This past weekend, Notre Dame women’s tennis hit the road for the first time in the young 2025 season. The Irish remained unbeaten across their two games in New York City, defeating Maryland 4-3 on Saturday and Columbia 4-2 on Sunday. As a result, the Irish are 7-0 to start a spring season for the first time since 2006, when they went 27-2 and won the Big East Tournament.
Maryland
The closest Irish win of the season opened with a 2-0 deficit for the blue and gold. All three doubles matches could’ve gone either way, as Notre Dame claimed the No. 1 tilt with Carrie Beckman and Akari Matsuno by a 7-6 (7-4) score. However, the Terrapins stole the doubles point with similar tight wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 contests.
Maryland then moved into a two-point lead with a dominant result in No. 1 singles. Kallista Liu, the 88th-ranked singles competitor in the nation, had her way with Bojana Pozder. The 6-1, 6-1 outcome marked Pozder’s first loss of the season, as she now carries a 5-1 singles record.
Notre Dame would turn the tables from there, winning each of the next three singles matches that went final. Rylie Hanford (6-2, 6-2) and Nibi Ghosh (6-3, 6-0) were terrific in No. 6 and No. 4 singles, respectively, leveling the overall score at 2-2. Akari Matsuno, ranked 67th nationally in singles, also captured a 6-3, 6-3 victory that suddenly moved the Irish into a 3-2 lead.
Maryland would draw even again with a rally in No. 5 singles, as Tamari Gagoshidze knocked off Bianca Molnar (3-6, 6-1, 6-1). The day — and Notre Dame’s unblemished record — ultimately came down to the No. 2 match between Notre Dame’s Carrie Beckman and Maryland’s Ema Kovacevic. Kovacevic gained the upper hand early, scoring a 6-1 win in the first set. However, Beckman found her game and flipped the script the rest of the way, answering with back-to-back 6-1 victories that sealed Notre Dame’s 4-3 defeat of the Terrapins.
Columbia
Notre Dame started out much better on Sunday, claiming the doubles point with wins from Beckman and Matsuno in No. 1 doubles (6-4) and Hanford and Ghosh in No. 2 doubles (7-5). Columbia would offer the Irish some pushback as the singles portion of play began, moving ahead with victories from Amber Yin in the No. 5 match (6-1, 6-2) and Malak El Allami in the No. 2 battle (6-2, 6-3). Down 2-1, Notre Dame once again needed a comeback, and it found one.
Ghosh (6-2, 6-2) and Pozder (6-3, 6-2) each cruised to triumphs in No. 4 and No. 1 singles, respectively, pulling the Irish ahead 3-2. The overall outcome hinged on the No. 3 (Gayathri Krishnan against Matsuno) and No. 6 (Winta Tewolde against Hanford) matches. In Matsuno’s contest, the two players traded 6-2 set wins before Krishnan went up 5-4 in the decisive third set. In the meantime, Hanford won her first set 6-4 but dropped the second 6-2 on the No. 6 court.
Given Matsuno’s status near the end of her tilt, another Hanford set loss might have resulted in a Columbia team win, but she wouldn’t let it happen. Like Beckman the day before, Hanford battled back, winning her third set 6-3 to deliver a win for Notre Dame.
With the Irish seven matches into their spring, the Beckman-Matsuno pairing remains Notre Dame’s best with a 3-0 record in No. 1 doubles. On the singles court, Hanford (7-0), Ghosh (4-0) and Matsuno (3-0) remain unbeaten after contributing in New York.
This weekend, the Irish will play three matches, beginning with their toughest opponent to date. Notre Dame will face No. 3 Ohio State at 4 p.m. Friday before playing a doubleheader against Bellarmine on Sunday afternoon.
