March 20, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — This weekend, the Notre Dame women’s tennis team will embark on a two-match road stint against two top-10 ranked opponents. The Irish travel to Charlottesville, Va. on Friday to take on No. 6 Virginia and then finish the weekend on Sunday at Chapel Hill, N.C. against No. 10 North Carolina.
Head coach Jay Louderback says the Irish will use this weekend to improve their outdoor play.
“We feel like we have been playing with more confidence, and we have the chance to play two top-10 teams outdoors and see where we are,” says Louderback. “Our goal is to be playing our best tennis in the post-season, and once we get to play consistently outdoors, we have a good chance of realizing that goal.”
Notre Dame is coming off their second conference victory of the season with a 6-1 win over ACC foe Boston College. The team enters the weekend on a three-match winning streak-having gone 8-6 (2-4) on the season-which has provided them some energy in conference play.
“It is always easy to be energized by winning,” Louderback explains. “I thought we did a great job of playing with a lot of energy when we went through a rough stretch a few weeks ago. That shows how much character our team has.”
Notre Dame, ranked No. 22, has only been matched up with Virginia once before but the series will certainly pick up now that they are both in the ACC. Virginia leads the all-time series 1-0.
Most recently, Virginia logged 5-2 victory over Michigan. Virginia is 10-4 overall and 4-1 in ACC conference play.
On Sunday, Notre Dame looks to take the advantage in the all-time series with North Carolina that is knotted at 9-9. The Tar Heels are coming off a 7-0 sweep of College of Charleston that improved their record to 15-3 (5-1).
The match on Friday will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va. Sunday’s match is set to start at 12 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C. Fans can find results of the match here at UND.com.
–Travis Bowman, Media Relations Intern
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