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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Irish upset by Virginia Tech 4-3

Does a week change things?Apparently, it can. No. 50 Virginia Tech upset No. 26 Notre Dame 4-3 in a match that was eerily dissimilar to last week's victory over Ball State."Today I think we were just out-toughed and out-competed," tri-captain Matthew Scott said. "We came into this match pretty decently prepared, it just served as a reminder that we have some work to do before the Big East [Tournament] and we're likely to play them again."This week, the top of the lineup kept the Irish alive. The team again lost the doubles point, with only the No. 1 team of Luis Haddock and Scott coming out on top. Haddock and Scott are 10-2 as a team in the dual-match season.At No. 2, Brent D'Amico and Ryan Keckley dropped a close 9-7 decision, and Steven Bass and Eric Langenkamp lost in an even closer 9-8 match."I think the doubles point was a big disappointment for us," Scott said. "We were in a position to win at all three spots and unfortunately we came up short in two of them, and that ended up deciding the final outcome."In singles, senior experience showed, as Haddock won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 and Scott took the No. 2 spot 6-2, 6-0.Barry King also put a point up for the Irish at No. 5, winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in three hard-fought sets.In a switch from the usual lineup, Bass played No. 3 and D'Amico was moved to No. 4. Bass lost 5-7, 5-7 and D'Amico was defeated 6-3, 6-1.The match again came down to Keckley at No. 6, who was unable to clinch the victory, losing 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.The loss could have a serious effect on seedings for the Big East Tournament, held April 28 - May 1 in Coral Gables, Fla."We have a full week before our next match at Florida State, and we have to get to work right away and fix the things we can and look to bounce back from this in the Big East," Scott said.