Ignoring rankings and previous matches this season, Baylor got its revenge on Notre Dame Tuesday.
The No. 3 Irish (17-3) fell to the No. 4 Bears (13-4), 5-2, in a rematch of the National Indoor Quarterfinal match in February.
Baylor took command from the beginning of the match. For only the third time this season - and the second time to Baylor - Notre Dame's top doubles pair, the third-ranked duo of senior Kelcy Tefft and freshmen Kristy Frilling, lost. Baylor's No. 16 duo of Lenka Broosova and Csilla Borsanyi won the match 8-6.
"Their No. 1 doubles team plays a little bit different than a lot of others. The first time we played them we just played really bad. Today we did not play terrible," Tefft said. "But we definitely had a lot of chances that we didn't put away. I think there was a bit of a mental block starting out today, considering they beat us 8-0 last time."
The No. 2 Irish doubles duo of juniors Cosmina Ciobanu and Kali Krisik evened the doubles matches at 1-1 as they defeated No. 59 Jelena Staniyuk and Taylor Ormond, 8-3. But the third Notre Dame doubles team of freshman Shannon Mathews and junior Colleen Rielley lost, clinching Baylor the doubles point. Tuesday was only the fourth time this year Notre Dame has lost the doubles point.
"In February [at Indoor Nationals], we got the doubles point, which I think helped us a lot," Tefft said. "They have switched up their lineup, which we have too. We didn't match up as well today."
As far as singles matches went, only Tefft and Krisik were victorious for the Irish, in the one and six spots, respectively.
"They are a really tough team. They are really good one through six. Last year they got to the NCAA semifinals, and they have basically the exact same team," Tefft said. "They will do very well at the end of the season, but hopefully by that time we can match them."
Notre Dame will not have long to dwell on this defeat, though. The team has three matches between Friday and Sunday this weekend, including a Saturday encounter with the top-ranked team in the country, Northwestern, another rematch from Indoor Nationals.
"Already having three losses on our record, I think we would want to especially top Northwestern, who is always a rival of ours," Tefft said. "Hopefully the loss today will only get us more motivated on Saturday."
