ND Women’s Tennis
Notre Dame heads east after narrowly dropping two conference matchups
Meagan Bens | Thursday, April 12, 2018
After losing to North Carolina and North Carolina State at home, the Irish will travel to the East Coast to play Boston College on Friday and Syracuse on Sunday.
Last weekend, the Irish (10-10, 2-8 ACC) lost 6-1 to North Carolina (20-2, 9-1 ACC) on Friday and 4-3 to North Carolina State (12-11, 5-5) on Sunday. Despite the losses, the highlight of the weekend was Notre Dame’s doubles team of freshman Cameron Corse and sophomore Zoe Spence. They defeated the Tarheels’ top-ranked duo of junior Jessie Aney and sophomore Alexa Graham 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, and then defeated the Wolfpack’s sophomore Anna Rogers and junior Claudia Wiktorin.
“[Corse and Spence] did great,” Irish head coach Jay Louderback said if the pair. “They showed it the weekend before when they lost 6-4 to Georgia Tech, whose doubles was No. 1 at the time, and then they had a tough match against Clemson, losing 6-2. It was great to see them move up and defeat top-ranked North Carolina. … Both North Carolina and North Carolina State were big matches. Facing North Carolina, we had a couple of three set matches and had our chances. They aren’t ranked for nothing though. And North Carolina State … it was a tough and tight match, but we fought hard.”
With two ACC losses and a quick turnaround, the Irish took Monday off, and then held light practices Tuesday and Wednesday, Louderback said.
“We practiced [Wednesday] and [Tuesday] and we [left Wednesday night],” he said. “It’s another quick turn-around, so we had the day off Monday and it helped. Yesterday and today we just drilled, we didn’t play with points to keep. Just had to make sure they are in their groove and healthy for another tough weekend.”
This break in play provides the Irish with the chance to regroup before taking on two conference foes — Boston College (11-8, 3-7) and Syracuse (14-5, 6-5) — both of whom are entering the weekend on two-match losing streaks.
“We beat both teams at home last year,” Louderback said. “Both Boston College and Syracuse are good at their home. Both facilities are indoor, so we won’t get a chance to play outside. Boston College only has four courts so the match is usually longer. Syracuse has six courts but they are fast and it is dark inside. They will be tough on the road. But we had great practices and are ready to compete against both teams.”
The Irish are set to take on the Eagles in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on Friday at 2 p.m., and then travel to Syracuse, New York, to play the Orange on Sunday at 4 p.m.
