Last weekend, the Notre Dame women’s tennis team traveled to Bonita Springs, FL to participate in the Bonita Bay Classic. The three-day event saw the Irish take on Colorado, in-state rival Purdue and Florida Gulf Coast University. Notre Dame collected 12 victories for the weekend total with eight wins in singles and four wins in doubles.
Day one of the invite saw the Irish take on the Buffalos, but due to inclement weather, a shortened format of an eight-game pro set was used. In doubles, the freshmen pairing of Carrie Beckman and Nibedita Ghosh delivered the lone win for the squad. The duo prevailed in a tightly contested set 6-4 over junior Sophia Derivan and senior Ky Ecton. In singles, Notre Dame split the six total matches with three wins, as sophomore Julia Andreach, sophomore Meghan Coleman, and senior Maeve Koscielski all emerged victorious. Andreach cruised to an 8-1 win over Derivan, as did Koscielski with an 8-4 win over junior Ellen Puzak. Coleman needed a tiebreak to settle the match as she took the pro set 8-7 (4) over freshman Betina Tokac to finish out the day.
Day two featured a matchup against the Boilermakers and a return back to the traditional scoring format. The Irish would struggle against the Boilermakers as the squad picked up only two wins on the day, alone win in singles and in doubles. The pairing of sophomore Yashna Yellayi and freshman Maria Olivia Castedo earned a 6-0 win over freshmen Tara Milic and Juana Larranaga. On the singles side, Andreach picked up her second win of the invite, defeating junior Csilla Fodor in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Castedo came extremely close to picking up her second victory of the day but ultimately fell 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (8), in a close three-set battle to sophomore Rut Galindo. Yellayi was another member of the squad that came close to a victory but lost 6-4, 7-5 to Milic.
The final day of the Bonita Bay Classic for Notre Dame included a set of matches against tournament host Florida Gulf Coast. The Irish had their best showing of the tournament against the Eagles as the team picked up six wins to end the weekend. In doubles, Coleman and Andreach defeated freshman Isabella Colmenares and junior Alba Retortillo 7-6 (4). Yellayi and Castedo picked up their second win as a team, defeating juniors Ida Ferding and Emma Bardet 6-4. In singles, Andreach continued her stellar form, earning her third singles victory 6-7 (2), 6-2, 1-0 (7) over Colmenares to go 3-0 on the weekend. Yellayi and Coleman would also need three sets to settle their matches as Yellayi defeated Bardet 1-6, 6-2, 1-0 (8) and Coleman defeated sophomore Jordana Ossa 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (7). Castedo would be the only member of the Irish to win in straight sets, beating Ferding 6-3, 6-3.
The trip to Florida marked the end of the fall season for Notre Dame. The Irish will return to action in January when they travel to Ann Arbor for the Michigan Invite.
