Tennessee Tops Notre Dame at Varsity Courts

Sunday, March 25

Knoxville

University of Tennessee

Notre Dame

March 25, 2001 | Women's Tennis

3/25/2001

Lady Vols upset Top 10 team for the second time in this week

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Coming off a grueling four-match road trip, where the team suffered its second loss of the season, the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteer tennis team returned to the friendly confines of the Varsity Courts on Sunday and rebounded from a narrow 4-3 loss to No. 5 Florida on Friday by upsetting No. 7 Notre Dame, 6-1.

"It was a great match for us after such a long, tiring road stretch," said co-head coach Mike Patrick. "We played like champions against a very tough Notre Dame team. It was fun to watch."

Alison Ojeda and
Crystal Cleveland

The No. 9 Lady Vols took an early lead in the match by taking the doubles point. The No. 3 doubles team of Agnes Wiski and Brooke Cordell were the first off the court with an 8-3 victory over Lindsey Green and Nina Vaughan. Crystal Cleveland and Alison Ojeda delivered the No. 2 spot, getting the better of Katie Cunha and Kim Guy, 8-4. In a tight No.1 tilt the No. 46 rated pair of Vilmarie Castellvi and Kim Gates fell to ND's No. 5 ranked duo of Michelle Dasso and Becky Varnum, 8-6.

Building on the momentum gained from doubles play, the Lady Vols took an early lead in singles portion of the match, going ahead by a set at the No.1, 2, 3 and 5 singles positions. Castellvi would finish off Vaughan first, taking the No. 3 match, 6-3, 6-1. Moments later, Gates wrapped up another Ladt Vol triumph at No. 2, dealing Varnum a 6-1, 6-2 defeat to put the Lady Vols ahead by a 3-0 margin.

Alison Ojeda

Ojeda upset the No. 3 rated Dasso to seal the match for Tennessee. After taking the first set at 6-1, Ojeda dealt Dasso 6-0 blanking in the final stanza.

With the match decided, Cleveland pulled out the No. 5 match with a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Green. Wiski mounted a comeback at the No. 4 position, defeating Caylan Leslie in a third-set tie-break. Wiski prevailed, 4-6, 6-4 (6).

Notre Dame is the second Top 10 team to be upset by the Lady Vols this week, as the squad previously stopped No. 6 North Carolina in Chapel Hill with a 5-2 decision on Wednesday. Co-head coaches Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick's squad improves to 15-2 overall and will return to SEC action on Wednesday. The Lady Vols, 4-1 in league play, will go for their third upset as they face No. 4 Vanderbilt (15-1). The match is slated to begin at 5 p.m. and will follow the University of Tennessee men's tennis match versus Kentucky.

Sunday's Results:Singles:1. #65 Alison Ojeda (UT) def #3 Michelle Dasso (ND) 6-1, 6-02. Kim Gates (UT) def Becky Varnum (ND)         6-1, 6-23. Vilmarie Castellvi (UT) def Nina Vaughan (ND)    6-3, 6-14. Agnes Wiski (UT) def Caylan Leslie (ND)      4-6, 6-4 (6)5. Crystal Cleveland (UT) def Lindsey Green (ND)    6-4, 6-46. Kim Guy (ND) def Brooke Cordell (UT)         6-3, 6-3Doubles:1. # 5 Dasso/Varnum (ND) def # 45 Castellvi/Gates (UT)  8-62. Cleveland/Ojeda (UT) def Katie Cunha/Guy(ND)     8-43. Cordell/Wiski (UT) def Green/Vaughn  (ND)        8-3