Juniors Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews traveled to Pacific Palisades, Calif., to represent the Notre Dame women's tennis team this week at the Riviera/All-American Championships.
Mathews dropped her opening singles match Tuesday as she fell to Florida's Joanna Mather (6-0, 6-2) and moved on to play USC's Reka Zsilinska in the consolation bracket. Frilling will begin singles play in the main singles draw, and then meet back up with Mathews for the main doubles draw Thursday.
"We played together a few times last year, and we won all our matches," Frilling said. "We're really excited to play together this year."
Frilling's eager anticipation for the tournament was evident.
"I'm really excited for this weekend," Frilling said. "It's going to be good to get geared up for the season. It's really good competition, so we'll be playing the best players in the country. I'll be able to prove that I belong there."
The trip to the West Coast represents the first away match for the Irish thus far. Last weekend, the Irish competed in the Eck Tennis Classic at home and took home two singles titles and one doubles title in the process.
Frilling will look to continue her history of domination in doubles play. Last season, she and her partner, then-senior Kali Krisik, posted a 25-0 record in the duals season, good for No. 1 in the nation. Mathews switched around partners a good deal, but also had an impressive season in doubles. She went 2-0 with Frilling, 4-1 with sophomore Chrissie McGaffigan, and 3-3 with then-senior Colleen Reilly.
Although Frilling has a high ranking and there is much expected from her, she is not going into the weekend with her sights set too high. Rather than setting impossible goals, she just wants to play the best tennis possible. If the past is any predictor, that will be enough for a strong showing, if not a win.
"I'm not going to go in expecting that I'm going to win," Frilling said. "I just want to go out there and play."
The remainder of Notre Dame's team is still on campus preparing for Regional Qualifying in Ann Arbor, Mich., hosted by the University of Michigan on Oct. 21-22.
