The Notre Dame men’s and women’s tennis teams were both in action over the weekend at Eck Tennis Pavilion. While the Irish women went 2-1 with a loss to Ohio State and a sweep of Bellarmine, the men’s team extended its win streak to six with sweeps of William & Mary and Northern Illinois.
Women’s tennis
The Irish, who entered the weekend unbeaten, opened with their toughest challenge of the season to date. They took on No. 17 Ohio State at home on Friday, playing to a 6-1 loss.
Notre Dame showed positive signs throughout the match, including the performance of senior Nibi Ghosh and junior Rylie Hanford in No. 2 doubles. The duo led Ohio State’s 63rd-ranked pair of Alessia Cau and Dani Schoenly by a 5-4 score before Buckeye wins in the other two doubles matches ended the contest early. Luciana Perry/Teah Chavez defeated senior Carrie Beckman/junior Akari Matsuno (6-2) in No. 1 doubles, while Sydni Ratliff/Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev bested junior Bojana Pozder/senior Maria Olivia Castedo (6-3) in No. 3 doubles.
In singles play, the No. 2 matchup featured a battle between ranked opponents. The 55th-ranked Chavez took down the 71st-ranked Matsuno (7-5, 6-1), as Ohio State won each of the top five singles contests. However, freshman Bianca Molnar pulled a major upset on the No. 6 court, defeating No. 60 Audrey Spencer. The two traded set wins to start before Molnar claimed a thrilling, 1-0 (10-7) victory to end the day in set three.
The Irish would bounce back with two successful matches against Bellarmine on Sunday, defeating the Knights by 7-0 and 6-0 scores. Now at 9-1 on the year, they’ll host Xavier at 11 a.m. on Sunday before opening ACC play the following weekend at SMU.
Men’s tennis
On Saturday, Notre Dame men’s tennis hosted and swept two non-conference opponents to start February. The Irish claimed 7-0 wins against William & Mary and Northern Illinois, stretching their win streak to six games and improving to 8-1 on the season.
In the day’s first match at Eck Tennis Pavilion, the Tribe gave the Irish some trouble in No. 1 doubles and singles. Notre Dame’s senior pairing of Jameson Corsillo and Yu Zhang lost to Gur Trakhtenberg and Oliver Hague (6-3). However, a 6-1 win from junior Sebastian Dominko and sophomore Kyran Magimay in No. 3 doubles and a 6-2 victory from freshman Peter Nad and sophomore Chase Thompson in No. 2 doubles got Notre Dame its first point.
Hague would pick up an unexpected first-set win against the 33rd-ranked Dominko in No. 1 singles. But Dominko bounced back, capturing an overall victory (4-6, 6-2, 6-1) that at the time gave the Irish a 6-0 lead. Zhang, Thompson, Nad, Magimay and Corsillo all won their singles contests in just two sets for Notre Dame.
Against Northern Illinois, the Irish went almost entirely uncontested. Head coach Ryan Sachire kept his No. 1 and No. 2 doubles team the same but gave freshman Luis Llorens Saracho a chance to play with Dominko on the No. 3 court. The Irish claimed a pair of 6-3 doubles wins, earning the first point once again.
Saracho also checked in for Thompson as Notre Dame’s No. 6 singles player, helping the Irish capture all 12 available sets. Dominko took care of Iker Arrastia in No. 1 singles (6-3, 6-4).
This coming weekend, the Irish will hit the road for the first time this season to face Illinois at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
