NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The No. 11 Notre Dame men’s tennis team fell to No. 14 Illinois, 4-3, Wednesday night in a tight battle. The two teams met for a top-15 matchup, the fourth for the Irish in their last five matches, as the undefeated squads fought to remain on top.
Doubles
Grayson Broadus and Matthew Gamble won another set as the duo took down Zeke Clark and Vuk Budic of Illinois in Wednesday evening’s match.
Singles
The Irish singles swept all six courts in the first set, after falling down a point through the doubles competition.
Guillermo Cabrera put the Irish on the scoreboard, finishing first in the singles as he defeated Illini Noe Khlif in straight sets (6-2, 6-1). The Irish kept the momentum going as they claimed two more points in singles as No. 18 Alex Lebedev beat his opponent, No. 23 Alex Brown, on court one, 6-3 and 7-5 while Tristan McCormick came back to upset No. 125 Keenan Mayo 6-3, 7-6(5).
The final three courts wound up in a decisive third set where the Irish looked for the final point. Although giving it their all, the Irish fell short as the Illini claimed the final three singles matches to bring their game total to four.
Up Next
Notre Dame will conclude its stretch of six consecutive home matches Friday as they host ACC rival Boston College and Ball State.
The Boston College dual will get underway at 3:30 p.m. while the Ball State match is set to begin at 7 p.m.
#14 Illinois 4, #11 Notre Dame 3
Singles
1. Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Alex Brown (UI) 6-3, 7-5
2. Aleks Kovacevic (UI) def. Richard Ciamarra (ND) 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
3. Zeke Clark (UI) def. Axel Nefve (ND) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Tristan McCormick (ND) def. Keenan Mayo (UI) 6-3, 7-6 (0-5)
5. Caleb Chakravarthi (UI) def. William Howells (ND) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
6. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) def. Noe Khlif (UI) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. Alex Brown/Caleb Chakravarthi (UI) def. Richard Ciamarra/Tristan McCormick (ND) 6-3
2. Keenan Mayo/Aleks Kovacevic (UI) def. Alex Lebedev/Axel Nefve (ND) 6-4
3. Grayson Broadus/Matt Gamble (ND) def. Zeke Clark/Vuk Budic (UI) 6-4