CHAMPAIGN, Illinois — Playing the third of four-straight road matches, the Notre Dame women’s tennis team dropped a 4-3 decision at Illinois on Friday night. The hosts won the doubles point before the teams split six singles matches.
How It Happened
The Illini took the doubles point thanks to wins on courts two and three. On two, Jaclyn Switkes and Emilee Duong defated Ally Bojczuk and Bess Waldram, 6-1. The point was clinched at three with Mia Rabinowitz and Asuka Kawai delivering a 6-3 win over Rachel Chong and Zoe Taylor. The Irish duo of Cameron Corse and Zoe Spence held a 5-3 lead on court one against Illinois’ Sasha Belaya and Dani Pedraza Novak when the point was clinched.
Corse evened the score with a straight-set win at four singles, defeating Novak, 6-1, 6-3. Illinois then jumped out to a 3-1 lead with wins on courts five and six. At five, Rabinowitz defeated Broda (6-3, 6-3), while on six, Belaya defeated Chong in a pair of hotly contested sets (7-5, 7-6 (7)).
The Irish fought back with Bess Waldram rebounding after dropping the first set to win over Duong, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7). The hosts than clinched the match on court one with Kawai winning a three-set battle over Spence, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-2. Bojczuk made the final margin 4-3 by winning a three-set match over Switkes, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Up Next
Head coach Alison Silverio’s team remains on the road to cap their four-match road swing on Sunday, Feb. 10, at Indiana. Action begins at 10:30 a.m. ET in Bloomington, Indiana.