This past weekend at home, the No. 24-ranked Notre Dame women's tennis team closed out its regular season by making a statement, sweeping a weekend slate of ACC opponents inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion. On Friday, the Irish defeated Boston College with a 4-1 victory before completely shutting out Syracuse 4-0 on senior day Sunday morning. The pair of victories mark the 100th and 101st career wins for head coach Alison Silverio, who becomes just the third coach in program history to reach that mark.
Boston College
Unlike the last couple of weekends, the Irish got off to a slow start on Friday afternoon, dropping the doubles point despite a 7-5 win from freshman Bianca Molnar and junior Bojana Pozder at No. 3. The Irish came back with a bang in singles play. Junior Rylie Hanford delivered a dominant, almost flawless 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles, tying the match. Pozder, senior Nibi Ghosh and Molnar followed with wins at No. 4, No. 3 and No. 2 to secure a 4-1 victory for Silverio’s 100th win.
Syracuse
On Sunday morning, after celebrating the seniors — Carrie Beckman, Kate Bellia, Ghosh, and Maria Olivia Castedo — Notre Dame capped off the regular season with a commanding 4-0 win over Syracuse. The Irish returned to their usual form in doubles play, asserting their dominance and securing the victory on court No. 3 by Molnar and Pozder, followed by a victory at No. 1 by Beckman and junior Akari Matsuno. The Irish entered singles play with the early advantage and continued to dominate. Molnar struck first in singles with a 6-1, 6-2 win over No. 101 Serafima Shastova, Matsuno followed with another ranked win at No. 1, taking down No. 108 Miyuka Kimoto 6-4, 6-2. Junior Rylie Hanford clinched the win for Notre Dame with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win at No. 5.
With these weekend wins, Notre Dame improves to 19-4 overall, 14-2 on home courts and 9-3 in conference play, securing the sixth seed in next week’s ACC Women’s Tennis Championship. The nine wins are the most for the Irish in the ACC since joining the conference in 2013. The 19 wins are also the most under coach Silviero and the most since the 2011-2012 season, when the Irish finished with 21 wins.
ACC Tournament Preview
Looking ahead, with momentum on their side and a first-round bye, the Irish will now head to Cary, North Carolina, for the conference championship and will face the winner of SMU and Wake Forest on Thursday, April 17, at 12:30 p.m. The Irish beat both teams back in February with a 4-1 win over SMU in Dallas and a 4-3 win over Wake Forest at home.
The No. 11-seeded SMU currently stands at 12-13 overall and 4-8 in ACC play. Last season, the Mustangs were in the AAC conference, but moved to the ACC starting this year. The Mustangs finished their last year in the AAC by securing the conference championship and finishing 14-12 overall and 5-1 in conference play. However, they faced a setback in the NCAA championship, where they lost in the second round to Oklahoma State. Significant departures from the team from last season include Lana Mavor, a graduate student who was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the AAC championship for the 2023-24 season. On the other hand, there has been a notable addition to the team this season: Arianna Stavropoulos, a graduate student who transferred from UC Davis. Stavropoulos' highest doubles ranking is No. 64 as of March 5, 2025, and was named ACC player of the week the same day.
Heading into the ACC Tournament, the SMU women’s tennis team’s last match of the season resulted in a 4-3 victory over No. 28 Georgia Tech, though they had previously lost to Clemson 2-4 just two days before. The top performers in singles matchups this season for the Mustangs include Stavropoulos, who has a 12-7 record with three ranked wins, and Drew Morris, who finished 12-10 with two ranked wins. In doubles, the pair of Ellie Pittman and Sophie Llewellyn have achieved an impressive 11-5 record, also garnering three ranked wins.
The No. 14 seeded Wake Forest has an overall record of 14 wins and 12 losses, with a record of 3-9 in ACC play. Last season, they finished with a record of 15-14 and a 6-7 record in the ACC. The Demon Deacons were eliminated in the second round of the ACC championship by their fellow North Carolina team, Duke, and lost to Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Championship. This season, they have seen some notable departures, including seniors Casie Wooten and Brooke Killingsworth, but have also welcomed new talent such as freshman Kady Tannenbaum and graduate transfer Makayla Mills from Kentucky. Currently, the Deacons are coming off a four-game losing streak as they head into their matchup against the Mustangs. Their recent losses were all to ranked opponents: No. 18 Cal, No. 29 Stanford, No. 64 Florida State and No. 55 Miami.
The team's top performers include Nevena Carton in singles, who has a record of 12 wins and eight losses with three ranked wins. First-year Tannenbaum also has a solid singles record of 17-8. In doubles, Tannenbaum shines again, as she and her partner Carton have teamed up to achieve a 17-9 record with two ranked wins. Also shining in doubles is the duo of Krystal Blanch and Makayla Mills, who hold a record of 9-9 with two ranked wins.
If the Irish win their third-round matchup, they will take on No. 3 NC State in the quarterfinals. If the Irish move on to the semifinals, they will take on the winner of No. 2 North Carolina’s matchup with either Stanford, Miami, or Virginia Tech for a spot in the championship.
