Feb. 26, 2016
DEDHAM, Mass. – The 30th-ranked University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team found itself tested in a back-and-forth contest in its first Atlantic Coast Conference road match Friday, and the Irish came away with a 4-3 victory over No. 71 Boston College by clinching the decision in the final match on the court.
The win gave the Irish (8-3, 3-0 ACC) their fourth win in a row, and their seventh in their last eight matches.
The Eagles (5-5, 0-3 ACC) claimed the doubles point with wins on Courts 1 and 2. Lexi Borr and Jackie Urbinati defeated No. 21 senior Quinn Gleason and junior Monica Robinson 6-3 at the No. 1 slot, while Katya Vasilyev and Emily Safron upended junior Mary Closs and senior Julie Vrabel 6-4.
Closs erased the deficit with the first win of singles play, defeating Urbinati 6-1, 6-2 on Court 4. Closs moved to 8-3 in dual play this season, winning her fourth in a row.
Sophomore Brooke Broda gave the Irish a 2-1 lead with the second singles victory for the Irish, defeating Wan-Yi Sweeting 6-1, 6-3. Broda, too, boasts an impressive record at 7-0 in dual play.
The Eagles evened things at 2-all as Borr defeated the 41st-ranked Gleason 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 1 slot. Safron later gave Boston College a 3-2 lead defeating sophomore Allison Miller in a third-set tiebreaker.
On Court 2, No. 59 Robinson stormed back to defeat Vasilyev in three sets, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 to once again tie the team score at 3-3. That left Jane Fennelly battling in a third set on Court 6, with the junior claiming a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win over Heini Salonen to clinch the win.
The Irish will next play at 11 a.m. Sunday when they face No. 33 Syracuse (7-1, 1-1 ACC) at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse, New York.
No. 30 Notre Dame 4, No. 71 Boston College 3
SINGLES
1. Lexi Borr (BC) def. No. 41 Quinn Gleason (ND) 6-3, 6-2
2. No. 59 Monica Robinson (ND) def. Katya Vasilyev (BC) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
3. Emily Safron (BC) def. Allison Miller (ND) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5)
4. Mary Closs (ND) def. Jackie Urbinati (BC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Brooke Broda (ND) def. Wan-Yi Sweeting (BC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Jane Fennelly (ND) def. Heini Salonen (BC) 6-1, 5-7, 6-2
DOUBLES
1. Lexi Borr / Jackie Urbinati (BC) def. No. 21 Quinn Gleason / Monica Robinson (ND) 6-3
2. Katya Vasilyev / Emily Safron (BC) def. Mary Closs / Julie Vrabel (ND) 6-4
3. Jane Fennelly / Allison Miller (ND) vs. Wan-Yi Sweeting / Heini Salonen (BC) 5-4, unfinished
—
To keep up with all things Irish women’s tennis, be sure to follow @NDWomensTennis on Twitter and like Notre Dame Women’s Tennis on Facebook.
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.