Notre Dame women’s tennis enjoyed a dominant weekend, not dropping a single point in a pair of wins over Ball State and Chicago State in South Bend.
The Irish started off hot on Sunday morning, breezing by the Cardinals at Eck Tennis Pavillion. The tandems of seniors Julia Andreach and Yashna Yellayi and sophomore Akari Matsuno and junior Nibi Ghosh each cruised to 6-1 victories in their matchups to secure the doubles point for Notre Dame.
The early momentum continued into singles play. All six Irish players notched victories in their individual matchups. Junior Carrie Beckman led the way, earning the honors of being the first competitor off the courts with a 6-1, 6-0 win. Sophomore Bojana Pozder and graduate student Page Freeman followed soon after with wins of their own, securing the requisite four points for a Notre Dame win.
Despite the result of contest already being confirmed, the three matches in progress when Freeman’s victory locked in an Irish win were played to conclusion. Notre Dame continued their strong outing on the remaining courts, with Matsuno, Ghosh and Yellayi all leaving their respective match-ups winners.
The Irish didn’t have much time to rest before returning to Eck Pavillion for their second contest of the day against the Cougars. Though the match opponent was new, the parallels to the first showdown of the day were aplenty.
Notre Dame once again earned the singles point in relatively short order, with the pairings of Andreach and Yellayi (6-2) and Matsuno and Ghosh (6-0) again being the decisive factor.
Once singles play began the Irish once again quickly began to rack up victories, with Matsuno this time being the first off the court after securing the hosts’ second point. A trio of matches would conclude shortly thereafter with Ghosh, Pozder and Andreach all notching the wins required to give the Irish five team points and put the contest out of reach.
Unlike Ball State, two individual matches still in progress when the result was finalized were not played to conclusion. Juniors Kate Bellia and Beckman both were ahead on their respective courts, but both matchups were suspended.
Notre Dame will now head on the road for their next contest, a tilt in Madison against No. 25 Wisconsin. The Irish have played one other ranked contest this season, a 4-0 loss to then-no. 13 Ohio State. Notre Dame is undefeated otherwise in 2024, and will ride a three-game winning streak and a 5-1 overall record into their clash with the Badgers.
