ND Women’s Tennis
Women’s tennis prepares to close out regular season with final pair of matches
Madeline Ladd | Thursday, April 14, 2022
The Notre Dame women’s tennis team heads down south this weekend for a final pair of regular season matches against North Carolinian teams Wake Forest and No. 3 NC State. The Irish will face the Demon Deacons on Friday, April 15, followed by play against the Wolfpack on Saturday, April 16. Coming off of a successful series of play at home last weekend, the Irish are prepared to finish the season strong. Head coach Alison Silverio was pleased with the team’s performance last weekend and is looking forward to the upcoming matches.
“Overall it was a great weekend,” Silverio said. “We had a win against Miami on Friday who was No. 8 in the country, we had a tough battle against FSU on Sunday and then a nice win over Oakland. Certainly a great weekend of victories, and then also some little victories as well. We are going to carry that momentum into our preparation for this weekend, and are excited to be traveling together down to North Carolina to compete.”
Sophomore Julia Andreach played an integral role in the Irish’s upset against No. 8 Miami. Andreach also fought at an extremely high level, beating two ranked players such as Miami’s 28th-ranked Daevenia Achong in singles play (7-5, 6-2). Her performance this past weekend earned her the coveted title of ACC Player of the Week. This is Andreach’s first weekly ACC award win of her career.
“Julia has been working extremely hard on and off the court,” Silverio said. “Working both on her mentality, her physicality and her game. She’s been coming out everyday consistently with the right mindset and attitude and that not only is propelling her to greater heights, but also permeating through our team. That honor of ACC Player of the Week is quite the accolade. The ACC is the toughest conference for women’s tennis, so that is not easily accomplished. Very well deserved for Julia.”
Silverio has lasered in on two points of focus for the Irish: consistency and discipline. With the last matches of the season being this weekend against two skilled teams, these values are priorities for the team. The Demon Deacons are sitting at a 12-9 record overall, with the Irish at 15-11. NC State’s No. 3 ranking and overall record of 20-4 will prove to be the bigger hurdle for Notre Dame this weekend.
“We know both Wake’s and NC State’s players compete hard,” Silverio said. “So, we want to continue with our great preparation and continue to focus on the areas we have control over. This area is the consistency and discipline of each day in practice and in training. Our team has grown a lot this season just with their belief, maturity, and taking care of those details in those areas we have control over, consistency and discipline. If we focus on those we are going to be making strides in the right direction.”
As the season draws to a close, the Irish look toward the championship season. However, Silverio has adopted the “one match at a time” mentality, again emphasizing the importance of control.
“It feels like yesterday was January and we blinked and we’re in April,” Silverio said. “These last few matches are a way for us to keep preparing for the postseason, and the focus just continues to be ‘let’s control the areas we have control over and get better each day.’ Of course, we want to go in with the mentality to get the job done, but we are going to take it one match at a time and one point at a time.”
Silverio also attributes the team’s success to the support they have for one another throughout both times of success and adversity.
“When you see your teammate having success, fighting through adversity and fighting through challenges, you also know that it’s possible for you,” Silverio said. “Our team, all season long, has done a great job of being there for one another and supporting each other through successful times and through adverse times.”
Notre Dame women’s tennis will take on Wake Forest on Friday, April 15 at noon in Winston-Salem, NC. Competition against No. 3 NC State will follow on Saturday, April 16, also at noon, down in Raleigh, NC to close out the Irish’s regular season. The game will be livestreamed and live scoring will be available.
