Continuing their series of games on the road this weekend, the Irish fell 7-0 to Duke Sunday in Durham, N.C., after beating the No. 21 Blue Devils in the teams' last three meetings. The loss moves No. 34 Notre Dame to 3-3 for its spring season.
The Irish began the day with a win at No. 3 doubles as juniors David Anderson and Daniel Stahl took down the Blue Devils duo of Torsten Wiertoska and Alain Michel 8-3. After that first win, however, the day went downhill for Notre Dame.
Duke's eighth-ranked pair of Henrique Cunha and Reid Carlton defeated sophomore Casey Watt and junior captain Tyler Davis 8-4 at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, the Blue Devils continued to rack up the points as Duke's Dylan Arnould and David Holland took down sophomore Niall Fitzgerald and junior Stephen Havens 9-8 (12-10) in an extended match.
Notre Dame's defeat carried over into the singles division as Duke continued working its way up with points as they swept all the matches. The Blue Devils took the lead 2-0 when No. 18 Watt was forced to withdraw from No. 1 singles in the second set of his match against No. 17 Cunha. Watt was defeated 7-5 in the first set.
At No. 2 singles, Havens fell 6-4, 6-3 to Carleton after having the first set tied at 4-4 before falling behind. Stahl fell to Arnould 6-0, 6-3 at No. 3 singles, and freshman Blas Moros lost 7-5, 6-2 to Duke's Jared Pinsky at No. 4 singles.
Duke's dominance continued in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches. Fitzgerald fell 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (12-10) at No. 5 to Michel. Anderson and Holland closed out the singles competition as Anderson dropped a tough three-set match 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Sunday's competition marks the 23rd meeting of the two teams with Duke now holding a 16-7 margin over Notre Dame.
The Irish will next take on Michigan Saturday as they travel to Ann Arbor to face the No. 36 Wolverines. The match will be played at Michigan's Varsity Tennis Center at 6 p.m.
