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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Irish set to begin spring season this weekend

Notre Dame will begin its spring season on Saturday when the team takes on the Bowling Green Falcons in a matchup at home.

The Irish will look to build on a fall campaign that saw a number of strong tournament performances, particularly during the first weekend of the season.

Notre Dame began its fall slate with a split squad road trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to compete in the Wolverine Invitational and Auburn, Alabama for the Marliss Gruver Invitational.

In Michigan, freshman Page Freeman displayed both impressive skill and composure. The Ashland, Massachusetts, native defeated Yale’s Caroline Dunleavy in straight sets (6-2, 7-6) on the first day of the tournament to earn her first career individual victory.

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Senior Bess Waldram whacks a serve over the net in a singles match at the Eck Tennis Pavilion on February 13, 2019.
Senior Bess Waldram whacks a serve over the net in a singles match at the Eck Tennis Pavilion on February 13, 2019.


The Irish also found success in their doubles matches. Irish juniors Julia Lilien and Bess Waldram defeated Charlotte’s Pierina Imparato and Jenna Dean 6-3 for their first win of the season.

In Alabama, junior Ally Bojczuk was dominant in her singles match, defeating Wisconsin’s Miruna Tudor in straight sets (6-3, 6-2). Sophomore Maeve Koscielski also won her match in straight sets, downing Ole Miss’ Grace Anne Jones 6-3, 6-4.

On the following day, the Irish were able to earn five combined wins across both tournaments.

In Ann Arbor, Lilien outlasted Michgan’s Alyvia Jones 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 to capture her first singles win of the season and second win overall. On the doubles side, the pairing of junior Cameron Corse and senior Bess Waldram earned a 7-6 victory against Michigan’s Anca Craciun and Giulia Pairone.

In Alabama, Koscieski had a big day on the court. The Indianapolis product won easily (6-1, 6-0) in her singles tilt against Wisconsin’s Christina Zordani. She also partnered with Kansas’ Vasiliki Karvouni to defeat the Ole Miss duo of Isolde de Jong and Victoire de Samucewicz 7-5.

Bojczuk and sophomore Zoe Taylor were also able to earn a 6-2 victory against Penn State’s Gabby O’Gorman and Olivia Rohrbacher.

Koscielski finished the tournament with a big singles performance by picking up three victories. She defeated Jones again in straight sets (6-3, 6-4), followed by victories against Zordani (6-1, 6-0) and Rohrbacher (7-6, 6-1), respectively. Bojczuk picked up two wins of her own, defeating Tudor and then Kansas’ Carmen Roxana Manu.

Taylor also wrapped up her tournament with a pair of singles wins over O’Gorman and Kansas State’s Ines Mesquita.

The Irish will look to continue the momentum they built in the fall season as they head into 2020. Notre Dame will need consistently significant contributions from its entire roster if the team wants to have success against a gauntlet of quality opponents.

The team will certainly have to bring great focus for the duration of the spring season, as they will be playing nearly every weekend through mid-April.