#70 Irish Upset #19 Cal, 4-1, Earning 2nd Ranked Victory of the Weekend

Cal Box | Stanford Box 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 70 Notre Dame women’s tennis team was looking to bounce back in a major way and they certainly did this past weekend, completing a state of California sweep by knocking off both Stanford and Cal at home. Not to mention, the Fighting Irish (14-7, 4-6) picked up two ranked wins along the way – first dispatching the No. 40 Cardinal, 4-3, on Friday, then upsetting No. 19 Cal, 4-1, on Sunday. The win over the Bears was their highest-ranked victory of the season thus far.

It also marked the program’s second-ever wins against both Stanford (2-7 all-time) and Cal (2-1 all-time).

In doubles, Bianca Molnar and Bojana Pozder put together a stellar 2-0 weekend with a pair of ranked wins. They were dominant against No. 88 Ekstrand/Driscoll of Stanford, winning 6-1 to clinch the doubles point; then, they came up huge again with a 6-3 victory over No. 65 Svendsen/Mushika of Cal. Molnar/Pozder are currently ranked 45th nationally and improved to 6-3 in duals, 17-7 overall as a pair.

The match against Stanford on Friday evening was high drama. After Notre Dame claimed a 3-0 lead with singles victories from Sophia Holod and Jessica Kovalcik on courts five and six, Stanford rallied to tie the match at 3-all. All eyes then turned to Akari Matsuno on court two, who was in a three-set thriller. Squaring off against No. 34 Alyssa Ahn, the two exchanged 6-4 sets to send it into a decisive third. Next, Matsuno was able to push ahead late for a third set 6-4 victory as the Irish celebration unfolded.

On Sunday against No. 19 Cal, after clinching the doubles point yet again, the Irish used singles victories from Rylie Hanford (court 5) and Bianca Molnar (court 1) to build a 3-1 lead. For No. 77 Molnar, it marked her highest-ranked singles victory this spring, knocking off No. 16 Johanne Svendsen, 7-5, 6-4.

Next, freshman Jessica Kovalcik played the role of clincher with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over. No. 91 Naomi Xu.

Unfortunately, Matsuno’s battle with No. 8 Berta Passola Folch was cut just short when she was up in the third set, 6-2, 2-6, 5-4.

Holod and Kovalcik have put together stellar freshman spring campaigns with 12-5 and 12-1 records, respectively. Molnar has now joined them in double-digit wins with a 10-5 spring record.

Next, three regular-season matches remain for the Blue & Gold: at Wake Forest on April 3, at NC State on April 5, and then vs. DePaul at home on April 12.

#70 Notre Dame (14-7, 4-6) – 4 | #19 Cal (9-4, 6-2) – 1

DOUBLES – 3, 1, 2
1. #45 Molnar/Pozder (ND) def. #65 Svendsen/Mushika (CAL), 6-3
2. Rawles/Hanford (ND) def. Folch/Hernandez (CAL), 6-4
3. Xu/Moerk (CAL) def. Matsuno/Van Zyl (ND), 6-1

SINGLES – 5, 3, 1, 6
1. #77 Bianca Molnar (ND) def. #16 Johanne Svendsen (CAL), 7-5, 6-4
2. Akari Matsuno (ND) vs. #8 Berta Passola Folch (CAL), 6-2, 2-6, 5-4, unfinished
3. #82 Mao Mushika (CAL) def. Bojana Pozder (ND), 7-5, 6-1
4. Sophia Holod (ND) vs. Laura Cilekova (CAL), 6-3, 3-6, 5-5, unfinished
5. Rylie Hanford (ND) def. Mille Johanna Moerk (CAL), 6-2, 7-5
6. Jessica Kovalcik (ND) def. #91 Naomi Xu (CAL), 7-5, 6-3

#70 Notre Dame (13-7, 3-6) – 4 | #40 Stanford (8-7, 4-3) – 3 

DOUBLES – 3, 1, 2
1. #45 Molnar/Pozder (ND) def. #88 Ekstrand/Driscoll (STAN), 6-1
2. Ahn/Wang (STAN) def. Rawles/Hanford (ND), 6-4
3. Matsuno/Van Zyl (ND) def. Myoung/Glozman (STAN), 6-2

SINGLES – 5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 2
1. #30 Monika Ekstrand (STAN) def. #77 Bianca Molnar (ND), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
2. Akari Matsuno (ND) vs. #34 Alyssa Ahn (STAN), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
3. Caroline Driscoll (STAN) def. Bojana Pozder (ND), 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-1
4. Tianmei Wang (STAN) def. Rylie Hanford (ND), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
5. Sophia Holod (ND) def. Sein Myoung (STAN), 6-3, 6-2
6. Jessica Kovalcik (ND) def. Emma Sun (STAN), 6-2, 6-3

– ND –