The Irish came in second place at their first home-hosted tournament Sunday, defeating No. 46 DePaul 6-1 on Saturday and losing 5-2 to No. 17 North Carolina during the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Kick-Off Weekend for the 2010 season.
"We competed well, but we still have a long way to go from where we can be at the end of the year," sophomore Shannon Mathews said. "People missed a lot of match play they could have had in the fall due to injuries."
After topping each of the three teams in South Bend this weekend, including Notre Dame, DePaul and No. 33 Boise State, North Carolina was granted the opportunity to compete at the ITA National Indoor Championships at the University of Wisconsin in mid-February.
Competition started on Saturday as the Irish took on the Blue Demons. The No. 12 doubles team consisting of sophomore Kristy Frilling and senior Kali Krisik shocked the No. 9 first doubles pair from DePaul early on in the match, but an Irish loss in the second doubles competition left plenty of pressure for the third doubles team of Mathews and senior Colleen Rielley. Mathews and Rielley defeated DePaul 8-5, giving the Irish an early step up against the Blue Demons.
"DePaul had good doubles teams, and they're definitely going to surprise some teams in the coming season," Mathews said.
Singles play victories from Frilling, freshman Chrissie McGaffigan and seniors Cosmina Ciobanu, Krisik and Rielley finished out the remaining points for the Irish.
On Sunday, North Carolina handed the Irish their first lost of the 2010 season.
"[The Tarheels] were very intense, we gave them credit, and they came here with confidence," Mathews said. "They came out and were ready to play."
In the doubles competition, Frilling and Krisik won the first of the three matches but North Carolina and their three ranked doubles teams won the point by winning the following two matches. In the singles competition, Frilling and Krisik each beat Tarheels players for two total Irish points.
"I definitely think that if we get a chance to play them later in the season we could get a different result," Mathews said.
The women will next play at the University of Kansas on Feb. 5.
