ATLANTA – The No. 44 Notre Dame women’s tennis squad unfortunately dropped back-to-back matches for the first time this season. The Fighting Irish started the road trip with a 4-1 loss at No. 15 Clemson on Friday, then suffered a 4-0 loss on Sunday at No. 61 Georgia Tech. The Irish are now 12-4 this spring and 2-3 in ACC play.
The doubles pairing of Gabriella Rawles and Rylie Hanford was the bright spot of the weekend, winning both their matches to go 2-0 and improve to 9-2 this spring. First, Rawles & Hanford dispatched Clemson’s Talia Neilson-Gatenb & Artemis Aslanisvili, 6-2. Then, the Irish tandem defeated Georgia Tech’s Taly Licht & Sabritt Dozier, 6-3.
Freshman Jessica Kovalcik, who has started the spring 10-0, was locked in a three-set battle at Clemson and could have scored a ranked upset. Kovalcik’s match vs. No. 123 Ria Bhakta went unfinished at 6-3, 3-6, 2-3. In another what could have been moment, Akari Matsuno went unfinished vs. No. 50 Alejandra Cruz (GT), 4-6, 5-4.
#44 Notre Dame 1 (12-3, 2-2) – #15 Clemson 4 (12-3, 2-1)
DOUBLES – 3, 1, 2
1. #26 Groen/Okuwaki (CLEM) def. #57 Molnar/Pozder (ND), 6-3
2. Matsuno/Van Zyl (ND) def. Parravicini/Cisovska (CLEM), 2-5, won by retirement
3. Hanford/Rawles (ND) def. Neilson-Gatenby/Aslanisvili (CLEM), 6-2
SINGLES – 1, 3, 2, 4
1. Jade Groen (CLEM) def. #46 Bianca Molnar (ND), 6-2, 6-1
2. #103 Rinon Okuwaki (CLEM) def. Akari Matsuno (ND), 7-6(5), 6-3
3. Romana Cisovska (CLEM) def. Sophia Holod (ND), 6-3, 6-2
4. Talia Neilson-Gatenby (CLEM) def. Rylie Hanford (ND), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
5. Artemis Aslanisvili (CLEM) vs. Bojana Pozder (ND), 3-6, 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
6. #123 Ria Bhakta (CLEM) vs. Jessica Kovalcik (ND), 3-6, 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
#44 Notre Dame 0 (12-4, 2-3) – #61 Georgia Tech 4 (6-6, 2-2)
DOUBLES – 2, 1, 3
1. #52 Cruz/Nayuki (GT) def. Matsuno/Holod (ND), 6-3
2. Hanford/Rawles (ND) def. Licht/Dozier (GT), 6-3
3. Roach/Karantali (GT) def. Pozder/Kovalcik (ND), 6-4
SINGLES – 2, 3, 6
1. #50 Alejandra Cruz (GT) vs. Akari Matsuno (ND), 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
2. Taly Licht (GT) def. Rylie Hanford (ND), 6-4, 6-3
3. Given Roach (GT) def. Sophia Holod (ND), 6-4, 6-4
4. Seri Nayuki (GT) vs. Bojana Pozder (ND), 4-6, 4-5, unfinished
5. Sabritt Dozier (GT) vs. Jessica Kovalcik (ND), 6-3, 6-6(6-0), unfinished
6. Eleni Karantali (GT) def. Mari-Louise Van Zyl (ND), 6-3, 7-5
– ND –