Notre Dame had a rare fall-season opportunity to compete as a team this weekend, as it took on Illinois, Missouri and Purdue at the Illinois Midwest Blast in Urbana, Illinois.
The three-day event allowed the Irish to compete in both singles and doubles, where they had varying levels of success against the field.
Notre Dame opened Friday with a pair of doubles matches, falling 2-1 to Purdue before beating Missouri by the same margin in its second contest.
Junior Jane Fennelly and sophomore Allison Miller won 8-6 at No. 3 doubles against the Boilermakers, but the Irish lost at both No. 1 or No. 2 singles. Senior Quinn Gleason and sophomore Brooke Broda fell 8-3 at No. 1 doubles, while junior Mary Closs and senior Julie Vrabel dropped an 8-4 decision at the No. 2 flight.
The Irish rebounded in their next match against the Tigers. Gleason paired up with Closs to win 8-1 at No. 1 doubles and Vrabel partnered with freshman Rachel Chong to secure the win at No. 3 doubles, 8-4.
To cap off Friday, Notre Dame contested a singles match with Illinois, tying the Fighting Illini 3-3.
Gleason, ranked 93rd nationally, won a tight three-set match 7-5, 5-7, 7-5, while Broda and Fennelly won at Nos. 4 and 6 respectively to secure a split with the hosts.
Saturday’s play yielded more mixed results for Notre Dame, which beat Purdue 5-1 in a singles contest before falling 3-0 to Illinois in doubles play.
Only Miller dropped a singles flight, at No. 2, against the Boilermakers, and the remainder of the Irish squad won in straight sets, led by Gleason’s 6-2, 6-2 victory. Closs, Vrabel and Chong each picked up their first singles victory of the weekend, at Nos. 3, 4 and 6 respectively.
It was a different story for the Irish in doubles, however, as they failed to record a win. Closs and Gleason fell 8-5 at No. 1, while Broda and Miller dropped their own 8-5 decision at No. 2.
The tournament closed Sunday with Notre Dame defeating Missouri, 5-1, in singles action.
Once more, Miller was the only Irish player to see defeat, as she fell in a tightly-contested No. 2 singles match 12-10 in the third-set tiebreaker.
Gleason completed a perfect singles tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 win, while Closs also secured a 3-0 singles weekend with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph at the No. 3 flight.
Notre Dame will close its fall season when it heads to Lakewood Ranch, Florida, to compete in the Lakewood Ranch Invitational this weekend, with play at the three-day event starting Friday.
