April 11, 2009
Head Coach Kleinecke
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Fourth-ranked Notre Dame capped its Senior Day with a 6-1 victory over No. 33 Texas A&M today at the Eck Tennis Pavilion indoor courts.
The Fighting Irish improve to 21-4 and pick up their sixth consecutive victory in the series against the Aggies.
The Aggies, who had their seven-match winning streak snapped at No. 20 Michigan on Thursday, suffer their second consecutive loss and fall to 11-8.
"It's been a tough weekend for us," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "We come up here and feel like we are going to come in and make a couple of shots, but we got beat two 6-1's. That's disappointing, but when looking from the match we played on Thursday to the match we played today, I felt like this was a lot better. Our attitudes were a lot better today, which allowed us to compete a lot harder. That was the big goal for me in this match today was to make sure we were giving ourselves that chance."
Prior to playing in their final regular season match, the Irish recognized seniors Kelcy Tefft and Katie Potts, the most successful senior class in school history, having led Notre Dame to a 97-19 record over the last four years. Notre Dame then gave the seniors their 98th victory before the day was over, winning all three doubles matches and five of six singles matches against the Aggies.
"Notre Dame is a great team," Kleinecke said. "The run that they have had the last four or five years has been amazing. The thing is that they don't beat you, but they don't beat themselves at all. They get everything back, and it is good solid play. They are a smart team. They know where to hit the ball, and I was very impressed with them."
All three doubles matches were close in the early going, but the Irish pulled away on all three courts and handed the Aggies only their second doubles sweep of the season. Cosmina Ciobanu and Kali Krisik gave Notre Dame the early edge with a win against Morgan Frank and Christi Liles at the No. 2 line. The score was knotted at 4-4 when the Irish duo reeled off four consecutive games to close out the match.
The third-ranked tandem of Tefft and Kristy Frilling clinched the point for Notre Dame, pulling away from a 3-3 tie to defeat Elzé Potgieter, 8-4, at No. 1. It was the first time Cuthbertson and Potgieter teamed up in doubles.
Shannon Mathews and Colleen Reilley completed the sweep, although the match came down to a tiebreaker. A&M's Stephanie Davidson and Sheri Olivier, also playing together for the first time, tied the match at 7-all to force the tiebreaker. The Aggies scored the first two points, but the Irish answered with five points in a row to take a 5-2 lead. A&M cut the score to 5-4 before Mathews and Rielley scored the next two points to secure the win and the sweep.
"In the doubles point, even though the scores seemed like they were a little more one-sided, we were right in there," Kleinecke said. "We had a great run at the doubles with two completely new teams."
Notre Dame picked up lopsided first-set wins on four of six courts to begin singles and went on to win those matches in straight sets. Frilling, ranked 36th in the nation in singles, finished off No. 112 Frank, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 2 line to put Notre Dame ahead, 2-0.
Lauren Santacroce then put A&M on the scoreboard and put a blemish on Potts' Senior Day with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 6. It would be the only point the Aggies would garner.
The Irish built a 3-1 lead as Ciobanu recorded a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Liles at the No. 3 line, and Mathews clinched the winning point, topping Cuthbertson, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4.
Krisik extended her winning streak to nine matches with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Olivier at No. 5 to put the Irish up 5-1.
Tefft, ranked No. 35 in singles, capped the match with a come-from-behind victory at the No. 1 line. After dropping the first set, 6-4, to Potgieter, Tefft evened the match with a 6-4 second-set win. With the team match already determined, the two played a 10-point super tiebreaker. Potgieter jumped out to a 5-1 lead and continued to lead at 8-4, but Tefft chipped away at the lead and tied the score at 8-8. Tefft then ran her scoring streak to six points as she clinched the tiebreaker, 10-8.
"Elzé did everything in her match but win that match," Kleinecke said. "I'm really proud of the effort that she showed and the fight and really just her demeanor out on the court and the way she composed herself in a tough situation playing a player that she doesn't like to play; that type of player, somebody that gets every ball back."
The Aggies play their final home match of the regular season Wednesday against fourth-ranked and Big 12-leader Baylor. First serve is at 6 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center, and Kleinecke is hoping for a large and electric Aggie crowd.
"Baylor is a step up from Notre Dame," Kleinecke said. "Baylor just beat them a couple of weeks ago. They're going to be a great, solid team. It is going to be our last home match. We want to get a good crowd out. It's A&M and Baylor and we just need to go have some fun. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so we are going to go out and take a great shot.
"We've got a great atmosphere and we want to showcase that again and have a great group out there against Baylor, because it does make a big difference to start the match. It sure helps your demeanor and helps your fight and everything throughout the match when things are tight or when they are tough for you. It is a big, big help for us."
Kleinecke also expressed his gratitude to the members of the Northeast Indiana A&M Club who supported and cheered on the Aggies at today's match.
"We had the Northeast Indiana A&M Club come out to the match today. We really appreciate it. We had a good Aggie contingency here in South Bend, so we really appreciate them coming out."
(4) Notre Dame 6, (33) Texas A&M 1
April 11, 2009
Eck Tennis Pavilion
Notre Dame, Ind.
Attendance: n/a
Singles
1. (35) Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. Elzé Potgieter (A&M), 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8)
2. (36) Kristy Frilling (ND) def. (112) Morgan Frank (A&M), 6-1, 6-1
3. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) def. Christi Liles (A&M), 6-2, 6-2
4. Shannon Mathews (ND) def. Janelle Cuthbertson (A&M), 6-1, 6-2
5. Kali Krisik (ND) def. Sheri Olivier (A&M), 6-1, 6-2
6. Lauren Santacroce (A&M) def. Katie Potts (ND), 6-1, 6-3
Doubles (Notre Dame wins the point)
1. (3) Frilling/Tefft (ND) def. Cuthbertson/Potgieter (A&M), 8-4
2. Ciobanu/Krisik (ND) def. Frank/Liles (A&M), 8-4
3. Mathews/Colleen Reilley (ND) def. Stephanie Davidson/Olivier (A&M), 8-7 (4)
Order of finish:
Doubles: 2, 1, 3
Singles: 2, 6, 3, 4*, 5, 1
*Clinched match
Team records:
Texas A&M: 11-8
Notre Dame: 21-4
2009 NCAA Tennis Championships: Texas A&M will host the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships, May 14-25, at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. Tickets can be purchased online at 12ManFoundation.com or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.