Seeing Double

Bishop Gorman graduates serve Notre Dame tennis

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Usually perceived as a football school, the University of Notre Dame is suddenly being recognized as a power in the sport of women's tennis, thanks in great part to a talented pair of twins, Catrina and Christian Thompson, who graduated from Bishop Gorman High School.

If form holds, the Fighting Irish's dynamic duo will be right in the thick of it, trying to help the Fighting Irish make some noise at the 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships being held this week at the Taube Tennis Center at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.

Under the direction of 17-year head coach Jay Louderback, the Fighting Irish team has put together its most successful season ever, going 24-1 in dual matches and earning a No. 2 ranking -- its highest ever -- in the nation by Fila/ITA in the women's collegiate rankings.

The team also has racked up 10 shutouts and four wins over top 25 programs.

Two of Louderback's biggest recruits, and the two that have done the most to put the women's tennis program in South Bend, Ind., on the map, are junior All-Americans Catrina and Christian.

"They've done not just a great job in doubles, but singles, too," Louderback said. "They're playing (No.) 1 and 2 singles for us and have both had some really big wins this year.

"All six singles players are very tough for us but a lot of times when you have depth it's hard sometimes to get someone really good at the top of your lineup, but they both have been very good. And they're both explosive enough that they can get a win at any time. They can beat anyone in the country at 1 or 2 (a team's individual singles rankings). They've played really well together."

The Thompsons' stellar play this season resulted in a No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, assuring that the duo will repeat as Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Americans and also marking an all-time program high at Notre Dame.

The 21-year-old sisters also boast a 22-4 doubles record, have gone 16-3 at No. 1 doubles by winning nine of their last 10 matches and are 8-2 against nationally ranked teams this season. They also were twice ranked No. 1 in the nation in doubles, another school precedent.

Catrina, who ranked No. 30 nationally in singles entering the postseason, said she was thrilled to get a chance to play in the NCAA tournament where she and Christian would be making an appearance in the doubles competition for a third straight year, something only the two Las Vegans can claim.

"I'm so excited. Last year we had a great team but we knew our chances were probably slim of making it to the round of 16 and like this year, everyone's so excited," said Catrina, who was named both the Big East Conference tourney MVP and the league's Most Outstanding Tournament Performer for a second straight year. "We have a sports psychologist that we see as a team. This is the first year we've done that. The other day he gave us this sheet on 10 things that make a team a champion. And he just went through it and it gave you chills just thinking that we really do have a chance as a team to win the national title."

Catrina, the older sister by 10 minutes, also talked about the possibility of trying to unseat two-time defending national champions and tournament hosts Stanford (24-0).

"It's pretty tough. They haven't lost a match in three years," Catrina said of the Cardinal. "If you look at them on paper, they are a level above everyone else. But when you get out there it's like anything can happen. Everyone on our team is playing so well that nobody wants to be the one that loses because we've all done so well, so we all push each other."

Christian, who earned All-American honors all four years at Gorman with Catrina as the two went undefeated throughout their prep career and helped the Gaels to three state titles playing under coach Gordon Hammond, was visualizing better things this year.

"We've lost in the round of 16 the last two years," Christian said. "We're hoping to get past that round this year."

Louderback, who ranks seventh among active NCAA coaches all-time with a 510-324 record, talked about how he found the fraternal twins, who he recruited to play for Notre Dame.

"I'd seen them at all the national tournaments. I get around in the summer and some in the winter and I saw them early when they were 15 years old," Louderback said. "They were already playing up in the 18-and-unders and I got a chance to watch them, and especially in doubles they were so good, and I thought they were very athletic and both compete very, very well. They were two that you knew would be really good college players."

The twins' start in the sport all began with an advertisement for free tennis lessons from the Nevada Tennis Association in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

They were just 6 years old when they began receiving instruction from Craig Witcher, who is now the tennis instructor at Lorenzi Park and the boys coach at Gorman.

"When we first started off there was like a free camp at Sunset Park and Craig Witcher took us under his wing and we were with him for three to four years," Catrina said. "He started us basically. My dad saw an ad for free lessons in the newspaper ... And then after Craig, we went with Rita Agassi, Andre's sister, and we were with her for about five years. And then for the past like six years we've been with Ken Shioi, who is the head pro out at TPC (Tournament Players Club at the Canyons). He has helped us so much with doubles."

Besides a great deal of help from the good tennis souls in Sin City, which besides Hammond, Witcher, Rita Agassi and Shioi, also include Johnny Lane, Marty Hennessy, Bill Pollack, Adolph Huddleston, Luther Bohannan, Ryan Wolfington and Randy Grosso, the Thompson twins -- who both received full-ride scholarships to attend Notre Dame -- also have received support from their parents, Bob, a retired attorney, and, Mary, who works for the Clark County School District.

"Our parents have been so supportive and unbelievable," said Catrina, who was one of the valedictorians in her graduating class at Gorman. "I think they have given up, you know, doing probably what they would want to do with the rest of their lives just to make sure that we can be as successful as we can be."

Asked if it has been a natural thing to play with the same partner her entire tennis career, Christian said it was.

"I think we've only had maybe one or two different partners, if one of us was injured," Christian said. "We've been partners our whole lives."

She said it's easy for both of them to criticize each other because neither one takes it too personally.

"That's what's absolutely great about playing with Catrina. She has an understanding of if I'm telling her what I think she's doing wrong, she'll listen to me and normally try to change it."

Catrina had an even more confident opinion of the duo's doubles game.

"We know that going into the match the only way we will lose is if we get on each other," Catrina said.

Both players said they enjoy playing for Louderback, who has slowly but surely made the Fighting Irish a force in women's tennis.

"He's unbelievable. We're so lucky to have a coach like him," Catrina said. "He cares so much about everybody on the team. Me and Christian are so thankful to be playing for him. He's just a great guy."

In doubles this season, the Thompsons served notice early and made a little history when they beat a team from Fresno State University, 9-8 (9-7), in the finals of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, the first Grand Slam of the 2005-06 season and the first-ever collegiate Grand Slam championship ever won by Notre Dame.

With a great deal of confidence and momentum heading into the postseason, the Thompsons would love nothing more than to win the collegiate doubles championship -- Catrina is also playing in the singles competition -- and help Notre Dame upset Stanford.

"We've got to get there first," said Louderback. "I think right now, Stanford is the No. 1 team in the country and then from 2 to 30 it's anybody's match, anybody could win. The tough thing is going to be getting to the finals because there are so many good teams."

Besides trying to win the team national crown, which would be a first at Notre Dame, the Thompsons also are hoping to get a chance to face off against Stanford's top-ranked doubles team of Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey, who carried a 35-3 doubles mark into the postseason.

With a perfect 11-0 record in outdoors doubles matches this season, the Thompsons should be up for the task should the potential showdown transpire.

Christian already had thought it out.

"If we get the opportunity to play the game outside in California, which is exactly where the All-Americas was, I think that it will be a good match," she said.

Catrina also relishes the thought.

"We would really look forward to that," she said. "The first time we played them we won and the last time we played them we got our butts kicked, so we're looking for a little revenge."

The NCAA finals began May 18 and will run through Monday at Stanford.

The singles tournament serves up today while the doubles tournament begins Wednesday with both tourneys progressing one round each day.

Both the women's singles and doubles finals will be held Sunday and will be televised live on The Tennis Channel, Cox Communications Channel 333.