EVANSTON, Ill. – The first road trip of the spring for the Notre Dame men’s tennis team had mixed results as they split the two matches of the day. First, they dropped a 4-0 result to Northwestern who boasts a veteran lineup including five seniors and graduate students. But the Irish would bounce back with a convincing 5-0 win over Chicago State.
In the opening act of the day, the Irish couldn’t overcome a slow start in doubles as the Wildcats would jump out to early leads on two of the three courts. Ultimately, the Irish duo of Matt Halpin and Evan lee dropped their set at #3 doubles by a score of 6-3. After getting down 0-3 early, Sebastian Dominko and Connor Fu would close the gap on the scoreboard but it was not quite enough as they lost 6-4 giving Northwestern the early 1-0 lead.
In singles, there were a number of close first sets on the courts. Dominko at #1 and Che at #2 would both take their opponents to tiebreaks but each came out on the wrong end of the tiebreaker to find themselves behind. Addy Vashistha was the lone Irish player to win the opening set 7-5 at the #3 position.
The Wildcats would pick up points at #4 and #6 singles to extend their lead to 3-1 before Che would succumb to his opponent 7-6, 6-3 to give Northwestern the win. The remaining matches were not played out and play stopped before Vashistha could finish off his opponent while leading 4-1 in the second. Dominko was up a break in the second set when play ended and Yu Zhang was fighting at the #5 spot and remained incomplete.
The day would not end without another opportunity as the Irish would take a trip to the south side of town and take on Chicago State at their home facility, the H-F Racket Club in Homewood, IL. Notre Dame would come out quickly in doubles and the #2 team of Che and Zhang would lead the way with a 6-0 win. That would set up the top pairing of Dominko and Fu to clinch the doubles point with a 6-3 win.
The momentum would continue in favor of the Irish as singles play began and all six first sets would go the way of Notre Dame. Noah Becker would be first off the court with a 6-0, 6-0 win at the #5 position followed closely by Zhang at the #4 spot with a 6-0, 6-2 scoreline. Fu would get the clinching point at #3 with a 6-2, 6-4 win. Sophomore Jamie Corsillo would find himself at match point at the time the overall match was decided and was able to secure his own victory to make it a 5-0 win for the Irish. The top two spots would remain unfinished with Che and Vashistha up a set and a break in each of their respective matches.
Up Next:
The Irish will return home to the Eck Tennis Pavilion to host 4-time defending MAC champion Western Michigan. The match will be the only competition of the weekend for the men and will take place on Friday, January 20th at 4pm. Admission is free for everyone to attend.
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Match 1: Notre Dame 0 – Northwestern 4
Doubles
- Bratholm/Yatsuk(NU) def. Fu/Dominko(ND) 6-4
- Che/Zhang(ND) vs. Forman/Nord]by(NU) 3-5 DNF
- Pickens/Spear(NU) def. Halpin/Lee(ND) 6-3
Order of Finish (3, 1)
Singles
- #17 Dominko(ND) vs. Forman(NU) 6-7(3), 4-3 DNF
- #97 Yatsuk(NU) def. Che(ND) 7-6(4), 6-3
- Vashistha(ND) vs. Bratholm(NU) 7-5, 4-1 DNF
- #110 Pickens(NU) def. Fu(ND) 6-2, 6-4
- Zhang(ND) vs. Thieneman(NU) 3-6, 4-5 DNF
- Blekher(NU) def. Becker(ND) 6-1, 6-4
Order of Finish (4, 6, 2)
Match 2: Notre Dame 5 – Chicago State 0
Doubles
- Fu/Dominko(ND) def. Alvarez/Sandoval(CSU) 6-3
- Che/Zhang(ND) def. Pahwa/Alves 6-0
- Halpin/Lee(ND) vs. Siercke/Vega(CSU) 4-3 DNF
Order of Finish (2, 1)
Singles
- Che(ND) vs. Alvarez(CSU) 6-4, 4-1 DNF
- Vashistha(ND) vs. Vega(CSU) 6-3, 3-2 DNF
- Fu(ND) def. Sandoval(CSU) 6-2, 6-4
- Zhang(ND) def. Pahwa(CSU) 6-0, 6-2
- Becker(ND) def. Siercke(CSU) 6-0, 6-0
- Corsillo(ND) def. Alves(CSU) 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish (5, 4, 3, 6)