The Irish closed out their regular season the same way they started - with a pair of shutouts.
No. 2 Notre Dame earned its ninth and tenth 7-0 victories with wins over DePaul and Marquette this weekend at the Courtney Tennis Center.
Junior Christian Thompson attributed the wins to team members' dedication to each other.
"Our team is led by a strong tradition and the best friendships," she said. "We have performed well as a team all season and have not been focusing on personal achievements. [Two consecutive shutouts] was a great way to finish the regular season [heading into the Big East Tournament]."
In their match against Marquette Sunday, the Irish managed the impressive win without their No. 1 singles and doubles player Catrina Thompson.
"She is someone the team greatly admires," freshman Katie Potts said. "So we had to really focus [against Marquette]."
The Irish claimed their 23rd consecutive doubles point by sweeping all three matches against the Golden Eagles.
The No. 39 pairing of sophomore Brook Buck and freshman Kelcy Tefft downed Marquette's twosome of sophomore Maria Calbeto and junior Francina Bonnelly 8-2 at No. 1.
Following at No. 2, the senior duo of Lauren Connelly and Kiki Stastny enjoyed an 8-0 shutout over Golden Eagles junior Dominika Dabrowski and freshman Robin Metzler.
The final win for the Irish came from senior Kelly Nelson and Christian Thompson in their 8-4 win over junior Kathleen Donovan and sophomore Erin Watkins.
"Their team was good because they pushed everything," Christian Thompson said. "[Nelson] played great, because she hits the ball low and closes the net nicely."
In singles, No. 73 Christian Thompson didn't need much time in defeating Calbeto 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1. Buck topped Marquette's Watkins 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2. Her win was followed by an impressive 6-, 6-2 shutout by Tefft over Dabrowski at No. 3.
"[Tefft] has really proven herself on the team," Potts said. "She has been the deciding factor in many of our close 4-3 wins [this season]."
Playing at No. 4, Stastny downed Bonnelly 6-3, 6-0. Following Stastny at No. 5 was Potts, who collected her 20th win in duals matches this season.
The final victory came from Connelly, who topped Donovan 6-0, 6-0.
The Irish return to the courts as they begin the Big East Tournament in Tampa, Fla. on April 21.
No. 2 Notre Dame 7, DePaul 0
The Irish earned their ninth shutout of the season against the Blue Demons.
In doubles, Notre Dame registered two wins to earn the doubles point, starting with the win at No. 2 from No. 39 Buck and Tefft. The pair topped freshman Dunja Antunovic and sophomore Anja Mihaldinec 8-2.
Connelly and Stastny clinched the point with an 8-3 victory over sophomore Bojana Murisis and junior Petra Rehusova No. 3.
The one loss for Notre Dame came at No. 1 from the No. 4 duo of Christian and Catrina Thompson, who fell to sophomore Beatrix Csordas and junior Gergana Ganeva 8-4.
Despite the misstep from the Thompsons, both had little trouble in earning wins in their singles matches. No. 26 Catrina Thompson downed Csordas 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1. Thompson was followed by Christian Thompson, who defeated Ganeva 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2.
Buck played at No. 3 and clinched the victory for the Irish with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Antunovic.
The bottom half of the lineup also won in two-set matches. Tefft defeated Mihaldinec 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4, followed by Stastny at No. 5, who topped Murisic 6-3, 6-2.
The final Irish win came from Potts, who topped Rehusova 6-1, 6-0.
