In a fierce battle to wrap up the regular season, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team, despite a strong start, narrowly fell to the Louisville Cardinals 3-4 Saturday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Irish surged ahead with a 3-0 lead, thanks to their dominant doubles play and early singles wins. However, the Cardinals staged a comeback, securing four consecutive wins in singles matchups. As a result, the Cardinals were able to take the match on their senior day with a one-point victory.
Even with the loss, Notre Dame's doubles teams continued to shine, as they have all season. The No. 22 ranked duo of junior Sebastian Dominko and sophomore Chase Thompson cruised to a 6-2 victory on court one, while freshman Luis Llorens Saracho and Peter Nad clinched the doubles point with a 7-6 (7-2) win at No. 3. The doubles win marked the sixth straight for Dominko / Thompson and 11 straight for the Nad-Llorens combo.
This momentum carried into singles play, where sophomore Kyran Magimay made quick work of Piet Steveker on court No. 6 with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory. Moments later, No. 8 Dominko earned a win over No. 85 Will Mayew to push the 3-0 in favor of the Irish.
Louisville refused to go quietly. Miguel Avendaño started the Cardinals' rally with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Nad at the No. 5 court. Senior Cardinal Natan Rodrigues then earned himself a senior Day win, defeating senior Yu Zhang 6-1, 6-2 on court No. 2, narrowing the Irish lead to one. Courts 4 and 3 proved decisive, as narrow defeats in both matches completed the Cardinals' rally and delivered a painful loss to the Irish.
The defeat drops Notre Dame to 13-14 on the season, 1-8 on away courts and 1-12 in ACC play. The Irish now turn their attention to the ACC Championships, where they will face Miami again in Cary, North Carolina, on Wednesday, April 16.
