Notre Dame, IN– Irish close out their second homestand of the season as they welcome the Louisville Cardinals for a Friday afternoon matchup. The Irish are coming off of a tough 4-3 loss to No. 4 Michigan after fighting tooth and nail throughout but are as motivated as ever.
"We are excited for Friday's battle with one of our biggest rivals, Louisville. They have gotten off to a strong start under first year head coach Rodrigo DaSilva, and we expect to get their best effort," stated Head Coach Ryan Sachire. "Our team is playing better and better each week, and we are excited to compete on Friday!"
HISTORY
Friday’s matchup with Louisville will be the 25th edition of the rivalry series. Over the years, the Irish have edged out the Cardinals just a bit, claiming 13 out of the 24 meetings. Under Coach Sachire’s reign, the Irish are 2 for 5 but hope to tie up the overall record this go-around. Last year, the Notre Dame team dominated the Cardinals as it secured the 4-0 sweep on the road. The year prior, the Irish clinched the 4-3 home-victory after a tough battle with the Cardinals. The Irish look to continue the winning streak over Louisville in their upcoming match.
RANKS
Notre Dame currently has two singles players and two doubles teams nationally ranked. Richard Ciamarra, the current ACC Co-Player of the Week, comes in at No. 10 in the national rankings but expects to move up a bit after downing No. 4 Michigan’s No. 17 Andrew Fenty within two easy sets this past weekend. Last weeks’ ACC Player of the Week, Tristan McCormick, is ranked No. 98 after consitently defeating multiple ranked players throughout the fall season. Tristan McCormick and Richard Ciamarra come in at No. 28 on the doubles team ranking even though they have yet to play together so far this season. Finally, Tristan McCormick and Axel Nefve clinch the No. 29 ranked spot as they defeated Illinois’ best doubles pair, Alex Brown/Aleks Kovacevic 6-3. The Irish duo was also named last week’s ACC Doubles Team of the Week.
Louisville currently sits at No. 47 in the ITA team rankings that were released a few days ago. Louisville also only has one ranked singles player at the moment, No. 76 Tin Cheng. The Cardinals do not currently have any doubles pairs ranked as of the past two weeks. Louisville’s overall record so far during the 2020 spring campaign is 7-3.
LINKS
Follow all the action at the links below.
Live stats: und.com/mediastats
Live stream: und.com/tennisstream
MATCH DETAILS
Friday’s match is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. It is the final home match of February before the Irish hit the road for almost a month.