Women's Tennis Takes Down No. 3 Notre Dame

Friday, March 12

Puerto Rico

9:00 a.m.

Duke University

Notre Dame

Zsilinszka Captures Title at Fab Four Invite

Women's Tennis Takes Down No. 3 Notre Dame

3/12/2010 4:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-After a rain delay and numerous hours on the court, the seventh-ranked Duke women's tennis team came away with a convincing 5-2 victory over No. 3 Notre Dame this afternoon in Humacao, Puerto Rico. The win avenged the Blue Devils' loss to the Fighting Irish in 2009.

Notre Dame (12-2) captured the first point of the match, winning first and third doubles for the one point lead. However, the Blue Devils roared back in singles play, winning four of its five matches in straight sets. In the five victories, Duke (11-2) lost just a combined 22 games.

"We got off to a good start at singles," head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "We talked about before singles that we have to be willing to pay the price to stay on the court. We need to chase down every shot and be patient and make Notre Dame come up with shots. And when the opportunity came to finish points we did a really good job. This was one of our best matches this year."

Freshman Mary Clayton was the first off the court for the Blue Devils, breezing past Kristen Rafael in the No. 6 spot 6-3, 6-0. Clayton improves to 10-3 overall on the season and evened the score for the Blue Devils.

Duke quickly ran the score to 3-1 with victories from sophomore Monica Gorny and senior Elizabeth Plotkin. Gorny cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Kali Krisik for her eighth win of the year, while Plotkin continued her outstanding play, upending 92nd-ranked Shannon Mathews 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2.

The Fighting Irish garnered one point back at the No. 4 position with a win from Cosmina Ciobanu over Duke's Amanda Granson. With two matches remaining, 45th-ranked Reka Zsilinszka clinched the win as she dominated No. 90 Chrissie McGaffigan 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3.

Junior Ellah Nze rounded out the match for the Blue Devils with a thrilling 6-4, 6-7, 10-6 win over previously unbeaten and 14th-ranked Kristy Frilling at the No. 1 spot. The win is Nze's 10th dual match victory and her second over a top 20 opponent this spring.

"I knew she was an aggressive player who can make shots," Nze said. "I just wanted to stay out on the court with her and I was able to come through in the end. I stayed loose and it helped after Reka [Zsilinszka] clinched the match. I knew she was as tired as I was and at the end I just kept telling myself to get to 10 points and you can relax."

The Blue Devils will have another 12-day layoff before hosting top-ranked Northwestern on March 24 at 5 p.m., at Ambler Tennis Stadium.

"This was a really good win for the team," Ashworth said. "Especially looking ahead to Northwestern, it reaffirms the team's belief of how good they are and how good they can be."

#7 Duke 5, #3 Notre Dame 2
Mar 12, 2010 at Humacao, Puerto Rico

Singles competition

1. #69 Ellah Nze (DU) def. #14 Kristy Frilling (ND) 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 (10-6)

2. #64 Elizabeth Plotkin (DU) def. #92 Shannon Mathews (ND) 6-2, 6-1

3. #45 Reka Zsilinszka (DU) def. #90 Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) 6-1, 6-0

4. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) def. #102 Amanda Granson (DU) 6-4, 6-2

5. #125 Monica Gorny (DU) def. Kali Krisik (ND) 6-3, 6-1

6. Mary Clayton (DU) def. Kristen Rafael (ND) 6-3, 6-0

Doubles competition

1. #3 Kristy Frilling/Kali Krisik (ND) def. Ellah Nze/Amanda Granson (DU) 8-2

2. Elizabeth Plotkin/Reka Zsilinszka (DU) vs. Shannon Mathews/Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) 4-4, unfinished

3. Cosmina Ciobanu/Colleen Rielley (ND) def. Monica Gorny/Jessica Stiles (DU) 8-3