Orange Finishes Runner-Up at BIG EAST Championship

Saturday, April 23

Tampa, FL

11:00 a.m.

Syracuse University

BIG EAST Tournament vs. Notre Dame

Sophomore Katie Bramante was winning her match No. 5 singles when match was decided.

Orange Finishes Runner-Up at BIG EAST Championship

4/23/2005 5:25:06 PM | Tennis

TAMPA, FLA. – The No. 3 seed Syracuse women’s tennis team finished second at the 2005 BIG EAST Championship with a 4-0 loss to No. 1 seed and 25th-ranked Notre Dame in the championship final on Saturday, April 23. It was the Orange’s first appearance in the championship final since 1995, when Syracuse finished as runner-up.

Notre Dame earned the first point of the day winning the doubles point. The Irish continued to collect points in singles action, winning the three points needed for the 4-0 win.

Sophomore Katie Bramante was ahead in her match when the match was decided. Bramante was winning, 6-1, 4-4, at the No. 5 position against Kiki Stastny. At the No. 2 position, after losing the first set, 6-2, Catherine Zawadzki was about to win the second set, 5-3, and force a third set.

The title marked Notre Dame’s sixth championship title in 11 years of BIG EAST play. With the win, Notre Dame receives the conference’s automatic big to the NCAA tournament.

The Orange finished the season with a 14-8 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the BIG EAST. It is the most wins by an Orange tennis team since the 1999-2000 season when Syracuse finished 16-6.

Results:

No. 1 Notre Dame def. No. 3 Syracuse, 4-0
Doubles

Catrina Thompson/Christian Thompson (ND) def. Victoria Vaynberg/Catherine Zawadzki (SU) 8-3*

Brook Buck/Lauren Connelly (ND) def. Wei-Ming Leong/Katie Bramante (SU) 8-2

Sarah Jane Connelly/Kiki Stastny (ND) vs. Ashley Lipton/Carolina Huignard (SU) 7-4 (DNF)

Singles
Catrina Thomspon (ND) def. Victoria Vaynberg (SU) 6-3, 6-1*

Brook Buck (ND) vs. Catherine Zawadzki (SU) 6-2, 3-5 (DNF)

Christian Thomspon (ND) def. Ashley Lipton (SU) 6-1, 6-3

Lauren Connelly (ND) vs. Carolina Huignard (SU) 6-2, 5-2 (DNF)

Katie Bramante (SU) vs. Kiki Stastny (ND) 6-1, 4-4 (DNF)

Sarah Jane Connelly (ND) def. Pearly Leung (SU) 6-3, 6-1

* Denotes deciding match