The Irish took to their home court three times this past weekend, earning wins over Wisconsin and IUPUI and suffering a loss to No. 6 Kentucky.
The No. 30 Irish (8-4) opened the weekend sweeping Wisconsin (2-1) 7-0 Friday night. Irish coach Bobby Bayliss said the victory had some extra significance for his team.
"It was great to get the sweep and the victory over Wisconsin," Bayliss said. "Wisconsin has given us some real tough matches over the year, so to go out there and play real well really meant something to us. It was an important and impressive victory."
Facing Kentucky (9-0) in their first match Sunday afternoon, the Irish put forth a valiant fight before eventually falling to the Wildcats 4-3.
"The loss to [Kentucky] was a thriller and we unfortunately came out on the wrong end," Bayliss said. "Since the beginning of the season, I have thought that we have the capability of being an elite team, so it was great to see us play a very elite team so close. You always want to get a victory, but I am really happy with the way we played and the way we fought. There are a lot of positives that we can take from that match."
Sophomore Greg Andrews earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles over nationally ranked No. 13 Alex Musialek. The victory brought Andrews' record on the season to 10-1.
"[Andrews] has been playing very well for us," Bayliss said. "He has gotten some big victories over some very good players. He was very sharp Sunday and was able to get an impressive victory over a strong opponent."
The Irish finished their weekend schedule by knocking off IUPUI (2-5) 7-0 in a match in which Bayliss was able to give a few players some rest.
"We had a lot of guys who were pretty spent, so it was nice to be able to give them some rest," Bayliss said. "The guys we had in the lineup who are not usually starters came in and got the job done, so that was good for us. I was proud of the way everyone worked and was obviously happy to come away with the victory."
The Irish return to action this Saturday when they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on No. 28 Michigan.
Contact Walker Carey at wcarey@nd.edu
