Two More Victories for The Irish; Corsillo/Zhang def. #116

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In the first match of the day, the men would comfortably take the doubles point against Cleveland State. Sebastian Dominko and Peter Nad were the first ones off the court with a 6-1 win at #1 doubles followed by the #2 doubles team of Kyran Magimay and Chase Thompson with a matching 6-1 win. Jamie Corsillo played with freshman Luis Llorens for the first time this season and on the doorstep of winning their court when the doubles point was clinched. The new tandem was up 5-3 and 40-15, three match points on Corsillo’s racket serving when their match was abandoned.

In singles, Jayanth Devaiah would claim his first singles dual match win of his season with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win at #6 singles. The next two matches off the court were rematches of opponents from last year’s battle with the Vikings. After being in a third set last year with his Viking opponent, Dominko would take control early and comfortably win this one 6-1, 6-2. Magimay would also have a more dominant performance than last year against the same player and would clinch the team match with his 6-2, 6-1 win.

Llorens, playing in his first singles dual match of his young career, cruised to a 6-1, 3-1 lead but the Viking at #5 singles pushed back to win 4 straight games. The freshman from Madrid, down 3-5 in the second would then save two set points and break at deuce. Then a hold of serve at deuce would even the set and Llorens would then take the final two games of the match to pick up the win.

Yu Zhang would add another point to the scoreboard with a 6-2, 7-5 win of his own at #2 singles. Nad, playing at #3 singles for the first time in his career, would win four straight games to take the first set 7-5. But Cleveland State fought back to win the second set and although Nad saved a match point, the Viking #3 took the match and handed Nad his only singles loss of the season.

After a short break, the men returned to the courts to take on the Illinois State Redbirds out of the Summit League and would take the match by the same 6-1 score as this morning. The senior duo of Jamie Corsillo and Yu Zhang played #1 doubles and defeated the #116 ranked doubles team in the country 6-2. Then Noah Becker and Brian Bilsey clinched the match with a 6-1 win at #3 doubles. The new combination Peter Nad and Chase Thompson had triple match point in their favor but the match was abandoned with the Irish leading 5-2.

In singles, after a 3-set loss in the morning singles match, Nad responded with a straight set win 6-3, 6-4 sealing it with an ace. Thompson, playing #1 in the second act of the day, also clinched his match with an ace for a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Bilsey picked up the 4th point on the day with a 6-1, 6-2 win on the day.

The remaining matches would be played to completion and the Irish would pick up two more victories as Corsillo, playing #5, won 6-3, 6-3 and Zhang secured another point with a 6-2, 6-2 win as well.

Up Next:

The men will have next weekend off from competition as a team and will return to the courts on Saturday, February 8th for a double header against William & Mary and Northern Illinois.

Sebastian Dominko will not have the weekend off though as he will represent his home country of Slovenia in Davis Cup. The team will take on Indonesia in a tie that will take place on February 1st and 2nd.

Match 1

Notre Dame 6  Cleveland State 1

Doubles

1. #78 Dominko/Nad(ND) def. Battle/Boyer(CSU) 6-1
2. Magimay/Thompson(ND) def. Gedlitschka/Jamison(CSU) 6-1
3. Corsillo/Llorens(ND) vs. Aremon/Chappell(CSU) 5-3 DNF

Order of Finish (1, 2)

Singles

1. #28 Dominko(ND) def. Battle(CSU) 6-1, 6-2
2. Zhang(ND) def. Chapell(CSU) 6-2, 7-5
3. Gedlitschka(CSU) def. Nad(ND) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0(8)
4. Magimay(ND) def. Jamison(CSU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Llorens(ND) def. Boyer(CSU) 6-1, 7-5
6. Devaiah(ND) def. Aremon(CSU) 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish (6, 1, 4, 5, 2, 3)

Match 2

Notre Dame 6  Illinois State 1

Doubles

1. Corsillo/Zhang(ND) def. #116 Valencia/Scarlett(ISU) 6-2
2. Nad/Thompson(ND) vs. Ostro/Capacci(ISU) 5-2 DNF
3. Becker/Bilsey(ND) def. Bevan/Pavia(ISU) 6-1

Order of Finish (1, 3)

Singles

1. Thompson(ND) def. Valencia(ISU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Zhang(ND) def. Ostro(ISU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Nad(ND) def. Leong(ISU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Capacci(ISU) def. Magimay(ND) 7-6(0), 6-4
5. Corsillo(ND) def. Logue(ISU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Bilsey(ND) def. Bevan(ISU) 6-1, 6-2

Order of Finish (3, 1, 6, 5, 2, 4)