CARY, N.C. – The Notre Dame women’s tennis program was well represented at the ITA All-American Championships as five different Fighting Irish student-athletes took the courts at the Cary Tennis Park. The doubles tandem of Bojana Pozder and Bianca Molnar stole the headlines. The 84th-ranked pair started in Qualifying, advanced to the Main Draw, then bounced back after a defeat to reach the Doubles Consolation Final. The Irish duo collected four ranked wins (No. 38, No. 55, No. 31, and No. 15) along the way, and their two losses came against top-20-ranked opposition.
No. 84 Pozder/Molnar advanced out of qualifying with a three-set win over No. 38 Smetannikov/Kupres from Texas A&M and a swift 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 55 Parravicini/Smjkalova of Clemson. Now into the Round of 32 in the Main Draw, the duo had the tall task of upsetting No. 17 Aulia/Risso of Tennessee. After dropping the first set 3-6, they forced a second-set tiebreak but lost in a 9-11 heartbreaker.
The close loss didn’t deter the Notre Dame pair, for they immediately bounced back in the Consolation bracket by knocking off No. 31 Roselli/Wang of Wichita State, 6-4, 6-3. Next, a huge 6-3, 7-6(7) upset win over No. 15 Charney/Fairclough of USC. Now in the consolation final, the pair tried to knock off their second straight top-20 foe but came up just short in the third-set super tiebreak, bowing out to No. 18 Bakaiyte/Schwartzman of Rice, 2-6, 6-4, 7-10.
In singles action, Pozder picked up two wins in prequalifying to advance into the qualifying bracket. In addition, in a consolation matchup, Sophia Holod earned a ranked win over No. 112 Victoria Osuigwe of NC State via 6-0, 6-2.
IRISH RESULTS
DOUBLES
- Q32 – #48 Na Dong/Zuzanna Kubacha (Baylor) def. #57 Rylie Hanford/Akari Matsuno (Notre Dame) 6-3, 6-3
- Q32 – #84 Bojana Pozder/Bianca Molnar (Notre Dame) def. #38 Daria Smetannikov/Mia Kupres (Texas A&M) 6-3, 5-7, 10-7
- Q16 – #84 Bojana Pozder/Bianca Molnar (Notre Dame) def. #55 Gaia Parravicini/Amelie Smjkalova (Clemson) 6-2, 6-2
- R32 – #17 Catherine Aulia/Leyla Britez Risso (Tennessee) def. #84 Bojana Pozder/Bianca Molnar (Notre Dame) 6-3, 7-6 (11-9)
- C16 – #84 Bojana Pozder/Bianca Molnar (Notre Dame) def. #31 Giorgia Roselli/Xin Tong Wang (Wichita State) 6-4, 6-3
- C8 – #84 Bianca Molnar/Bojana Pozder (Notre Dame) def. #15 Emma Charney/Lily Fairclough (USC) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
- CF – #18 Uma Bakaiyte/Darya Schwartzman (Rice) def. #84 Bianca Molnar/Bojana Pozder (Notre Dame) 6-2, 4-6, 10-7
SINGLES
- PQ256 – Rylie Hanford (Notre Dame) def. Lara Bakhaya (Richmond) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
- PQ128 – Vanesa Suarez (Tennessee) def. Rylie Hanford (Notre Dame) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
- PQ256 – Bojana Pozder (Notre Dame) def. Sara Akid (Utah) 6-4, 6-1
- PQ128 – Bojana Pozder (Notre Dame) def. Eva Shaw (Florida St) 6-4, 6-3
- PQ64 – Daniela Piani (South Carolina) def. Bojana Pozder (Notre Dame) 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-0
- PQ256 – Malak El Allami (Columbia) def. Bianca Molnar (Notre Dame) 7-5, 6-2
- Q64 – #100 Sofia Rojas (Georgia) def. Sophia Holod (Notre Dame) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
- QC32 – Sophia Holod (Notre Dame) def. #112 Victoria Osuigwe (NC State) 6-0, 6-2
- R64 – #113 Berta Passola Folch (Cal) def. #44 Akari Matsuno (Notre Dame) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
- C32 – #19 Catherine Aulia (Tennessee) def. #44 Akari Matsuno (Notre Dame) 6-3, 6-3
— ND —