FORT WORTH – The Notre Dame women’s tennis team sent four student-athletes to Fort Worth, Texas, to compete in the Battle for the Boot Open. Repping the Blue and Gold was Jessica Kovalcik, Rylie Hanford, Mari-Louise Van Zyl and Esther Vyrlan.
It was a Fighting Irish freshman, Jessica Kovalcik, who boasted the best showing on TCU’s campus, going 2-1 in singles and 3-2 in doubles. In singles, Kovalcik defeated Valentina Ponce of Rice, 7-5, 6-1, then gutted out a three-set win over Tiziana Rossini of Nebraska, 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 10-4.
In doubles, Kovalcik partnered mainly with sophomore Esther Vyrlan and defeated tandems from Baylor, TCU and BYU. The latter was a gutsy tiebreak victory 7-6(5).
Fellow freshman Mari-Louise Van Zyle also posted a 2-1 record in singles. The South African native defeated Victoria Gomez of TCU, 6-2, 6-2. Then she bested Reya Lee Coe of Nebraska, 6-4, 6-0.
Overall, the following teams sent student-athletes to Fort Worth: Baylor, BYU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas Tech and Washington State. The full Notre Dame results are available below.
DOUBLES RESULTS
- Gracie Levelston/Kendall Kovick (BYU) def. Rylie Hanford/Mari-Louise Van Zyl (Notre Dame) 7-6(5)
- Yuyun Chen/Bella Lewis (BYU) def. Jessica Kovalcik/Esther Vyrlan (Notre Dame) 6-3
- Chisato Kanemaki/Yura Nakagawa (Washington State) def. Rylie Hanford/Mari-Louise Van Zyl (Notre Dame) 6-4
- Jessica Kovalcik/Esther Vyrlan (Notre Dame) def. Luna Ivkovic/Alian Zack (Baylor) 6-3
- Yu-Chin Tsai/Victoria Gomez (TCU) def. Rylie Hanford/Mari-Louise Van Zyl (Notre Dame) 6-1
- Jessica Kovalcik/Esther Vyrlan (Notre Dame) def. Tomi Main/Cayetana Gay (TCU) 6-4
- Jessica Kovalcik/Esther Vyrlan (Notre Dame) def. Sage Bergeson/Karina Mohamed (BYU) 7-6(5)
- Luna Ivkovic/Alian Zack (Baylor) def. Rylie Hanford/Mari-Louise Van Zyl (Notre Dame) 6-4
- Hailey Murphy/Elena Daskalova (Texas Tech) def. Jessica Kovalcik/Mari-Louise Van Zyl (Notre Dame) 6-1
- Kseniia Logvin/Ella Brownback (Texas Tech) def. Rylie Hanford/Esther Vyrlan (Notre Dame) 6-4
SINGLES RESULTS
- Cayetana Gay (TCU) def. Jessica Kovalcik (Notre Dame) 6-2 6-2
- Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU) def. Rylie Hanford (Notre Dame) 6-1 7-6(4)
- Louise Van Zyl (Notre Dame) def. Victoria Gomez (TCU) 6-2 6-2
- Maya Drozd (TCU) def. Esther Vyrlan (Notre Dame) 6-3 7-5
- Uma Bakaityte (Rice) def. Mari-Louise Van Zyl (Notre Dame) 6-2 6-3
- Francesca Maguina (Rice) def. Rylie Hanford (Notre Dame) 6-1 6-2
- Esther Vyrlan (Notre Dame) def. Daniela Chica (Rice) 6-4 7-6
- Jessica Kovalcik (Notre Dame) def. Valentina Ponce (Rice) 7-5 6-1
- Louise Van Zyl (Notre Dame) def. Reya Lee Coe (Nebraska) 6-4 6-0
- Catherine Gagnon (Nebraska) def. Esther Vyrlan (Notre Dame) 6-4 2-6 10-7
- Jessica Kovalcik (Notre Dame) def. Tiziana Rossini (Nebraska) 6-7(3) 7-6(2) 10-4
- Rylie Hanford (Notre Dame) def. Yuzu Miyoshi (Nebraska) 6-3 6-3
— ND —