Notre Dame was unable to come up with a win this weekend against No. 1 North Carolina and North Carolina State. The Tar Heels (20-2, 9-1 ACC) cruised to a 6-1 win over the Irish (10-10, 2-8) on Friday before Notre Dame fought hard but fell short in a 4-3 loss to N.C. State (12-11, 5-5) on Sunday, extending its losing streak to seven matches.
The weekend started off Friday afternoon for the Irish, as they hosted the conference’s and nation’s top team in the Tar Heels.
Notre Dame started off the afternoon strong with a win in the doubles match on court No. 3, as junior Rachel Chong and sophomore Bess Waldram cruised to a 6-1 win. Irish senior duo Brooke Broda and Allison Miller did not finish their match on court No. 2 because before they could, Irish freshman Cameron Corse and sophomore Zoe Spence clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win on court No. 1, topping the then-No. 1 doubles team in the nation in Tar Heels junior Jessie Aney and sophomore Alexa Graham.
Despite winning the doubles point, the Irish would struggle in the singles matches. Miller lost 6-1, 6-4 to Tar Heels sophomore and 14th-ranked singles player Makenna Jones on court No. 1. Chong finished with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to her opponent, Tar Heels junior Chloe Ouellet-Pizer. Corse was able to win the second set of her match and would proceed to play a tiebreaker before falling 12-10 in the third set to Aney. Spence and Irish freshman Ally Bojczuk would also force third sets in their matches but ultimately fell in their matches, while Broda fell in straight sets on court No. 2 to round out the singles sweep for the Tar Heels in the 6-1 Irish loss.
On Sunday against N.C. State, the duo of Corse and Spence continued their strong weekend with a 6-4 triumph in doubles play, this time over the Wolfpack’s 19th-ranked duo of sophomore Anna Rogers and junior Claudia Wiktorin on doubles court No. 1. On court Nos. 2 and 3, both Irish squads would fall in tiebreakers, awarding the doubles point to the Wolfpack.
The Irish would attempt to rally back in the singles matches, however. N.C. State got off to a quick lead after Broda lost in straight sets — 6-1, 6-0 — on court No. 2. Spence would respond for the Irish with a tough 7-5, 6-4 victory on court No. 3 to put the Irish back within one point. Chong was unable to tie things up for the Irish in a 6-3, 6-2 loss on court No. 5, but once again the Irish came back to within one point when Bojczuk won with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory on court No. 6. And with Miller looking set to take the point on court No. 1 in the third set, that put the microscope on court No. 4. Corse was in a tight one against Wiktorin, as the second set went to a tiebreaker. Corse jumped to a 5-2 lead in that tiebreaker, but Wiktorin would rally to claim a 10-8 win in the set and thus win the match in straight sets, clinching the 4-3 match win for the Wolfpack after Miller finished off her win on court No. 1.
Having now lost seven straight matches, the Irish will look to get back on track at Boston College and Syracuse over the weekend, with those matches coming Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Read More
Trending