Another weekend resulted in more wins for Notre Dame.
No. 20 Notre Dame is rolling, and in its path, it has left nine straight opponents reeling. In their first contest Friday, the Irish (16-7) upended Iowa and finished off Syracuse at home on Sunday.
Irish 6, Hawkeyes 1
The Irish ran their win streak to eight in Iowa City, Iowa, on Friday in convincing fashion by mowing down the Hawkeyes, 6-1.
As usual, the Irish started strong as Iowa (11-5) could not stop the sizzling doubles attack, and Notre Dame's doubles point win streak grew to nine.
Junior Katie Potts and sophomore Kali Krisik acted like they have been playing together all season. The pair raced to an 8-0 thrashing of Iowa's No. 3 pair, freshman Lynn Poggensee-Wei and senior Kayla Berry.
Sophomores Colleen Rielley and Cosmina Ciobanu sowed up the doubles point with an 8-0 sweep of their own. The pair has lost just once in 16 matches together on the dual season.
The nationally top-ranked pair of senior Brook Buck and junior Kelcy Tefft made it a doubles sweep, disposing of Iowa's No. 1 pair 8-4. Senior Jacqueline Lee and freshmen Alexis Dorr could not stop the nation's best as Buck and Tefft improved to 7-1 since becoming No. 1.
Notre Dame kept the momentum all match long, winning five of six singles matches.
Ciobanu followed up her doubles performance with a quick singles win. No. 122 Ciobanu was first off the court with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Dorr.
After Krisik defeated sophomore Kelcie Klockenga 6-4, 6-1, Potts sealed the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Berry from the No. 6 slot.
Rielley put up a 6-2, 6-2 win over Poggensee-Wei. It was the fifth time in eight matches that the sophomore won in straight sets.
The lone loss for Notre Dame came in a tough match between Buck and Veselinovic. Buck's impressive six-match losing streak came to an end against Veselinovic, 7-6, 7-6.
No. 41 Tefft capped the match win for Notre Dame with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lee. Tefft has been tough to beat in the No. 1 singles slot, now 11-4 against the opponent's best player.
The remaining matches will all be at home, so the Irish closed their road schedule well above .500 with a 7-4 record.
Irish 6, Orange 1
The Irish returned home with the same momentum and focus that helped secure the previous eight wins in the streak. As has been the story all season, doubles play was the spark that started the Irish on the right path.
In all of doubles play, Notre Dame lost only six games en route to sealing the point.
Despite having half of the No. 1 nationally-ranked duo sitting out, the Irish still won the top spot in doubles play. Krisik, who stepped in for Tefft, combined with Buck to take an 8-3 decision over sophomore pair Chelsea Jones and Ashley Spicer. The Buck-Krisik duo is now 3-1 in their doubles matches this season.
Rielley and Ciobanu made quickly disposed of their opponents, ousting freshmen Jacqyuelynn Tang and Simone Kalhorn, 8-1. Although they play behind the notorious pair of Buck and Tefft, Rielly and Ciobanu have won nine straight and are 16-1 overall this season.
Freshman Denise Ellison combined with Potts to claim her first career win with the 8-2 victory over junior Maria Vasilevya and freshman Christina Tan. More importantly, the Irish started the match 1-0 with the doubles sweep.
Singles play would see much of the same domination.
Potts took care of Jones in quick fashion, 6-2, 6-2. The junior improved to 18-8 on the year and has taken four of her last five matches.
Ciobanu put Notre Dame up 3-0, making it look effortless along the way, disposing of Kalhorn 6-2, 6-0.
Buck made it offical, and gave the Irish the win with her convincing 6-0, 6-1 handling of Tan at the No. 1 spot.
With the win in hand for the Irish and the score at 4-0, Notre Dame still wouldn't let up.
Rielley took down Vasilevya in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 by winning the contest's final seven games to secure the win and put the Irish up 5-0.
Krisik extended her squad best singles win streak to five matches with her sound defeat of Spicer 6-2, 6-1. The sophomore holds the team-high 29-5 singles record, and she has won eight of her last 10 games to seal the deal.
Notre Dame will continue its season-ending home stand when No. 1 Northwestern comes into town at the Courtney Tennis Center Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
