Irish Stumble in ACC Tournament Opener

ROME, Ga. — No. 34 Notre Dame Men’s Tennis fell to Florida State in the opener of the ACC Tournament at the Rome Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon.

The fifth-seeded Irish battled the 12th-seeded Seminoles, ultimately falling, 4-3.

In doubles play, the Irish jumped out to a quick 1-0 behind two wins. The 37th ranked duo in the country, Axel Nefve and Tristan McCormick earned a top-50 win, downing No. 43 Loris Pourroy and Marcus Walters. Then, Matt Che and Richard Ciamarra earned a doubles win of their own to clinch the doubles point.

In singles play, No. 27 Nefve and No. 66 Ciamarra earned victories to add to the Irish lead. With the match knotted at three apiece, the match came down to No. 6 singles, where graduate student Brandon Ancona fought Florida State’s Chase Wood to the bitter end, ultimately falling, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (1-7), 6-4.

Florida State 4, #34 Notre Dame 3 

Singles competition 

1. #27 Axel Nefve (ND) def. #110 Loris Pourroy (FS) 6-1, 6-2 
2. #66 Richard Ciamarra (ND) def. Alex Knaff (FS) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 
3. Sebastian Arcila (FS) def. #116 Tristan McCormick (ND) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) 
4. Andreja Petrovic (FS) def. Matthew Che (ND) 6-4, 6-2 
5. Marcus Walters (FS) def. Connor Fu (ND) 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) 
6. Chase Wood (FS) def. Brandon Ancona (ND) 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (1-7), 6-4 

Doubles competition 

1. #37 Axel Nefve/Tristan McCormick (ND) def. #43 Loris Pourroy/Marcus Walters (FS) 7-5 
2. Alex Knaff/Sebastian Arcila (FS) def. Brandon Ancona/William Howells (ND) 6-4 
3. Matthew Che/Richard Ciamarra (ND) def. Chase Wood/Andreja Petrovic (FS) 7-6 (7-2)

—ND—