March 26, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team had a fine showing at its first home match in over two weeks today. The Irish swept Marquette, 7-0, moving to 9-8 on the season.
“The thing they do is that they make a lot of balls,” Louderback said of Marquette. “They’re very smart-they poached a lot and played well. They were close matches, but winning the doubles let us roll through singles. We’ve been playing good singles.”
Louderback said going into the match that the Marquette team is strong in doubles, and that showed up in today’s match. After seniors Jennifer Kellner and Julie Sabacinski took down Ana Pimienta and Aina Hernandez Soler at No. 2, 8-4. Louderback slotted a fresh team at No. 3, juniors Katherine White and Molly O’Koniewski, who fell to Erin Gebes and Rocio Diaz, 8-5, despite an early lead. The point was decided on court No. 1, where senior Britney Sanders and sophomore Quinn Gleason defeated Laia Hernandez Soler and Ali Dawson, 8-3.
Sophomore Julie Vrabel was the quickest off the court, defeating Aina Hernandez Soler, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 6. Freshman Mary Closs also beat her opponent in straight sets-she took down Laia Hernandez Soler, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5.
Without dropping a point, the Irish clinched the win over the Golden Eagles at No. 2 singles, where Gleason defeated Dawson, 6-2, 6-2.
Senior Britney Sanders and freshman Monica Robinson finished within moments of each other at No. 1 and No. 4, respectively. Sanders defeated Pimienta, 6-2, 6-2, and Robinson beat Vanessa Foltinger, 6-1, 6-2.
Last off the court was Kellner, who beat Gebes in a match of long, patient points. The senior ultimately came out on top, winning, 6-4, 6-0.
“We’ve played six of the top seven teams in the ACC in our schedule, so we’ve seen some really good teams,” Louderback explained. ” For us to feel like we were controlling matches a lot easier was good for us. We did control. We didn’t back off and we didn’t let them win sets.”
The Irish will also be at home this weekend, facing Wake Forest at the Eck Tennis Pavilion at 9 on Sunday morning.
Singles
1. Britney Sanders (ND) def. Ana Pimienta (MU), 6-2, 6-2
2. Quinn Gleason (ND) def. Ali Dawson (MU), 6-2, 6-2
3. Jennifer Kellner (ND) def. Erin Gebes (MU), 6-4,
4. Monica Robinson (ND) def. Vanessa Foltinger (MU), 6-1, 6-2
5. Mary Closs (ND) def. Laia Hernandez Soler (MU), 6-4, 6-2
6. Julie Vrabel (ND) def. Aina Hernandez Soler (MU), 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
1. Britney Sanders/Quinn Gleason (ND) def. Laia Hernandez Soler (MU), 8-3
2. Jennifer Kellner/Julie Sabacinski (ND) def. Ana Pimienta/Aina Hernandez Soler (MU), 8-4
3. Molly O’Koniewski/Katherine White (ND) def. Erin Gebes/Rocio Diaz (MU), 8-5
–Lauren Chval, Media Relations Assistant
–ND–