Becky have played real well lately, and Katie [Cunha] has played will with whoever she's played with."
His thought process seems wise. While focusing on the big picture he will still hope to have his team concentrate on the little things that might someday make that big picture a masterpiece.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, April 5, 2000
