SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Sunday afternoon saw the Notre Dame men’s tennis team take on their second consecutive Ivy League opponent in the Yale Bulldogs in an instant classic match. Trailing for most of the match, Notre Dame would demonstrate great poise and competitiveness to come out on top with the 4-3, last match on victory.
Yale took the early lead with wins at the top two spots in the doubles lineup to secure the doubles point followed by a win for the Bulldogs in a matchup of ranked singles players on the #1 court. Senior Yu Zhang would get the Irish on the board at #2 singles with a pair of matching 6-3 sets. Then, with the remaining 4 matches all in third sets, Chase Thompson would rally after losing the first set to win 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 at #3 singles to even up the overall match score at 2-2.
Kyran Magimay found himself at a 2-5 deficit early in the first set before he ripped off 5 straight games to claim the set 7-5. But the Yale opponent at #4 singles would flip the match and take the court to put the Bulldogs back on top and one point away from the team victory.
With the Irish needing both remaining matches to win overall, Jamie Corsillo and Peter Nad would both have to come back from being behind late in their third sets. Nad had a rollercoaster of a match as he would cruise to a 6-2 first set lead before losing the second set 1-6. The freshman from Slovakia built a big lead in the final set, getting up 5-1 before his opponent fought his way back to take the late lead 6-5. But a hold of serve by the Irish #5 player sent the match to a tiebreak where he would reach the finish line 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5) and knot the match at 3-3.
Corsillo, a senior from Boca Raton, would find himself as he did on Friday night as the last court playing with all eyes on him. After little separation throughout the final set, a trade of breaks would give the Yale freshman at #6 the chance to serve out the match and claim the victory. But Corsillo responded with a break of his own and followed it with a hold at deuce. Having nosed ahead, 6-5, the senior for Notre Dame would break again at deuce to secure the 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 win and the court storm was on as the Irish won 4-3 over Yale.
The final match of the weekend was a lot more straight forward than the first couple as the men took down Saint Joseph’s 4-0. With some new doubles combos on the court, the Irish took the early lead. The freshmen paired up at #2 doubles as Peter Nad and Luis Llorens took the match 6-3, notching Llorens first career spring dual match victory. Dominko remained at #1 but played with Jayanth Devaiah and the duo clinched the match 6-2. With the doubles over, the #3 court of Zhang and fellow senior Brian Bilsey would be left unfinished as they had two match points.
In singles, Dominko raced to a 6-1, 6-0 win followed closely by Magimay winning 6-3, 6-1. Thompson would get the clinch with a 6-2, 6-3 win, sealing the overall match and moving the Notre Dame record on the season to 4-1.
Up Next:
The men will return to the courts for another double header at home as they host Cleveland State and Illinois State next Saturday January 26th. The matches will be player at 12pm and 5pm.
Match 1
Notre Dame 4 Yale 3
Doubles
Gogineni/Liao(YALE) def. #78 Dominko/Nad(ND) 6-4
Ji/Shuler(YALE) def. Magimay/Thompson(ND) 6-4
Corsillo/Zhang(ND) vs. Reilly/Gupta(YALE) 4-3 DNF
Order of Finish (1, 2)
Singles
#91 Gogineni(YALE) def. #28 Dominko(ND) 6-4, 6-2
Zhang(ND) def. Li(YALE) 6-3, 6-3
Thompson(ND) def. Ji(YALE) 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Shuler(YALE) def. Magimay(ND) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Nad(ND) def. Liao(YALE) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5)
Corsillo(ND) def. Gupta(YALE) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
Order of Finish (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Match 2
Notre Dame 4 Saint Joseph’s 0
Doubles
Dominko/Devaiah(ND) def. Ruy/Bezzaz(SJU) 6-2
Llorens/Nad(ND) def. Valle/Agbo(SJU) 6-2
Bilsey/Zhang(ND) vs. Cizmark/Dubas(SJU) 5-1
Order of Finish (2, 1)
Singles
#28 Dominko(ND) def. Agbo(SJU) 6-1, 6-0
Zhang(ND) vs. Ruy(SJU) 7-6(4), 1-1 DNF
Thompson(ND) def. Bezzaz(SJU) 6-2, 6-3
Magimay(ND) def. Valle(SJU) 6-3, 6-1
Llorens(ND) vs. Dubas(SJU) 6-3, 3-4 DNF
Becker(ND) vs. Cizmark(SJU) 4-6, 3-2 DNF
Order of Finish (1, 4, 3)