In its ACC regular season finale, Notre Dame traveled to Clemson on Sunday looking to secure another critical win for seeding in the upcoming ACC tournament and end its recent losing streak. But the Irish struggled on the road, and the Tigers handed the Irish their fifth straight loss, this time by a score of 6-1.
The Irish (16-8, 7-7 ACC) had a difficult time on the doubles court Sunday, as the Tigers (12-11, 7-7) claimed wins on two of the doubles courts early in the day to put the Irish in a quick 1-0 hole. Clemson’s 32nd-ranked team of sophomores Ayan Broomfield and Marie Leduc defeated Irish seniors Mary Closs and Monica Robinson, 6-3, and Tigers sophomore Fernanda Navarro and junior Daniela Ruiz blew past Irish senior Jane Fennelly and freshman Zoe Spence, 6-2, to secure the doubles point for Clemson.
The Irish looked to climb out of that hole on the singles court, but the Tigers came to play in the singles contests as well, taking five out of the six matches from the Irish. Sophomore Rachel Chong was the lone member of the team to record a win, defeating Ruiz by a score of 6-3, 7-6 in the sixth spot.
Robinson lost her first set against Leduc but showed resilience by winning the second set to extend her match. However, she would ultimately go on to lose the match, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Junior Brooke Broda showed similar toughness, but came up short against Bloomfield, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. The trio of Closs, Spence and junior Allison Miller all fell without winning a match, as the Irish top five all were defeated for the second straight match.
The Irish have struggled a bit of late, finishing the regular season on a five-match slide. Since a tightly-contested 4-3 defeat to Duke on April 7th, Notre Dame have lost their last four matches by a combined score of 24-1.
The team will look to reverse their momentum in the first round of the ACC tournament. The 10th-seeded Irish will face a 15-seeded Pittsburgh squad that finished last in the ACC in the first round. If they can defeat the Panthers, the Irish will get a chance for redemption against Clemson.
The Irish will begin the ACC tournament Wednesday at 1 p.m. against Pittsburgh at Berry College’s Rome Tennis Center in Mount Berry, Georgia.
