April 24, 2014
CARY, N.C. — The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis made history today as the team earned its first ACC Championship win in Cary, N.C. The Irish took down Boston College, 4-0, this afternoon at the Cary Tennis Park.
“We knew it would be a tough match and we needed to get the doubles point,” said head coach Jay Louderback. “We played very patient at two and three doubles. Tomorrow will give us a chance to play a top-10 team with no pressure.”
The doubles point was tightly contested between the 10th-seeded Boston College and the seventh-seeded Irish. Despite a 5-1 deficit at No. 1 doubles, sophomore Quinn Gleason and senior Britney Sanders came back to beat Lexi Borr and Jessica Wacnik, 7-5. Julie Sabacinski and Jennifer Kellner defeated Wan-Yi Sweeting and Katya Vasilyev at No. 2, 8-3, clinching the point for the Irish. The match between freshman Mary Closs and junior Molly O’Koniewski and Emily Safron and Heini Salonen at No. 3 was retired at 6-3 Notre Dame due to injury.
Sweeting also had to retire at No. 6 singles against Julie Vrabel, giving the Irish their second point. Straight-set wins at No. 1 and No. 4 singles put Notre Dame over the top to their first victory in an ACC Championship. Sanders defeated Wacnik, 6-3, 6-1, and Robinson beat Salonen, 6-3, 6-2.
Notre Dame had already faced the Eagles earlier in the season, defeating them 6-1 on the road.
Notre Dame will play Miami, the No. 2 seed, tomorrow at noon. Results will be posted following the match here at UND.com.
–Lauren Chval, Media Relations Assistant
–ND–