Notre Dame men’s tennis will look to snap a five-match losing streak Sunday as they face Boston College and Butler.
In Boston College, the Irish will get as good of a chance to break out of their funk as they could have asked for. Notre Dame currently sits in second to last place in the ACC standings. The one squad below them is the Eagles.
Boston College will enter on a losing streak of its own, having dropped its last four contests. Their latest defeat came at the hands of Virginia Tech, who the Irish’s lone win in conference play came against earlier in March.
Juan Jose Bianchi led the way for the Eagles in the defeat to the Hokies. The senior won both his singles matches as well as his doubles match alongside Max Motlagh. He was the only Boston College player to record a win in both the singles and doubles categories.
Butler offers an intriguing test for the Fighting Irish as well. The Bulldogs boast a winning record on the year, as well as a winning record in Big East play. However, they’ve struggled outside of conference play. Butler is 0-4 against Power Five conference opponents so far this season.
If Notre Dame is able to pick up their 11th and 12th wins on the year to pull above .500, Sebastian Dominko will likely be leading the way. The freshman has enjoyed a breakout rookie campaign, a major contributor for the Irish from the jump.
Dominko’s 9-6 record in singles matches is the best on the roster. He’s also teamed up with senior Connor Fu to create Notre Dame’s best doubles partnership. The pairing is 12-3 on the year. Dominko and Fu represent the most consistent Irish partnership in doubles play — no other pairing has seen action more than seven times this season.
Sophomore Yu Zhang will also likely have a significant role in any Notre Dame success on Sunday. Zhang has been consistent in singles play on the year, with his 9-7 record just trailing Dominko’s for team best. He also has developed a solid partnership with freshman Evan Lee in doubles play. Lee and Zhang are 3-4 on the year, including a victory against Wake Forest in the Irish's last outing.
Notre Dame tennis will be in action all day on Sunday at Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Boston College match is set to start at 12 p.m., while the out-of-conference clash with Butler is slated for a 5 p.m. start.
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