The Irish enter the last ever Big East championships with their fair share of advantages. No. 28 Notre Dame (16-7, 3-0) enters as the No. 1 seed, after an undefeated conference season. On top of this, the squad rides a six-match winning streak and will play host to the four-day competition.
If they need any extra momentum, junior Greg Andrews was tabbed as the Big East Player of the Week on Tuesday for the fifth time this season.
"It would be great to close out the last year of the Big East with a championship and we are looking to do just that," sophomore Mike Fredericka said.
The tournament kicked off yesterday morning, with the eighth-seeded Connecticut (4-10, 0-1) and ninth-seeded St. John's (3-14, 0-2) facing off. St. John's came out with the win, taking down the Huskies, 4-0. The Red Storm now face the top-seeded Irish this morning.
St. John's snapped a four-game losing streak, including a loss to Big East rival Georgetown.
The Irish will look to capitalize on this, riding out the momentum of their own winning streak.
Should Notre Dame succeed in taking down the lower seed, the team will advance to play Saturday at 9 a.m. There the Irish will compete against Marquette (13-11, 0-1), the No.4 seed, or Georgetown (12-9, 3-0), the No. 5 seed.
Other first round matchups include second-seeded No. 50 Louisville (13-12, 0-1) against seventh-seeded DePaul (5-16, 0-1) and third-seeded USF (10-9, 1-1) with sixth-seeded Villanova (13-8, 2-1). The winner of each of those matches will face off Saturday at 9 a.m. as well, followed by consolation rounds at noon.
The finals and consolation matches will take place Sunday, with the finals at 9 a.m. followed by two consolation matches.
This season the Irish have faced Marquette, USF and Louisville. Notre Dame took a 7-0 win over the Golden Eagles, a 6-1 win over the Bulls and a 5-2 victory over the Cardinals.
"One of the many things we [have been] working on this week is adjusting surfaces because we could be indoors or outdoors this weekend," Fredericka said.
Play will begin today, lasting throughout the weekend before concluding Sunday. Competition will take place at Courtney Tennis Center or the Eck Tennis Pavilion, weather depending. The tournament is a double-elimination format. The champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA championship. The Irish first compete today at 9 a.m. against St. John's.
Contact Megan Finneran at mfinnera@nd.edu
