Feb. 24, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team will host Michigan State and Bowling Green in a doubleheader Saturday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Match 9
WHO: Notre Dame (7-1, 2-0 ACC) vs. Michigan State (8-1)
WHERE: Eck Tennis Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: 11 a.m. ET Saturday
Match 10
WHO: Notre Dame vs. Bowling Green (4-4)
WHERE: Eck Tennis Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: 4 p.m. ET Saturday
RESULTS: | | WatchND
On The Spartans
- Michigan State enters the weekend 8-1 and will play Western Michigan on Friday before facing the Irish on Saturday. The Spartans’ only loss of the season came against Auburn on February 5.
- The Spartans boast one player in the Oracle/ITA Division I National Women’s Singles rankings: No. 98 Emily Metcalf, who is 8-0 on the season. Also leading the Spartans are Davina Nguyen and Athena Trouillot with 7-1 records and Lexi Baylis with a 7-2 mark.
- Notre Dame holds a 7-4 all-time advantage over Michigan State, including 2-0 under head coach Jay Louderback.
On The Falcons
- Bowling Green is 4-4 on the season but has won three of its last four matches heading into Saturday’s contest.
- Paula Comella leads the Falcons with a 6-2 record at the No. 1 singles spot, while Polina Redeva is 5-1 on the year in various positions.
- Notre Dame is 6-0 all-time against the Falcons, including 2-0 under Louderback.
Last Time Out
Notre Dame won its fourth straight match Wednesday, defeating Purdue 5-2 at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish withstood runs in each match it won against the Boilermakers, eking out two doubles wins to take an early lead and then winning four straight singles matches to clinch the victory. Among the highlights was freshman Zoe Spence’s 6-2, 6-2 win over Deborah Suarez as Spence remains undefeated on the season at 8-0.
Singles Standouts
The Irish boast three singles players with at least seven wins in eight matches so far this season, led by freshman Zoe Spence at 8-0. Senior Monica Robinson and junior Allison Miller are similarly impressive with 7-1 marks.
Rankings Rundown
The first computerized Oracle/ITA Division I National Women’s Tennis Rankings were released Tuesday, with the Irish debuting at No. 41 in the national team rankings, which features the nation’s top 50 teams. Junior Brooke Broda and junior Allison Miller entered the Oracle/ITA DIvision I National Women’s Doubles Rankings last week, coming in at No. 58, despite having not played together since the fall. Miller also entered the singles rankings at No. 118.
Keeping Up With The Irish
All indoor home matches will be streamed live on WatchND. Live scoring will be available for all home tennis matches at UND.com, with links for each match available on the women’s tennis schedule page. Live match updates will also be shared on the team’s Twitter account, @NDWomensTennis.
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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.
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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.