Despite the cold currently experienced in the South Bend winter, the season is heating up for the Irish, as they will play a doubleheader Sunday, as they host No. 14 Duke and Toledo.
"Duke is very good," associate head coach Ryan Sachire said. "They're a top 15 team this year and they were a top 15 team last year when they went to the Sweet Sixteen. They are loaded from top to bottom."
Part of the challenge for the Irish will be getting the bad taste out of their mouth from a weekend loss to No. 16 Illinois.
Freshman Greg Andrews and junior Casey Watt won a doubles match to give the Irish an early 1-0 advantage. The Illini, however, finished the match with four consecutive victories to beat Notre Dame, 4-1.
"We did not execute or play well against Illinois," Sachire said. "It's important that we step up and play like we can."
The Blue Devils are yet another ranked opponent that the Irish will face in the early part of the spring season.
"We need to play well and compete well," Sachire said. "Duke is very well-coached and has a lot of talent. We will be in the match if we play and execute like we are capable of. Duke is certainly one of the more talented teams on our schedule."
The Blue Devils qualified for the Indoor Championships with a tournament win last weekend. The championships will be held in two weeks.
The doubleheader Sunday will be the first of a string of matches the Irish will compete in over the course of the next couple weeks. On Tuesday, Notre Dame will play at Big Ten competitor Wisconsin before playing Michigan State and Marquette in East Lansing, Mich., next weekend.
The Irish will face Duke at 12 p.m. and Toledo at 6 p.m Sunday at the Eck Tennis Center.
