Feb. 18, 2018
Notre Dame 4, Indiana 3 
| Notre Dame 7, Wright State 0 | Photo Gallery 
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team stopped a mini two-match skid with a mini two-match win streak Sunday, defeating Indiana in thrilling 4-3 fashion and upending Wright State 7-0.
How It Happened
Indiana
The Hoosiers snared the doubles point, winning on courts two and three. Senior duo Brooke Broda and Allison Miller won 6-2 on court one, but Indiana prevailed 6-3 at No. 3 and pulled out a back-and-forth 6-4 win at No. 2 to clinch the point.
Singles proved to be just as tight, with three matches going to third sets. Junior Rachel Chong evened the score at 1-all with her 6-1, 6-4 victory over Michelle McKamey at No. 6 singles, but Indiana regained the lead when Caitlin Bernard defeated sophomore Zoe Spence in three sets on Court 3.
Miller tied the match again as she defeated Natalie Whalen 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 slot, and freshman Ally Bojczuk‘s 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Jelly Bozovic – the first of her collegiate career – gave Notre Dame a 3-2 edge.
Yet Indiana tied the match again with Madison Appel defeating Broda in three sets, leaving a three-set decision between freshman Cameron Corse and IU’s Xiwei Cai on Court 4. After forcing a third set with a 6-1 win in the second, Corse came back from down 1-5 to rattle off six straight games for a 6-7(8), 6-1, 7-5 victory.
Wright State
The Irish won the doubles point, as Bojczuk and sophomore Bess Waldram defeated Madison Riley and Jillian Milano 6-0, while Broda and Miller defeated Karoline Haller and Haily Morgan 7-5.
Bojczuk got the first singles win, defeating Grace Whitney 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 6 spot for her second win of the day. Freshman Caroline Dunleavy followed with a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Milano at No. 5, and Chong clinched the win for the Irish, beating Luisa Pelayo 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4.
Sophomore Zoe Spence gave the Irish a 5-0 lead, winning 6-1, 6-1 over Madison Riley on Court 3. Miller followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Haller at No. 1, while Corse again closed out the match with a 7-6(2), 6-1 victory over Morgan.
Coach Jay Louderback’s Thoughts
On Corse’s comeback win against Indiana…
“Coming back from down 1-5, last match on, that was unbelievable. We talk to the kids all the time that it doesn’t matter what your score is, and that proves it – no matter what the score is, keep fighting. That was a great comeback for her and we needed that. We’ve had a couple tight ones already that we’ve lost, so that was a great comeback.
“She had (a match like that) earlier against Ohio State that ended up in a third-set tiebreaker because the match was over, but she won that one and she did it by being aggressive and she did it today. Next-to-last point she came in with an overhead winner to give her a match point, and that’s something we’ve been working on with her, being aggressive, and she was.”
On getting a pair of wins after losing two in a rowââ’¬¦
“This week, we made practice where things counted a lot more. They had a lot more pressure on them in practice and it paid off. I felt like we were much better in big points today and that’s something we’re going to keep doing. There’s going to be accountability in practice where they’ve got to report every score; it was a good week for us.”
Notes To Know
- Freshman Ally Bojczuk made her first career collegiate start at No. 6 singles against Indiana. She went 2-0 on the day, also appearing against Wright State.
- Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Indiana, 20-11, including a 20-8 mark under Irish head coach Jay Louderback.
- It was the second meeting between Notre Dame and Wright State, with the Irish taking a 2-0 series lead. The Irish also defeated the Raiders 7-0 last season.
Up Next
The Irish will return to the Eck Tennis Pavilion next Saturday for a doubleheader with Atlantic Coast Conference foe Pittsburgh (10 a.m. ET) and Bowling Green (3 p.m. ET).
Notre Dame 4, Indiana 3
Feb. 18, 2018
Eck Tennis Pavilion
Notre Dame, Ind.
Singles
1. Madison Appel (IU) def. Brooke Broda (ND) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Allison Miller (ND) def. Natalie Whalen (IU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Caitlin Bernard (IU) def. Zoe Spence (ND) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
4. Cameron Corse (ND) vs. Xiwei Cai (IU)
5. Rachel Chong (ND) def. Michelle McKamey (IU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Ally Bojczuk (ND) def. Jelly Bozovic (IU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
Doubles
1. Brooke Broda / Allison Miller (ND) def. Olga Zavarotnaya / Natalie Whalen (IU) 6-2
2. Michelle McKamey / Madison Appel (IU) def. Cameron Corse / Zoe Spence (ND) 6-4
3. Caitlin Bernard / Jelly Bozovic (IU) def. Caroline Dunleavy / Bess Waldram (ND) 6-3
Notre Dame 7, Wright State 0
Feb. 18, 2018
Eck Tennis Pavilion
Notre Dame, Ind.
Singles
1. Allison Miller (ND) def. Karoline Haller (WSU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Cameron Corse (ND) vs. Haily Morgan (WSU)
3. Zoe Spence (ND) def. Madison Riley (WSU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Rachel Chong (ND) def. Luisa Pelayo (WSU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Caroline Dunleavy (ND) def. Jillian Milano (WSU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Ally Bojczuk (ND) def. Grace Whitney (WSU) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. Brooke Broda / Allison Miller (ND) def. Karoline Haller / Haily Morgan (WSU) 7-5
2. Cameron Corse / Zoe Spence (ND) vs. Luisa Pelayo / Grace Whitney (WSU) 6-6, unfinished
3. Ally Bojczuk / Bess Waldram (ND) def. Madison Riley / Jillian Milano (WSU) 6-0
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to assisting with football communications and overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.