year assistant coach Kelcy Flores will have at their disposal. Four newcomers will take the court with Notre Dame for the first time during the fall tournament schedule. Sophomore Molly O’Koniewski joins the Fighting Irish after a stellar freshman season at the University of Virginia, where she compiled a 16-9 record in singles and a 14-8 mark in doubles play. While O’Koniewski is the only addition with prior collegiate experience, the freshmen class arrives with accolades in tow. Quinn Gleason was a key member of three straight undefeated New York State Section 5 Championship teams at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School. Gleason also earned all-state honors on three occasions and was the No. 2-ranked recruit in the state as a senior. Julie Vrabel claimed the doubles championship and finished in the top-five at the 2011 United States Tennis Association 18s National Open. Vrabel added a runner-up finish at the USTA 18s National Winter Championships. Local product Darby Mountford rounds out the team’s additions following a standout career at Saint Joseph High School in nearby Granger, Ind. Mountford earned both all-state and academic allstate first team honors as a senior team captain, posting a perfect 23-0 combined record in 2012. “There’s a good chance that we will be deeper this year than we were a year ago,” Louderback says. “We may not be quite as good at the top of the lineup as we were last year, but our overall depth could be much stronger, which is key.” The Fighting Irish open the 2012-13 season at the adidas Hoosier Classic Sept. 28-30 in Bloomington, Ind. Individual players who qualify will travel to the ITA All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Los Angeles the weekend of Oct. 2-7. The USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships (Oct. 18-23) in Urbana, Ill. is the only other event on the schedule in October. Fighting Irish players participating at the tournament will look
to earn a bid to the National Individual Indoor Championships Nov. 8-11 in New York City. Notre Dame players not entered in the National Individual Indoor Championships will travel to either the Western Michigan Invitational in Kalamazoo, Mich., or the Lakewood Ranch Invitational in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., during the weekend of Nov. 9-11 to close the fall schedule. Dual matches begin for the Fighting Irish in January, as Bowling Green (Jan. 18) travels to the Eck Tennis Pavilion for the season’s home opening contest. Notre Dame then heads to Illinois on Jan. 20 before taking part in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Jan. 26-27 in Lincoln, Neb. Georgia Tech, Tennessee and host Nebraska are also scheduled to participate in the tournament. “The winner of the kick-off classic in Lincoln goes to the National Team Indoor Championships,” Louderback says. “The four of us were all in the top-25 last year, and the level of competition will be great for us because it will basically be like the National Team Indoor Championships before the actual tournament.” The month of February opens with the Irish hosting Tennessee (Feb. 2) at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Showdowns at Iowa (Feb. 4) and the potential appearance at the National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. (Feb. 8-11) set the stage for a home tilt with Purdue Feb. 15. The remainder of the month will see Notre Dame travel to Northwestern Feb. 17, host Baylor Feb. 22, visit in-state foe Indiana Feb. 24 and return home Feb. 28 against Western Michigan. The Fighting Irish open their first multimatch homestand of the dual slate when they entertain DePaul March 2 and Duke March 3. Non-conference trips to Georgia (March 12), UAB (March 14) and Georgia Tech (March 16) follow before Notre Dame returns home to host Michigan (March 27). The Irish close the month at Tulsa on March 30. The trek toward the postseason heats up in April, when Notre Dame opens the month in Milwaukee, Wis., against Marquette (April 2). The Fighting Irish
then close the 2012-13 home slate April 7 against Memphis. A swing through the “Sunshine State,” with matches at Central Florida (April 13) and South Florida (April 14), caps Notre Dame’s regular season schedule. The BIG EAST Championships will be held April 18-21 in Tampa, Fla. The first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships will take place May 11-12 at selected campus sites. The 2013 Women’s Division I Tennis Championships is scheduled for May 17-27 at the Khan Outdoor Complex and Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. “Numerous players have stepped up for us in past years, and I think our junior class, in particular, has that potential this season,” Louderback says. “We’ve worked hard this summer, and many of them have already played against top competition and watched the seniors before them. You hope that as they get older, they continue to improve.”
Quinn Gleason is one of three freshmen, and four overall newcomers, who could immediately become regular contributors for Notre Dame.
2012-13 WoMen’s Tennis
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