Juniors Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews enjoyed some success over the weekend, reaching the quarterfinals in doubles at the Riviera/ITA All American Championships.
Frilling made it to the quarterfinal round in singles as well, where she fell to the nations' top-ranked player, University of California junior Jana Juricova.
The duo began doubles action by beating junior Vicky Brook and senior Lindsay Clark of Yale, 8-3.
"Our doubles match went really well," Frilling said. "We were up and had a lot of chances, and I think Shannon and I will only get better the more we practice and get used to playing with each other."
That win matched them with senior Mari Anderson and Juricova of California, the top overall seed in the week's bracket and the top team in the nation, who defeated the Irish tandem 8-6.
"I was really happy with how we played, despite not playing with each other that much previously," Frilling said. "We also had a lot of chances to win the match against Cal, and I think by the time season rolls around we will be able to pull out those matches.
In singles play, Mathews fell 6-0, 6-2 in the first round against Florida junior Joanna Mather. She was set to play a consolation game against USC sophomore Valeria Pulido on Wednesday, but the match conflicted with the doubles match with Frilling. Frilling beat Stanford sophomore Mallory Burdette 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, before falling to Juricova in the quarterfinals.
"[Irish coach Jay Louderback] and I talked about how if I am going to win these tournaments instead of making quarters, etc., that I need to work on taking advantage of my opportunities, not playing scared and playing smart and consistent," Frilling said. "Sometimes I go into lapses of games where I just give away points, and if I want to be top I have to eliminate those errors."
The Irish will resume action Oct. 21, when they will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for regional qualifying.
