Charlottesville, VA– The Irish encountered an extremely tough 4-3 road loss as they fell just short to the Virginia Cavaliers in their territory. This was Virginia’s second ACC win as it was Notre Dame’s first ACC loss so far this season.
"Today was a tough loss. Give credit to UVA. I thought they played well and competed great in big moments," said Head Coach Ryan Sachire. "Our guys did a lot of really good things today but couldn’t close out some big opportunities when we got them. This has been a bit of a theme in some of our recent matches, and we we have to do a better job moving forward of taking advantage of the opportunities that we work hard to create."
DOUBLES
Notre Dame started off on the right foot as they claimed the doubles point.
Guillermo Cabrera and Paul Gota’s court 3 finished first as they dropped to Ryan Goetz and Gianni Ross, 6-1 to give the Cavaliers a small edge. Next to finish was No. 29 Tristan McCormick and Axel Nefve as they snagged the 6-2 victory over their UVA competitors Matthew Lord and Carl Söderlund. The doubles point all came down to court 2, Richard Ciamarra and Matthew Gamble’s match. After a very long back and forth showdown with RJ Fresen and William Woodall, the Irish came out on top after a tiebreaker, 7-6, propelling the Irish to the 1-0 lead over the Cavaliers.
SINGLES
Virginia’s No. 97 Carl Söderlund clinched the 1-1 tie as No. 10 Richard Ciamarra was unable to grasp the victory after dropping within two, 6-1, 6-0. Axel Nefve finished up just after court 1 as he advanced the Irish to a 2-1 lead as he downed his Cavalier competition, Matthew Lord in a quick 6-2, 6-2 victory. Connor Fu followed up Axel Nefve with another win as he defeated RJ Fresen, 6-2, 6-1 putting the Irish up 3-1 heading into the second half of singles play. Up next was court 5 as William Howells fell to William Woodall, 6-3, 6-1, placing the Cavaliers within one. Virginia’s Ryan Goetz tied it all up as he beat No. 98 Tristan McCormick on court 2 after a grueling second set tiebreaker. It came down to the wire as the teams were tied up 3-3 with Guillermo Cabrera left on court 4. The battle went to three sets, with Cabrera falling in the first just to bounce back in the second but ultimately drop the third set, 6-4.
UP NEXT
The Irish continue their third and final road stretch as they travel to Northwestern University for a March 8 matchup slated for 12 p.m. ET.
BOX SCORE
Virginia 4, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME 3
Singles competition
1. #97 Carl Soderlund (VA) def. #10 RICHARD CIAMARRA (ND) 6-1, 6-0
2. Ryan Goetz (VA) def. #98 TRISTAN MCCORMICK (ND) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
3. AXEL NEFVE (ND) def. Matthew Lord (VA) 6-2, 6-2
4. Gianni Ross (VA) def. GUILLERMO CABRERA (ND) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
5. William Woodall (VA) def. WILLIAM HOWELLS (ND) 6-3, 6-1
6. CONNOR FU (ND) def. RJ Fresen (VA) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #29 TRISTAN MCCORMICK/AXEL NEFVE (ND) def. Matthew Lord/Carl Soderlund (VA) 6-2
2. RICHARD CIAMARRA/MATT GAMBLE (ND) def. RJ Fresen/William Woodall (VA) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Ryan Goetz/Gianni Ross (VA) def. GUILLERMO CABRERA/PAUL GOTA (ND) 6-1
Match Notes:
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME 6-6, 2-1 ACC
Virginia 8-5, 2-1 ACC; National ranking #37
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,3,6,5,2,4)
–ND–