Notre Dame heads east to take on No. 16 William and Mary
By KEVIN BERCHOU
Sports Writer
The cupcakes have been devoured. It's finally time for the main course.
After a series of matches against weaker opponents, the Notre Dame women's tennis team is ready to take on a national contender in what should be a valid test of the squad's progress this season.
Fourteenth-ranked Notre Dame will head east Sunday to battle the 16th-ranked William and Mary Tribe.
The Irish are excited about the prospect of facing a top team. For the last few weeks, they have been able to notch win after win without breaking a sweat. Finally Notre Dame will be tested.
"We try to approach every match the same," senior captain Kelly Zalinski said. "But with this match there is some extra motivation."
While Notre Dame enters the match not having played a nationally ranked opponent in nearly a month, William and Mary has faced a full slate of difficult matches.
The Tribe lost a close match to the third-ranked Deamon Deacons of Wake Forest last weekend, and will take on the ninth-ranked Longhorns of Texas just prior to tangling with the Irish.
Both squads are all too familiar with each other having met in the first round of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February.
The Irish upset the then-higher ranked Tribe 5-2, taking four of six singles matches in addition to winning the doubles point.
That match, however, took place inddors at a neutral site.
On Sunday, conditions for the Irish will be slightly more adverse as the match will be played outdoors on Tribal lands.
Since East Coast weather is so unpredictable at this time of year, weather could play a significant factor.
"Outdoor matches are always a struggle," Zalinski said. "They always depend on the weather."
If the Irish are to complete a sweep of the Tribe, junior Michelle Dasso will be leading the effort. Dasso is playing arguably the best tennis of her career, and her match against the Tribe's Carlijn Buis will set the tone for the day. Buis has been on a roll of late.
She has risen from being her squad's No. 3 singles to consistently competing against the opponent's top player at the No. 1 singles level.
Sopho-more Becky Varnum will play a key match against William and Mary's Delphine Troch in No. 2 singles.
Troch played No. 1 singles in the team's first meeting, falling to Dasso in straight sets.
It's highly probable that the match will be extremely close upon completion of the singles portion of play, making the doubles competition as important as ever.
"It's definitely going to come down to to doubles," Zalinksi said. "I think all of our singles players are capable of beating theirs, but overall both teams are equal."
Dasso and Varnum will battle the Tribe's top doubles pairing of Buis and Troch it what figures to be a huge match. The Dasso and Varnum coupling enters the match fresh off an upset win over Purdue's top doubles pairing.
With both teams solid at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, the match could very well hinge on the outcome of the top pairs match.
Both teams have much to gain. A win by either team would mean a significant boost in the national rankings, which are as crucial as ever with the NCAA tournament looming right around the corner.
"We've been really focused lately," Zalinski noted. "We'll be looking to keep that up."
All Sports Stories for Friday, April 7, 2000
