The Irish began their spring season in dominating fashion, sweeping both Big East opponent Marquette and Western Illinois 7-0.
In its first match against Marquette (0-1), Notre Dame (2-0) took little time to grab a commanding lead, dropping just one closely contested first set in the six singles matches.
"We were all really excited," Irish senior Blas Moros said. "We came back a little bit early from Christmas break for two-a-days and put in the hard work, and I think it's paying off. We started off really well today."
Moros was the first Irish player off the courts, defeating sophomore Vukasin Teofanovic 6-2, 6-2. Junior Greg Andrews and freshman Quentin Monaghan quickly followed suit, defeating their opponents at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, respectively.
"I think I played pretty well today," Moros said. "There are always areas to improve, but it's a good start. And I think the team is closer than it's ever been while I've been here and we are playing at a really high level."
With the 7-0 victory over the Golden Eagles, the Irish notched their first win over a Big East foe this season. Notre Dame has now defeated Marquette in each of its last three seasons.
"Marquette is a good school, and they always have a good lineup and we expected a tough battle, and they gave that to us," Moros said. "It's nice to get the victory and a conference victory is always good."
After defeating the Golden Eagles, the Irish moved onto to face Western Illinois, whose coach Chris Kane served as a senior captain for the Notre Dame tennis team in 1975.
While the Irish rearranged its lineup for the Leathernecks, the result remained the same. Notre Dame took the doubles point with victories from the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams, composed of senior Spencer Talmadge and sophomore Dougie Barnard, and freshmen Kenneth Sabacinski and Nicolas Montoya, respectively. The Irish then swept the six singles matches without dropping a set.
Moros and the Irish were especially pleased to finish Saturday with two convincing victories as he says the team is now on the right track.
"First matches are about getting the jitters out and getting your feel for the court," Moros said. "Matches are always different than practice so especially for our freshmen, just getting out there and getting a win is big for confidence. We have a lot of tough matches going forward. We have Northwestern in three days already so we are into it."
The Irish will host the Wildcats on Tuesday night at the Eck Tennis Pavilion at 6 p.m.
Contact Peter Steiner at psteiner@nd.edu