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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

ND WOMEN'S TENNIS: Boilers become 14th-straight victim

Ignoring the ominous weather forecast, Notre Dame coach Jay Louderback insisted his squad play Tuesday's match against Purdue outdoors."When we decided to go outdoors I think everybody thought I was crazy because it was calling for rain," Louderback said. But there was nothing crazy about No. 2 Notre Dame's methodic 6-1 victory over the No. 46 Boilermakers. The Irish (19-1) extended their dual-match winning streak to 14 with the win. Purdue fell to 10-4."We've been just kind of getting through the last matches and I thought today we got outdoors, played well, and I thought we looked like the team we were three or four weeks ago," Louderback said.Tuesday's match featured the return of Irish freshman Colleen Rielley from injury. Rielley had not played in Notre Dame's previous three matches but came back strong, posting a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Purdue's Neela Vaez. "[Rielley] was a little rusty. She won the first set, got down 4-1 in the second," Louderback said. "But then, she got back in it and played well."Rielley paired with freshman Cosmina Ciobanu in her first doubles match of the season. The duo made quick work of Purdue's Anya Dzeva and Alejandra Boeker in an 8-0 victory."We're always weak on doubles. Every kid on the team, we work on it all the time. They wonder sometimes, 'I'm not playing, why am I doing this?'" Louderback said. "But they have to be ready for days like this. [Rielley] played a lot of doubles in practice and the time comes when you're going to get the shot at playing, and she was ready."Ciobanu and Rielley's victory helped Notre Dame capture the doubles point. The No. 8 nationally-ranked duo of Christian and Catrina Thompson overcame a deficit of 4-3 to capture an 8-5 win over No. 45 Brook Beier and Mallory Voelker. Notre Dame's No. 2 doubles team of freshman Kali Krisik and sophomore Kelcy Tefft downed Vaez and Cigdem Duru 8-3 to complete the doubles sweep.In singles play, No. 26 Catrina Thompson fell to Voelker 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) in the No. 1 singles slot."She let the wind bother her a little bit," Louderback said of Catrina Thompson.Krisik played No. 6 singles in place of injured junior Brook Buck and cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Boeker."She can do a lot of everything. She's very solid, is good off the ground, makes a lot of balls when she's on the baseline. But she can also come in. She can volley well when she needs to come in and she plays probably as good of defense as anyone I've ever had," Louderback said of Krisik. "When she gets in trouble and someone has her on the run, she lobs really well and gets herself out of trouble well. The defense she plays in a match is exceptional."Ciobanu stayed perfect in dual-match play with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Dzeva. Christian Thompson posted a victory at No. 2, 6-3, 6-2, over Beier and improved to 11-8 in dual match play. "Christian played well. [Beier] beat her last year when we played Purdue. So, I think for her, she definitely wanted to win it," Louderback said.Tefft rounded out the scoring with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Duru at No. 4. Louderback said he still is not sure when Buck can return to the lineup."She's kind of day-to-day right now as to when she's going to start practicing again," Louderback said. "At this time, right now with our schedule, it's a good time not to push it."Notre Dame takes on Indiana in Bloomington Saturday at 10 a.m.