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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Irish fall to Wolverines

Getting back on the courts for the first time in two weeks, No. 22 Notre Dame fell 6-1 to No. 13 Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

The Irish (5-2) dropped the doubles point to start the match, as the Wolverine duo of Sarah Lee and Amy Zhu knocked down the No. 41 pair of senior Jennifer Kellner and freshman Monica Robinson 8-3 in the No. 2 doubles slot.

Irish senior Jennifer Kellner prepares to return an opposing serve Feb. 2 when Notre Dame hosted Indiana.
Irish senior Jennifer Kellner prepares to return an opposing serve Feb. 2 when Notre Dame hosted Indiana.
 

 

At No. 3 doubles, freshman Mary Closs and senior Julie Sabacinski lost a close 8-5 decision against Michigan’s Ronit Yurovsky and Laura Ucros to secure the doubles point.

“We’ve been struggling a lot in our doubles,” Irish coach Jay Louderback said. “Hopefully, we’ll get better this week. … We’ve been struggling at three doubles [Closs/Sabacinski] and they played much better. It was a tight match the whole way.”

In the singles portion, the Wolverines seized control, winning all but one of the six matches. No. 12 Betkas defeated Sanders, 6-1, 6-3, while No. 18 Yurovsky beat Quinn Gleason, 6-2, 6-1, and No. 98 Bolender made quick work of No. 105 Robinson, 6-3, 6-0. A strength of the Irish early in the season was their depth at the five and six spots of their singles rotation, but it was not so Saturday, as Closs fell to Zhu, 7-6(4), 6-3, and Vrabel dropped a tight match to Ucros, 7-5, 7-5.

“[The Wolverines] are very good and they’re good at their place,” Louderback said. “They looked good and they played very well.”

The lone bright spot for Notre Dame came from Kellner, who upset No. 75 Lee, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6.

“We didn’t want to lose 7-0 to them,” said Louderback. “That helps to have someone pull that out. She lost the first set and came back really well. She had lost to [Lee] two years ago when we played them in the NCAAs. She’s had two or three matches [this season] where she has been up in the tiebreaker in the third set where she hasn’t gotten to finish, so I’m sure she was excited to not only win but be able to finish one of her matches.”

The Irish kick off their ACC season when they host Georgia Tech on Friday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion before heading to Miami to take on the Hurricanes on Sunday.