WICHITA - Nationally-ranked Shocker sophomore Lutfiana Budiharto rallied to beat her ranked Fighting Irish counterpart on Sunday afternoon, but No. 3 Notre Dame shook off her effort to claim the 6-1 win.
Facing their third ranked opponent in four matches, the Shockers played host to the No. 3 team in the country, Notre Dame, on Sunday afternoon to wrap up the Shocker Classic at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex.
Led by head coach Jay Louderback, older brother of Shocker men's tennis coach, Brad Louderback, the Fighting Irish flexed their muscle as a national tennis power on Sunday, sweeping the doubles point and taking five of the six singles matches. The Irish did not, however, get them easily from a resilient and determined Shocker squad.
"We were in the fight today against a Top-5 team," head coach Colin Foster said. "We competed very well in singles and doubles. Although we have a lot of work to do in conference first, hopefully we will get another chance against a team of this caliber come NCAA Tournament time."
Playing together for just the second time this season, senior Florentina Hanisch and freshman Iasmine Carpen couldn't find a groove against Chrissie McGaffigan and Kristen Rafael in the No. 3 match, falling 8-1. No. 22 Stephanie Dalmacio and Delia Damaschin fought the No. 4 doubles tandem in the country, but couldn't couldn't hold off Kristy Frilling and Kali Krisick at the top spot, 8-3.
Shannon Mathews and Cosmina Ciobanu completed the sweep against Budiharto and senior Lenore Lazaroiu, winning 8-4.
Budiharto highlighted the Shockes' singles play. Playing in the No. 2 position for the first time this season, No. 34 Budiharto bounced back from a 6-2 first set loss and tied the match with a 6-4 victory in the second set against No. 108 Mathews. With the match already decided, the duo played a super tiebreaker set, where Budiharto chalked up the 10-5 win.
"Lutfi has had a small rough streak during this last week and a half," Foster said. "She played very well today against another tough opponent."
Taking the 1-0 lead with them from doubles play, the Fighting Irish jumped out to a hot start in singles. Krisik took the No. 6 match from Shocker sophomore Lily Wakim, 6-0, 6-0 while Dalmacio fell in the No. 1 spot to No. 14 Frilling, 6-1, 6-1 to push UND's lead to 3-0.
Damaschin tallied a few more games, but couldn't stop Ciobanu in the No. 4 match, 6-3, 6-1 to seal the win in Notre Dame's favor. Hanisch faltered against Rafael at the No. 5 spot, 6-1-, 6-1 before Budiharto's victory came through to prevent the sweep.
Lazaroiu hung with McGaffigan at the No. 3 spot, before falling in close sets, 6-4, 7-5.
Wichita State is in action again next Saturday, April 3, for a doubleheader at home. They take on Northern Iowa at 10 am and break until the 6 pm match against Marquette.
Singles Results
1. No. 14 Kristy Frilling (UND) def. Stephanie Dalmacio (WSU), 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 34 Lutfiana Budiharto (WSU) def. No. 108 Shannon Mathews (UND), 2-6, 6-4, 10-5
3. Chrissie McGaffigan (UND) def. Lenore Lazaroiu (WSU), 6-4, 7-5
4. Cosmina Ciobanu (UND) def. Delia Damaschin (WSU), 6-3, 6-1
5. Kristen Rafael (UND) def. Florentina Hanisch (WSU), 6-1, 6-1
6. Kali Krisik (UND) def. Lily Wakim (WSU), 6-0, 6-0
Doubles Results
1. No. 4 Frilling/Krisik (UND) def. No. 22 Dalmacio/Damaschin (WSU), 8-3
2. Mathews/Ciobanu (UND) def. Lazaroiu/Budiharto (WSU), 8-4
3. McGaffigan/Rafael (UND) def. Carpen/Hanisch (WSU), 8-1
-Wichita State-
