April 22, 2018
By Michael Scholl
NOTRE DAME, Indiana — In its final match of the 2017-18 regular season, the University of Notre Dame women’s tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 17 Miami on a brisk, sunny day at the Courtney Tennis Center.
Ally Bojczuk continued her strong play with a singles victory for the Irish, who capped the 2017-18 regular season at 11-14 and 2-12 in ACC play. The Hurricanes finish the regular season at 15-6 and 11-3 in the league.
How It Happened
Doubles
Miami took the first singles decision on court three, where the No. 85 duo of Ulyana Shirokova and Dominika Paterova defeated the Irish pairing of Ally Bojczuk and Rachel Chong, 6-2. The scores were tighter on both courts one and two, but the Hurricanes captured the doubles point with a 6-4 win at two by Sinead Lohan and Ana Madcur over Allison Miller and Bess Waldram. The Irish pair of Brooke Broda and Zoe Spence held a 5-4 lead over Estela Perez-Somarriba and Daniella Rolda, the 78th-ranked doubles team in the country, when play was suspended.
Singles
Miami extended the lead to 2-0 on court three where Daniella Roldan defeated Zoe Spence (6-4, 6-3). The lead grew to 3-0 at one singles, where Estela Perez-Somarriba, the nation’s third-ranked singles player, took down Allison Miller, 6-1, 6-1. The Hurricanes clinched the victory on court five, where Ulyana Shirokova beat Rachel Chong, 6-4, 6-4.
In the remaining three matches, Miami’s Sinead Lohan won at court two over Brooke Broda (6-4, 6-1), while action on courts four and six went to tiebreaks after the first two sets were split. Action ended first on six, where UM’s Dominika Paterova took the tiebreak 10-6 to earn the win (4-6, 6-4). The Irish got a point at the final match to finish as Ally Bojczuk continued her impressive play by defeating Ana Madcur (6-3, 2-6, 11-9).
Head Coach Jay Louderback’s Thoughts
“We had two match points at one doubles when they stopped it and it was tight, 6-4, at two, so again, we’re there. All we can do is keep coming out every day ready to play and we’ve got to do just that at conference (championships). At singles, too, Ally Bojczuk had a great win. At six singles we were up a set and 4-1 and it was a battle at two. We’re there. Our kids know all they can do is fight every match. If we play hard every match, that’s all we can do.”
Match Notes
- Bojczuk caps the regular season with a 15-6 record in singles this spring and will carry a three-match winning streak into the ACC Championships.
- Dunleavy fell just short of her second win in ACC play.
- Broda and Spence were just shy of their first win in four tries as doubles partners, as the pair had a 5-4 lead when doubles play was suspended.
Up Next
The Irish will await the completion of today’s action before learning their seed and opponent for this week’s ACC Championships. The conference tournament begins on Wednesday, April 25, at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, North Carolina. For more information on the ACC Championships, visit TheACC.com.
— ND —
Michael Scholl has been a member of the Fighting Irish Media communications staff at his alma mater since August 2016. He serves as the secondary contact for the Irish football and hockey teams while coordinating communications efforts for the women’s tennis program. Scholl has previously worked in communications at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Providence College, Vanderbilt University and the University of Cincinnati. The South Bend, Indiana, native earned a degree in political science from the College of Arts and Letters in 2009.