Now 4-1 on the young season, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team will continue its nine-match homestand to start 2025 this weekend. The Irish will take on Cleveland State at noon on Sunday before concluding the doubleheader at 5 p.m. against Illinois State.
Last weekend
After dominating Duquesne and Western Michigan to begin the campaign, Notre Dame posted a 2-1 record at home last weekend. The Irish opened with a 5-2 loss to Princeton on Friday, as the Tigers claimed the doubles point and four of the six singles matches. As expected, the performance of nationally ranked singles and doubles player Sebastian Dominko jumped off the page. The junior, who combines with freshman Peter Nad to form the 78th ranked doubles team in the country, got the Irish their sole doubles win. Ranked 28th in singles, he also downed No. 19 Paul Inchauspe (7-5, 2-6, 6-4). The Tigers, however, overwhelmed the Irish with two additional ranked singles players that won the No. 2 and No. 3 matches.
Two days later, Notre Dame went down to the wire against Yale. The Bulldogs claimed the doubles point, setting the tone with a 6-4 upset of the Dominko-Nad pairing. The Irish then went down 2-0 in singles play, as No. 91 Vignesh Gogineni breezed past Dominko in a two-set surprise. However, Notre Dame would go on to win four of the five remaining singles matches, including a tiebreaker-requiring thriller between Nad and Edward Liao in the No. 5 affair. As that battle went final (6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (6-5)), so did Notre Dame’s overall win at 4-3.
The Irish had a much easier time with Sunday’s second matchup against Saint Joseph’s. Head coach Ryan Sachire turned to a few less experienced players, including freshman Spaniard Luis Llorens Saracho, who responded to power a 4-0 victory. Dominko paired up with a new partner, sophomore Jayanth Devaiah, and found success with a 6-2 win in No. 1 doubles.
Previewing Sunday’s matches
Cleveland State (0-2) began its spring season last weekend in the Hoosier State, taking a 7-0 loss to Indiana and a 4-3 loss to Butler. Last year, the Vikings went 21-7, winning the Horizon League to reach the NCAA Tournament. Brian Etzkin earned Horizon League Coach of the Year honors, while current sophomore Lincoln Battle became the conference’s Freshman of the Year. The Vikings graduated All-Horizon League Second Team player Mikael Erler and are comprised entirely of sophomores and juniors this season.
Last weekend, Cleveland State struggled in doubles play but found some success on the lower-level singles courts against Butler, winning the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 matches. The Irish are 2-0 all-time against the Vikings.
Illinois State went 2-1 in its first weekend of play, taking a 4-3 loss to common opponent Saint Joseph’s before defeating Marquette (4-3) and Eastern Illinois (6-1). Junior Adrian Dibildox, who competes in No. 3 doubles and No. 2 singles, enjoyed a quality weekend, going 2-0 in doubles play and 2-1 in singles action. The Redbirds’ 116th-ranked doubles team of Caden Scarlett and Tomas Valencia struggled in No. 1 matches, taking a trio of 6-4 losses.
Last year, the Redbirds went 14-14 and were a one-and-done in the Summit League Tournament. Like Cleveland State, Illinois State does not have any seniors on this year’s roster, with junior Tin Ostro the lone All-Summit League returner. The Redbirds have defeated the Irish once in 10 all-time tries, winning in the 1988 season.
