This weekend, the Notre Dame men’s and women’s tennis teams will write an end to their regular seasons with three combined matches. The Irish women will stay home to take on Boston College and Syracuse, while the men will travel a few hours south to Louisville.
Women’s tennis
Coming off two impressive home wins against No. 4 Clemson and No. 26 Georgia Tech, No. 24 Notre Dame will host Boston College at 4 p.m. on Friday and Syracuse at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The Irish have won five of their last six after sweeping the Tigers and downing the Yellow Jackets by a 4-2 score last weekend.
Junior Akari Matsuno continues to climb the rankings as Notre Dame’s No. 1 singles player. She currently ranks 64th nationally among singles competitors and owns a 10-5 individual record for the season. Senior Nibi Ghosh has heated up lately in No. 3 singles, winning each of her last six matches to reach an overall record of 10-1. Junior Bojana Pozder, who debuted at No. 4 singles last weekend, keeps rolling along with a 14-4 record and a 6-2 mark in her last eight.
Notre Dame’s top two doubles teams both found success last weekend, with senior Carrie Beckman joining Matsuno to go 2-0 and junior Rylie Hanford doing the same with Ghosh. Hanford and Ghosh now rank 60th in the country among doubles pairings after taking down Georgia Tech’s 57th-ranked duo on Sunday.
The Irish shouldn’t have too difficult of a time sweeping Boston College to start the weekend. The Eagles check in at 5-15 (1-9 ACC) and have lost seven consecutive contests, five of them being sweeps. Last weekend, they lost two home matchups to Virginia and Virginia Tech and before that were swept by the two squads Notre Dame beat a week ago. Most notably, Boston College has not won away from home with an 0-8 record in true road and neutral-site affairs.
Freshman Olivia Benton leads the Eagles with a dual record of 21-10.
Syracuse, at 8-9 overall but also 1-9 within ACC play, should bring a bit more competitiveness into South Bend. However, the Orange also come in on a lengthy losing skid of six games, with all six matches taking place against ranked opponents. Virginia Tech and Virginia each defeated Syracuse last weekend, though the Orange were close with the 60th-ranked Hokies.
The Orange actually carry more nationally ranked singles players than the Irish, with Serafima Shastova positioned at No. 101 and Miyuka Kimoto at No. 108. Shastova, who has become Syracuse’s No. 3 singles option as of late, holds a 10-3 overall record with a 5-2 mark in ACC action. Kimoto works in the No. 1 slot and has struggled in conference play but owns a 7-6 record overall. Unranked Monika Wojcik has fared quite well in No. 5 and No. 6 singles, matching Shastova with a 10-3 record.
Men’s tennis
Since occupying the 35th national ranking in late February, the Irish have plummeted, going 1-11 in ACC play with a nasty losing streak against ranked opponents in March. At 13-13 overall, they’ll end the regular season with a more winnable trip to Louisville at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Last weekend, Notre Dame hit the road and lost to No. 19 Florida State and No. 33 Miami. Junior Sebastian Dominko took a rare loss against the Hurricanes, but his dual record and national ranking still hold strong at 17-3 and 18th, respectively. He’s 8-3 against fellow ranked players and 8-1 within the realm of ACC play. Sophomore Chase Thompson, his playing partner on the nation’s 22nd-ranked doubles team, has Notre Dame’s second-best singles winning percentage with an 11-7 record.
In doubles action, the Irish have struck gold with their No. 3 doubles pairing of freshmen Luis Llorens Saracho and Peter Nad. The two have yet to lose together this season, going 11-0, with nine of those victories coming against ACC competition.
This weekend’s opponent, Louisville, also carries a 1-11 conference record. However, the Cardinals were significantly worse in non-conference play and come off a Thursday clash with mid-major Middle Tennessee, the No. 44 team in the country. They also took on Miami and Florida State in the Sunshine State last weekend, dropping both contests.
Expect Will Mayew, Louisville’s only ranked singles competitor at No. 85 nationally, to oppose Dominko in the No. 1 matchup. Mayew leads the Cardinals by a wide margin with his individual record of 13-5. Louisville’s No. 2 doubles team of Natan Rodrigues and Hamza El Amine ranks 90th nationally with a 4-4 record this spring.
