Notre Dame travels to Tobacco Road this weekend to take on two ACC tennis powerhouses. The No. 22-ranked Irish will face their toughest challenge to date in the spring season against the strong opponents.
After defeating both Ohio State and Xavier 7-0 on Jan. 28, the team remains unbeaten but also largely untested up to this point.
Despite the quality of the competition, Notre Dame made a statement in its first weekend of competition. The team dropped just 18 games in its 15 sets in the two easy wins.
The Irish first face the ITA No. 25 Demon Deacons of Wake Forest Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C. The next day, the team makes the short trip to Chapel Hill to take on another ranked opponent, No. 10 North Carolina.
In both matches the Irish will look for big performances from standout juniors Catrina and Christian Thompson, as well as senior Kristina Statsny, who already has racked up eight wins.
Another key will be the play of the underclassmen. Freshmen Kelcy Tefft and Katie Potts both produced comfortable wins in their debuts last weekend.
The weekend match-ups will prove crucial in shaping the team's mindset for the rest of the season.
