April 1 is a time for practical jokes that are often never funny, at least to the person being pranked. And as many people around the country were yelling out “April Fools,” the Holy Cross College tennis teams were not joking around as they began conference play.
The No. 18 women’s squad started its conference season against the Saint Ambrose University Fighting Bees, though the Bees failed to put up much of a fight falling 4-0. Individual match results have not been posted as of Sunday night.
The women have won back-to-back matches for the first time this year, improving their record to 6-6 overall with a 1-0 start to conference play. Their next conference match is scheduled for April 11 at the Eck Tennis Pavilion as they host Olivet Nazarene (0-5). The match will begin at 1 p.m.
Historically, the women have struggled against Olivet, losing both matches they played against the Tigers last season by a combined 8-1. The Tigers went 6-0 in conference play last season before falling short in the CCAC Championship to Cardinal Stritch.
For the Saints, the contest is a chance to see how they measure up against one of the historically better conference opponents. The match could have seeding implications in the conference tournament, which could help the Saints take a significant step toward the team’s goal of winning a conference title.
The No. 16 Men’s team also hosted conference foe St. Ambrose and also blew them out, winning 4-0. Individual match results have not been posted as of Sunday night.
Thanks to their dominant win over Saint Ambrose, the Saints have improved to 6-2 (1-0) on the year and have won their last four games. The men will look to keep that winning streak alive when they host Olivet (1-5) on Tuesday, April 11.
On the other side of the tri-campus, the No. 22 Notre Dame women’s team had an excellent outing, as it knocked off Louisville by a score of 5-2.
The women won the doubles competition 2-1, with senior Page Freeman and sophomore Maria Olivia Castedo winning by a narrow score of 7-5. The other winning duo was sophomore Carrie Beckman and freshman Bojana Pozder, who won 6-3.
Junior Yashna Yellayi and freshman Rylie Hanford were the only pair to lose to the Cardinals in a close loss of 7-6.
In singles play, Notre Dame continued its domination, winning the competition 4-2. The result gave the Irish their first back-to-back wins since late February, when they defeated then-No. 29 Clemson and Chicago State.
The top-25 team is now 13-7 on the year and has moved within one game of .500 in ACC play (4-5). The women will look to get back to even at Florida State on April 6.
Staying at Notre Dame, the men’s tennis team had a busy weekend, playing both Boston College and Butler on Sunday.
In their second game of the day, the men took down Butler by a final score of 4-3. The Irish won the second and third doubles matches 6-2 and 6-3, with the first game ending as a DNF.
The doubles matches earned Notre Dame a critical point, which it would wind up needing down the stretch.
Sunday’s match was a big one for the teams’ sophomores, who helped seal the Irish victory. Sophomores Yu Zhang and Jameson Corsillo both won their games in two sets each.
It was the upperclassmen who struggled for Notre Dame. Graduate student Addy Vashistha and senior Connor Fu both came up short, losing 6-4, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-2, respectively. Match three went the distance, but junior Jean-Marc Malkowski lost the third set 5-7.
While the game was closer than doubles play suggested, the Irish did what they needed, going 2-0 on Sunday.
Thanks to their wins against Butler and BC (6-1), the men have a record of 12-11 (2-7 in the ACC). Their 2-7 mark currently has them in the lower third of the ACC standings behind Georgia Tech.
The men’s tennis team will resume conference play on April 7 at Clemson.
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