Sept. 28, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team will kick off its fall tournament slate this weekend as the Irish travel to Northwestern University to take part in the Wildcat Invitational.
WHAT: Wildcat Invitational
WHERE: Vandy Christie Tennis Center | Evanston, Ill.
WHEN: Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2017
Notes To Know
- For the second straight season, the Irish will open the fall at the Wildcat Invitational. The tournament will feature compass draws for both singles and doubles, with two doubles flights and eight singles flights, in addition to one round robin flight in both singles and doubles. Each player will play three singles matches and four doubles matches. Play will begin at 10 a.m. ET Friday, 11 a.m. ET Saturday and 10 a.m. ET Sunday.
- Notre Dame finished last season ranked No. 29 in the final Oracle/ITA team rankings, marking its highest finish since coming in at No. 19 following the 2013-14 campaign. The Irish, who went 18-10 on the season, ranked as high as No. 26 in 2017 and won 14 of their first 15 matches.
- The 2016-17 Irish featured five players who won at least 17 singles matches: Allison Miller (21-12), Zoe Spence (20-16), Monica Robinson (19-13), Brooke Broda (18-11) and Rachel Chong (17-8). All but Robinson return this season.
- Robinson became the program’s first winner of the National ITA-Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership award winner following the 2016-17 season. The award is given annually to men’s and women’s players across all divisions who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
Meet the Freshmen
The four Irish freshmen, who came in as the No. 8 class in the nation according to the Tennis Recruiting Network, will make their debuts when play begins Friday. Ally Bojczuk, Cameron Corse and Caroline Dunleavy all came in as blue chip prospects, while Evangeline Shannon is a three-star-rated talent. In doubles at Northwestern, each will pair with an upperclassman: Bojczuk with junior Rachel Chong, Corse with sophomore Zoe Spence, Dunleavy with senior Allison Miller and Shannon with sophomore Hayden Siegfried.
In The Polls
The Oracle/ITA women’s tennis preseason rankings came out on Sept. 12, with both Notre Dame seniors appearing on the list. Brooke Broda was featured in both singles and doubles polls, coming in at No. 123 in singles and joining classmate Allison Miller at No. 56 in doubles.
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Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director 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 men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.