Notre Dame, Ind. (gomastodons.com) - In the tennis program's first ever appearance at the NCAA tournament, the IPFW women's tennis team fell short of an upset bid of Notre Dame on Friday afternoon, as the No. 5 seed Fighting Irish shutout the Mastodons 4-0 at the Courtney Tennis Complex in Notre Dame, Indiana.
With the win, Notre Dame will meet Boise State in second round of the tournament on Saturday morning. Earlier in the day, the Broncos cruised past Iowa in a competitive contest 4-1.
By falling to the Fighting Irish, IPFW ends the 2010 campaign with a 24-6 record. The loss was the first time this season IPFW was shutout.
Heading into the match as the heavy underdog, the Mastodons put on an impressive showing in front of many IPFW fans who traveled to the match, and the 171 in attendance.
In the doubles competition, Notre Dame moved ahead 1-0 in the contest after taking two of the three paired matches.
At No. 2 doubles, Cosmina Ciobanu and Shannon Mathews outplayed Katie Brien and Alex Forsyth 8-1, while Chrissie McGaffigan and Kristen Rafael sealed the the point with a No. 3 doubles win over Yuka Kobayashi and Raquel Vescovi 8-2. Kobayashi and Vescovi, who compiled the best Summit League record this season at 9-0, held a 2-1 early match advantage, before dropping the last seven games.
In singles, the Fighting Irish found three wins in the middle of the lineup to clinch the victory and move on to the second round. Notre Dame won each match in straight-set fashion.
In No. 2 singles, #108 Mathews got the best of Ingrid Ballus 6-0, 6-1. At No. 3 singles, McGaffigan won soundly over Vescovi 6-1, 6-0. To seal the win, Ciobanu defeated Brien 6-2, 6-0 in No. 4 singles.
When the match was halted, Recht was down in No. 1 singles, but battling Big East player of the year #16 Kritsy Frilling 4-6, 3-4. At No. 5 singles, Forsyth lost the first set 2-6, but led in the second set 3-2. Kobayashi was trailing in No. 6 singles to Rafael 2-6, 2-3.
#5 Notre Dame 4, IPFW 0
Singles
1. #16 Kristy Frilling (UND) vs. Amy Recht (IPFW) 6-4, 4-3, unfinished
2. #108 Shannon Mathews (UND) def. Ingrid Ballus (IPFW) 6-1, 6-0
3. Chrissie McGaffigan (UND) def. Raquel Vescovi (IPFW) 6-1, 6-0
4. Cosmina Ciobanu (UND) def. Katie Brien (IPFW) 6-2, 6-0
5. Kali Krisik (UND) vs. Alex Forsyth (IPFW) 6-2, 2-3, unfinished
6. Kristen Rafael (UND) vs. Yuka Kobayashi (IPFW) 6-2, 3-2, unfinished
Doubles
1. #3 Kristy Frilling/Kali Krisik (UND) vs. Ingrid Ballus/Amy Recht (IPFW) 7-2, unfinished
2. Cosmina Ciobanu/Shannon Mathews (UND) def. Katie Brien/Alex Forsyth (IPFW) 8-1
3. Chrissie McGaffigan/Kristen Rafael (UND) def. Yuka Kobayashi/Raquel Vescovi (IPFW) 8-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,3,4)
Courtesy: The Summit League