Women’s team sweeps four games in two days

By OLIVIA SCHATZ Associate sports editor

n otre d ame women’s tennis were back in action this weekend as they hosted a series of matches in e ck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish were on a hot streak as they secured a win of all four matches, bringing their official team record to 4-0 on the season.

The first matchup of the weekend was against m ichigan s tate where the Irish won with an astounding 7-0, pulling in essential momentum for the weekend.

Junior Julia Andreach and sophomore c arrie b eckman started the afternoon out in n o. 3 double spots for the Irish (6-0).

Page Freeman and freshman b ojana Pozder were at the n o. 1 spot and freshman r ylie h anford and junior Yashna Yellayi notched a 6-4 win at n o. 2.

Again, the singles matches sealed their victories, as m ichigan s tate couldn’t win any match. Pozder was the only single player — at n o. 5 — that needed a third set. b ut ultimately the Irish pulled through in time to play b utler only a few hours later.

The Irish lost one of three total matches against b utler, but still triumphed over the b ulldogs.

n otre d ame saw a switch up in their doubles for the second game of the night. While h anford and Yellayi played together again in the n o. 2 spot (6-0), sophomore m aria o livia c astedo and freshman Akari m atsuno played in the n o. 3 spot, securing the doubles win for the Irish (6-2).

The singles win was not as easy against b utler as it was against m ichigan s tate. s ophomore n ibi Ghosh won her match in two games at the n o. 1 spot (6-1 ,7-6). While multiple matches had to go to three sets, the Irish were able to win out 5-1 in singles.

The only b utler point came from h anford’s match, where she went three rounds (6-4, 4-6, 6-3) e ven with this slight hiccup, the Irish came back stronger than ever against Xaviar s unday. Again, n otre d ame did not drop a single point. n otre d ame again swept singles, this time with Freeman in the n o. 1 spot (6-2, 6-3).

The doubles teams of Yellayi and h anford ( n o. 2) and b eckman and Andreach ( n o. 3) were back in action, and they did not disappoint. The third spot team dominated with a 6-1 victory, while the second spot team struggled, but ultimately earned the point (7-6, 7-3).

Again, only one player saw a third set; this time it was Ghosh in the n o. 3 spot. o ther than Ghosh, two 6-3 matches was the closest Xavier came to winning a point.

The fourth and final match of the weekend proved to be the toughest for the Irish. Against UI c , n otre d ame dropped two of the total three points on the weekend. d espite this, the Irish did not show their fatigue and they, again, pulled through, delivering a 4-0 victory.

The first point for UI c was during the doubles matches. Andreach and b eckman won their match in the n o. 1 spot, but Pozder and c astedo could not in the second. For the first time of the weekend graduate student Alez Kuo and junior s ydney s forzo played together, but they could not bring in the victory needed.

The other dropped point came in the top spot of singles, where Freeman went to three sets but ultimately fell to her opponent. The Irish, however, did not play any softer, and n otre d ame won four of the remaining five games straight, only needing a third set for junior m eghan c oleman’s win in the sixth spot. h ead coach Alison s ilverio was impressed with her team’s performance on the weekend.

“To come out and play four matches, two double headers. Is that easy, physically or mentally?” s ilverio remarked. “It’s a total team effort. e veryone that was inside the lines to everyone that was outside the line was a full unit.”

The Irish not only showed commitment to their team, but an incredible sign of endurance playing four matches in two days. h owever, n otre d ame does not have an easy schedule ahead of them. n otre d ame faces n o. 14 University of s outhern c alifornia on s aturday. This past weekend showed how strong of a roster the Irish have, but next weekend will be a true test to their talent.

The Irish will travel to Georgia where they will face off against the Trojans in a neutral site on s aturday, Jan 27 at 11 a.m. e T.

Contact Olivia Schatz at oschatz@nd.edu