Men’s Tennis
After decisive victories in last weekend’s home doubleheader against Duquesne and Western Michigan, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team traveled to Kentucky for a Saturday matchup against Louisville. In a high stakes match with two teams well over .500, Notre Dame dominated the scoreline, sweeping the Cardinals 4-0 and cementing itself as a force to be reckoned with on the college tennis circuit.
The duel kicked off with a blockbuster doubles matchup, pitting Notre Dame’s No. 15 ranked sophomore duo of Luis Llorens Saracho and Peter Nad against Louisville’s No. 21 ranked pair of sophomores Matei Onofrei and senior Andre Steinbach. Saracho and Nad cruised to a comfortable 6-2 victory, while seniors Sebastian Dominko and Noah Becker secured a 6-3 win against Cardinal senior Pedro Cressoni and junior Russell Lokko. The two wins secured the team doubles point for the Irish. Notre Dame graduate student Perry Gregg and freshman Nicholas Patrick were tied at 4-4 in their doubles match against the No. 59 ranked pair of juniors Walid Ahouda and Hamza El Amine, before the match was left unfinished.
Notre Dame junior Kyran Magimay got things going on the singles side, with a resounding 6-3, 6-2 win over sophomore Louis Chusseau. No. 24 ranked Dominko finished promptly after defeating No. 68 ranked Ahouda 6-3, 6-4. Llorens Saracho closed out the singles matches with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Pedro Cressoni. Multiple singles matches were abandoned, including Gregg vs. El Amine 7-6 (2), 2-3, Nad vs. Steinbach 6-3 3-6 and Notre Dame sophomore Giuseppe Cerasuolo vs. Matei Onofrei 7-6 (5), 5-5.
The men’s team looked solid across the board, and continued doubles dominance spells future ACC success, where duels often come down to that final team point. The Irish now get a two week break, before facing the first major test of the season in a home duel against Wisconsin. Play begins Feb. 6 at 4 pm EST.
Women’s Tennis
Following its own dominant double header sweep against Western Michigan and Duquesne, the Notre Dame women’s tennis team put its undefeated record to the test in Saturday’s ITA Kickoff Weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The women’s team was tested in its first duel, losing to No. 19 ranked Vanderbilt 4-0, but rebounded with a resounding 4-0 victory over the University of Pennsylvania Sunday.
Notre Dame freshman Sophia Holod opened the singles play against No. 36 ranked Vanderbilt freshman Mia Yamakita, who controlled the tempo and ran away with a 6-1, 6-3 win. Vanderbilt freshman Erin Pearce promptly defeated freshman Mari-Louise Van Zyl 6-2, 6-4, and Vandy senior Bridget Stammel closed out singles matchplay with a resounding 7-5, 6-2 victory over Notre Dame senior Bojana Pozder.
Vanderbilt’s No. 2 ranked star duo of graduate student Célia-Belle Mohr and sophomore Sophia Webster kicked off the doubles play with a 6-1 win over No. 21 ranked Bojana Pozder and sophomore Bianca Molnar. No. 13 ranked duo Bridget Stammel and junior Valeria Ray secured the team doubles point for Vandy with a 6-2 victory over senior Akari Matsuno and freshman Jessica Kovalcik.
After the disappointing loss to a top ranked program, the Irish rumbled back the next day against Penn. Notre Dame senior Rylie Hanford handed her team the lead, with a quick 6-0, 6-3 win over junior Liza Tkachenko. Freshman Gabriella Rawles doubled the lead, defeating Penn freshman Joleen Saw 6-2, 6-1. Holod rounded out the singles matches, cruising to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Penn sophomore Lara Stojanovski.
In doubles, Notre Dame duo Holod and Molnar beat Joleen Saw and junior Esha Velaga 6-4, while Matsuno and Kovalcik clinched the match, defeating junior Sasha Motlagh and partner Lara Stojanovski 6-4.
The Irish are off to a strong start this season, but if the team hopes to emulate last year’s outstanding 21-6 season, it will need to carry this strong form into March and April. Notre Dame will return to South Bend next weekend to face a familiar foe in Navy. Match play begins Jan. 31 at 11 a.m. EST.
