On Sunday, the Notre Dame women’s tennis team faced SMU at The Eck Pavilion. This marked Notre Dame’s first time playing back on campus since Feb. 22. The team had unfortunately lost to No. 24 Duke, 0-4, a week prior. While great effort was made, No. 52 Notre Dame fell short to No. 32 SMU with a final score of 3-4.
Heading into the matchup, Notre Dame had obtained a record of 12-6 overall. Despite the tough competition both Duke and North Carolina have brought this year, the team has demonstrated their strengths with a doubles win against Duke.
The SMU team has claimed a 12-5 record during the 2026 season. This match against the Irish would come to define their abilities as a team and predict their success throughout the rest of the season.
The matches were off to a great start for the Irish, as Notre Dame freshman Gabriella Rawles and sophomore Rylie Hanford won 6-3 in doubles against SMU Natalie Stasny and Sophie Llewellyn. Soon enough, Notre Dame sophomore Bianca Molnar along with senior Bojana Pozder demonstrated phenomenal teamwork in doubles and obtained a top-10-ranked victory defeating No. 10 Caroline McGinley and Amelie Van Impe 6-3 to secure the doubles point. Molnar and Pozder have become a respectable duo this season, and this accomplishment distinguished their sixth-ranked win of the year.
Even though the scores were initially encouraging for the Irish, singles play was their ultimate downfall. SMU immediately tied the score without losing a single set. Freshman Sophia Holod fought back to the challenge by defeating Stasny, 6-1, 6-4. In an impressive response to SMU’s comeback, Holod now has 11 singles dual victories. This is the largest number of singles dual victories out of everyone on the team.
Despite the Irish’s attempt to secure the victory against the Mustangs, SMU’s Ellie Mireles tied the match again by winning all sets. Next, Molnar placed Notre Dame only one point away from winning the match. Molnar went on to defeat Llewellyn 6-2, 6-3.
On court six, SMU tied 3-3 which stirred anticipation for the set against Pozder and McGinley. Pozder won the first set 6-4, and McGinley triumphed in the second set, 6-3. During the third set, both players held serve and made it 2-2. Then, Pozder won 4-2 before securing the 6-2 clincher.
In the next few weeks, the Irish will remain at home and host Stanford on Mar. 27, as well as Cal on March 29. As the team prepares for the ACC tournament, scheduled for Apr. 14 through Apr. 19, the next few matches are key in order to display their undeniable talent as a team.
