The 30th-ranked Notre Dame women’s tennis team delivered a dominant performance at home this weekend, sweeping a pair of ACC matchups inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish took down No. 35 Clemson on Friday afternoon before moving on to defeat No. 26 Georgia Tech on Sunday. With the wins, the Irish improved to 17-4 overall, 7-3 in ACC play and an impressive 12-2 standing on home courts.
Clemson
On Friday, the Irish came out firing and shut out No. 35 Clemson 4-0. The Irish clinched the doubles point with two ranked wins. Senior Nibi Ghosh and junior Rylie Hanford defeated No. 47-ranked Candela Yecora and Romana Cisovska in a 6-2 mop-up and Akari Matsuno and Carrie Beckman sealed the point with a 6-4 win. Holding the 1-0 lead, the Irish headed into the singles matches. With momentum on their side the Irish gained three points in singles play with wins by Matsuno and juniors Bojana Pozder and Rylie Hanford. The remaining three singles matches were unfinished but the Irish already had the day in hand.
Georgia Tech
For the second time this weekend, the Irish led off the match on Sunday by clinching the doubles point. Once again, Ghosh and Hanford came through for the Irish with a ranked win, this time over No. 57-ranked Alejandra Cruz and Given Roach. After the Yellow Jackets won at court three, Beckman and Matsuno clinched the point with a clutch 7-5 win at No. 1 doubles. Georgia Tech responded with singles wins at both No. 1 and No. 6 to take a 2-1 lead but the Irish quickly bounced back. Hanford evened the match at No. 5 with an enduring 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win and Ghosh then put the Irish back on top with a crucial win, leaving it all up to either Pozder or freshman Bianca Molnar. With the match on the line, Pozder showed incredible resilience, pulling out a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6) thriller win at No. 4 to clinch the Irish victory. The win marked the 99th victory for head coach Alison Silverio and the 17th win of the season for the Irish.
This weekend, the Irish will look to continue their success at home, facing Boston College and Syracuse in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Senior Day will also take place for the Irish this weekend, honoring Beckman, Kate Bellia, and Mara Olivia Castedo.
