Veteran who has been a key part in Notre Dame's lineups throughout her career ... will serve as team captain in her final season, combining with older sister Sarah Jane (`04-05 captain) to be the first Irish tennis sister captains (just the fifth sister captain duo at ND in any sport) ... has played No. 2 doubles throughout most of her career and has filled the No. 4 singles slot in each of the last two campaigns ... has been one of the most prolific doubles players for the Irish, posting 74-32 (.698) mark, including 49-21 (.700) in dual action ... on pace to finish among top five in Notre Dame history in overall doubles wins and doubles dual-match victories ... well-tested in clutch situations, having played 11 career three-set matches with the dual-match outcome yet to be determined (5-6 record, four straight wins), including four with the score tied 3-3 (1-3 record) ... also has been the final doubles match on court with the point undecided on 10 occasions (6-4 record) ... aggressive player with one of the top backhands on the Irish ... great competitor who likes to come to net, where she is effective ... has concentrated greatly on her serve, which is a key to her game  ... becomes more aggressive in crunch time ... likes to grind and make opponent hit a lot of balls ... smart doubles player who puts the ball where it needs to be with consistency ... streaky player in singles ... twice named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team in doubles (2003 and `05) ... leads all current Notre Dame players in career victories in both singles (59) and doubles (74) ... holds 26-13 career singles record at home, as opposed to 33-31 on the road ... is 54-8 when winning the opening set ... has rallied to win after dropping the opening set five times ... is 8-1 against BIG EAST Conference opposition ... holds 8-7 record in three-set affairs, as well as 19-16 mark in close matches ...  holds 37-16 career mark in doubles against the Midwest Region ... boasts 5-1 record in doubles in NCAA tournament action, which has her tied for the Irish record for doubles wins in the event (2002 graduates Becky Varnum and Lindsey Green also were 5-1) ... outstanding academic performer carries 3.685 cumulative grade-point average, second-best on the Irish ... is a member of Notre Dame's Academic Honors Program for Student-Athletes ... the first Irish player ever to be an ITA Scholar Athlete on three occasions ... team recipient of the Knute Rockne Student Athlete Award in 2004-05  as team's top academic performer ... three-time monogram winner.

AS A JUNIOR: Again played a key role for the Irish in both singles and doubles, combining for 49 victories in 2004-05 ... played Nos. 3-5 in singles, going 12-11 ... paired with Brook Buck for outstanding season in doubles, posting 27-12 overall record, including 16-9 in dual action at No. 2 ... their victory total is the third-highest ever by an Irish team in a season and they were briefly ranked 59th nationally ... upset #48 Muth/Wei from William & Mary and #36 Prousis/Roemer from Northwestern in April, which led to their entry into the national rankings ... won 9-7 over Anderson/Durkin from #17 Harvard in final match on court to give ND doubles point in
4-3 loss to the Crimson ... lost tiebreaker to #52 Prousis/Roemer in last
match remaining to give Northwestern the doubles point in second round of NCAA tournament ... also lost in that situation against #6 Vanderbilt and Illinois ... clinched doubles point six times, including against Wake Forest, #6 Duke, UNLV, and Iowa in the first round of the NCAAs ... also had victories against Michigan and Indiana ... posted 11-3 record during fall ... began with 9-1 mark before losing to nation's eighth-ranked team (from Michigan) in the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Championships ... were 10-4 at home and 17-8 on the road ... notched 18-7 mark indoors and 13-6 record against teams from the Midwest Region ... was a clutch performer for the Irish in singles, going 11-3 in close matches, including 5-3 in three-set affairs (4-2 with the dual-match outcome still undecided) ... was 3-1 at No. 3, 7-10 at No. 4, and 2-0 at No. 5 ... biggest win of the season was 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Brianna Knue in final match on court to hand Notre Dame a 4-3 win at Illinois ... lost third-set tiebreaker against #96 Saras Arasu in last match remaining against #5 Duke ... two days later, again dropped a three-setter with the team score tied 3-3, this time losing to Sara Anundsen from #9 North Carolina ... had three-set victory against #16 William & Mary in Notre Dame's 4-3 upset victory ... won three-setter to clinch tight 5-2 win at UNLV ... also clinched victory against Iowa ... started spring with four consecutive victories, including against #6 Vanderbilt, #20 Michigan, and Wake Forest ... posted 10-2 record during the fall, including seven straight wins to open the season ... first defeat came against Illinois' Momei Qu in the opening round of the ITA Midwest Championships ... had a six-match winning streak covering her final two fall matches and first four of the spring ... went 11-3 at home and 11-10 on the road ... posted 19-2 mark when taking the opening set ... was 16-7 indoors and 6-6 outside.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Was a key player for the Irish in 2003-04 ... finished 15-16 in singles, including 10-11 in dual action, all at No. 4 ... led Irish in doubles victories, finishing with a 26-8 mark, including 18-5 in dual matches at No. 2 ... played all but three matches with Alicia Salas, combining to become a virtually automatic win, going 24-7 together, including a nine-match winning streak to end the spring ... ranked as high as 36th in the national rankings and fifth in the region (finished 11th) ... that duo compiled a 41-16 career record together ... started spring with seven consecutive wins, then lost four in a row, but followed that up with 11 wins in final 12 matches ... after 8-6 loss at #9 North Carolina on March 28, did not lose the rest of the season ... had four clinching wins ... clinched doubles point in 4-3 upset of #14 VCU that snapped the Rams' 40-match home winning streak and 38-match regular-season winning streak ... won tiebreaker in final match on court to win doubles point vs. Purdue ... clinched doubles point against Iowa in first round of NCAA tournament ... other top wins came against Michigan, #20 BYU, Wake Forest, #18/26 Miami (twice), William & Mary, #14 Texas, and #11/9 Northwestern (twice) ... posted 12-3 mark against regional foes ... had 6-2 record in fall play ... reached quarterfinals of ITA Midwest Championships before losing to #28 Schlukebir/Tran of Indiana ... advanced to semifinals of adidas Invitational before falling to #2 Magley/Reyes of Florida ... clinched doubles point in 4-3 exhibition win against USC ... had a streaky season in singles ... won first seven matches of spring before losing seven straight and then winning three in a row prior to a four-match skid to end the season ... was one of Notre Dame's hottest players in first month of season, winning 14 of 15 sets, including victories against Michigan and VCU ... lost key three-setter to Cynthya Goulet in Irish defeat against Illinois ... snapped losing streak against Marquette and followed that up with wins against Miami and William & Mary ... dropped third-set tiebreaker against Jamie Peisel in 4-3 loss to Northwestern ... Peisel then won in straight sets to clinch the Wildcats' win in the second round of the NCAA tournament ... in fall, began 4-1 and lost four of five to finish first semester ... highlight was a 6-1, 6-3 upset of #65 Amy Wei of William & Mary en route to finishing fourth in the blue flight of the Kentucky Fall Classic ... played No. 3 in exhibition match against USC ... fell in opening round of ITA Midwest Championships against #42 Jessica Rush of Northwestern ... reached quarterfinals of "das" flight in adidas Invitational.

