COLUMBUS. Ohio – Saturday marked Notre Dame women’s tennis’ 28th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fourth straight year under Head Coach Alison Silverio. In the first round, the #35 Fighting Irish (19-9) clashed with the #27 Arizona Wildcats (20-10) in Columbus on Ohio State’s indoor courts. With the match tied at 3-3, it was freshman Sophia Holod who played hero and sent ND into the second round.
Arizona began the match by capturing the coveted doubles point and claiming the early 1-0 lead. Chulak/Moore knocked off #45 Molnar/Pozder, 6-3, on court one. Then Usereau/Garcia upset #69 Rawles/Hanford, 6-4, on court two. ND duo Matsuno/Van Zyl were up 4-3 on Narendran/Ostrzygalo when their match was stopped.
In singles, the Irish won the first set on five of the six courts, building some momentum.
Next, Akari Matsuno leveled the team match by dominating her opponent, Josie Usereau, on court two, 6-4, 6-0. Rylie Hanford followed suit with a 6-2, 7-6(5), victory over Tanvi Narendran on court four. Yet, Arizona tied it at 2-2 just moments later with a straight-set win on court one.
In a unique moment, the three remaining courts for Notre Dame were occupied by none other than three of their freshmen. This was the current situation when the match was tied at 2-all:
- Court 3 – Holod vs. Moore – 7-6(5), 5-7, 0-0
- Court 5 – Rawles vs. Garcia – 7-5, 0-6, 5-1
- Court 6 – Kovalcik vs. Chulak – 6-3, 4-6, 2-1
Gabriella Rawles ultimately put the Irish on the cusp of victory, holding on in the third set to take it 6-2.
With the Irish needing just one more point – Holod was tied 1-1 in her third set while Kovalcik was tied at 3-3.
Soon after, Holod earned a crucial break and then held serve to go up 4-2 vs. Moore. Meanwhile, Zona’s Chulak had done the same to Kovalcik and earned a 5-3 advantage. Chulak then went on to win 6-3 and level the team match at 3-all.
At this point, Holod was up 5-3 with Zona’s Moore on serve. More eventually held to cut it to 5-4. Fast forward a few moments and Holod was serving for the potential win at 40-40. The New York native delivered in the high-stakes moment and sent Notre Dame into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Irish are playing their best tennis right now, winners of seven of their last nine. They have now advanced at least one round in all but three occasions over their long history in the NCAA Tournament.
#35 Notre Dame (19-9) – 4 | #27 Arizona (20-10) – 3
DOUBLES – 1, 2
1. Chulak/Moore (UA) def. #45 Molnar/Pozder (ND), 6-3
2. Usereau/Garcia (UA) def. #69 Rawles/Hanford (ND), 6-4
3. Matsuno/Van Zyl (ND) vs. Narendran/Ostrzygalo (UA), 4-3, unfinished
SINGLES – 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 3
1. Martyna Ostrzygalo (UA) def. #70 Bianca Molnar (ND), 7-5, 6-4
2. Akari Matsuno (ND) def. Josie Usereau (UA), 6-4, 6-0
3. Sophia Holod (ND) def. Ciara Moore (UA), 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-4
4. Rylie Hanford (ND) def. Tanvi Narendran (UA), 6-2, 7-6(5)
5. Gabriella Rawles (ND) def. Maria Garcia (UA), 7-5, 0-6, 6-2
6. Zoya Chulak (UA) def. Jessica Kovalcik (ND), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
– ND –