This season was a bit of a struggle for the Notre Dame men’s tennis team, which went 4-8 in the ACC. Finishing 13-14 overall, the Irish did end the regular season on a high note, defeating ACC rival Boston College 7-0 after sweeping No. 46 Louisville.
On the season overall, head coach Ryan Sachire has seen a lot out of every member of the team. They just haven’t all always had the same good days.
“We've not performed consistently the way that I would potentially hope, but at the same time, we've played pretty well. Our sport is interesting, right? It’s nine individual matches — three doubles and six singles — that go into every team match. And I feel like each guy's done pretty well. We haven't put it all together as many times as I would have hoped,” Sachire said.
But the Irish could not bring it all together in the first round of the ACC Tournament against No. 54 Clemson either. Only the pairing of graduate student Nil Giraldez and freshman Chase Thompson got a win in the doubles competition. In singles, only sophomore Sebastian Dominko could get a win, even though five of the six matchups went to the third set. His defeat of the No. 95 player in the country gave the Irish their lone point of the match.
While the full team’s season is done, Dominko and senior Jean-Marc Malkowski will play in the NCAA Individual Doubles Championships in May in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The two earned First-Team All-ACC Honors after going 13-7 together, including nine ranked wins. Dominko will also play in the NCAA Individual Singles Championships after posting a 14-6 record that included eight wins against ranked opponents and five unfinished matches. He was also named First Team All-ACC Singles.
“Sebastian has been our core leader now for two years, even last year as a freshman. He's grown into that leadership role … and we want him to continue to take on that role and take more and more ownership over that status. [Malkowski also] has done an extraordinary job as the only senior on the team — of being a leader and really elevating himself as a player, as a person [and] as a leader,” Sachire said.
After a couple of tough stretches during the season, the Irish will look to improve on their strengths and, going into next season, getting the team to play consistently is a top priority for Sachire.
“It's just getting that consistency [and making sure] our guys are going out there competing the right way [and] playing the right way. [If we do that], we’ve got an opportunity to go on a bit of a run,” he said.