AS A FRESHMAN: Was one of a trio of freshmen to contribute immediately for the Irish in 2002-03 ... posted 22-15 singles record, including 14-10 in dual matches, playing the bottom three positions ... started the spring at No. 4, winning first match before dropping three straight ... split time between Nos. 5 and 6 the rest of the season, posting 8-3 mark at the latter ... had four clinching victories ... fell to Amy Trefethen at No. 5 with match tied 3-3 vs. Kentucky ... following that match, won 11 of final 15 matches ... had victories in 4-3 wins against BYU and in the BIG EAST Championship vs. Miami ... also notched wins against Wake Forest, #13 Texas, #7 Arizona State, and #24 Illinois ... two wins over ranked opponents highlighted strong fall season ... upended #52 Jessica Rush of Northwestern in the adidas Invitational before knocking off #69 Erica Fisk of Ohio State in the first round of the Omni Hotels ITA Midwest Championships ... reached final in blue flight of Eck Classic before losing to teammate Alicia Salas ... was 20-3 when winning the first set ... in doubles, finished 21-12, including team's best dual-match record, 15-7, playing mostly No. 2 ... played with Alicia Salas in all but one dual match, filling the No. 2 slot during the regular season before moving up to No. 1 in the postseason ... the pair was 17-9 together, including 14-7 in the spring, and was listed 11th in the Midwest Region ... 59th in the final national rankings ... ended the season on a high note, upsetting a pair of top-15 teams in the NCAA team tournament ... downed Missouri's #15 Juric/Sevikova in the first round before upsetting #3 Riske/Tsoubanos of Vanderbilt ... posted 5-1 record as final match on court with the doubles point still undecided, winning against Wisconsin, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio State, and Missouri ... also had wins vs. Wake Forest, Texas, Arizona State, William & Mary, and Illinois ... did not lose in a midseason month-long span, winning seven in a row ... earned all-tournament honors in BIG EAST Championship ... the pair was 3-2 in fall play, winning one match in the Midwest Championships and finishing fifth in the Eck Classic ... played with Katie Cunha vs. Indiana, providing clinching win at No. 1 ... the two teamed up for a pair of matches in the fall adidas Invitational ... opened the season winning three of four matches with Emily Neighbours in the OSU/Prince Cup.

IN NON-COLLEGIATE ACTION: Teamed with Alicia Salas to win doubles title in '03 ITA summer circuit event at Notre Dame ... reached final in singles before losing to Frederika Girsang of Western Michigan.

HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Had great success in national juniors doubles tournaments, capturing one title (Super National Indoors), earning a pair of runner-up results, and also finishing third on two occasions ... did not lose a set in four years of high school tennis, posting four consecutive undefeated seasons and a 76-0 record ... won four team and four individual state titles (one at No. 1 singles and three at No. 2, playing behind sister) ... ranked #3 in doubles in USTA national 18s rankings, as well as 58th in singles ... listed 25th among '02 high school graduates in U.S. ... ranked No. 1 in Missouri Valley section junior rankings in 2001 ... appeared in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" in May 27, 2002, issue ... named team MVP senior season after earning co-MVP honors with sister twice ... served as team captain as a senior ... joined sister as only two three-time girls' high school players of the year in Oklahoma City ... defeated Tiffany Smith in '02 state final, avenging sister's only state tournament defeat ... named all-city four times and all-state as a senior ... was a member of National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes ... sister Sarah Jane completed her career with the Irish tennis team in 2004-05 ... one of just six pairs of sisters to play on the Irish women's tennis team at the same time, including teammates Catrina and Christian Thompson ... brother Andy is a sophomore on the Tulsa tennis team and father Jim played baseball at Oklahoma State ... three uncles graduated from Notre Dame ... cousins J. Robert and Joe Ross Merritt play basketball for Samford ... from same area as former Irish athletes Jennifer Hall (tennis) and Tom Sullivan (football) ... born January 26, 1984, in Oklahoma City, Okla. ... named an ITA Scholar Athlete and BIG EAST Academic All-Star in each of first three seasons ... named to Dean's List twice in first year and again in spring 2004 ... posted 3.933 grade-point average in the fall of '02 ... a member of the Notre Dame's Academic Honors Program for Student Athletes ... boasts a 3.685 cumulative GPA, second-best on the Irish ... enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business as a marketing major with a minor in theology.