CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Notre Dame men’s tennis team made a quick trip up to Boston to take on Boston College in the final regular season conference match of the year.
Peter Conklin and Connor Fu would start doubles fast and finish fast with a 6-2 win over Fung/Vassel. The Eagles would respond with a 6-2 win of their own on the top court as #69 ranked Bianchi/Motlagh took down #67 ranked Halpin/Malkowski. The #3 doubles team of Matt Che and Addy Vashistha would have a tough starting and find themselves down 2-5 in their doubles contest before pushing back. They would get the break back and save two match points at 4-5 before getting into a set tiebreak. They would get two mini-breaks to jump out to a 4-0 lead before closing out the tiebreak 7-2 and giving Notre Dame the 1-0 lead heading in to singles.
Singles would start well for the Irish as they would take all six first sets. Jean-Marc Malkowski would continue his run of good form as he was first off the court with a 6-3, 6-0 win at the #4 position. Matt Che would win 6-1, 6-3 at #2 and shortly after Peter Conklin would secure the team win with 6-1, 6-4 at the #5 spot.
The remaining matches would be played out and next off the court was #123 Aditya Vashistha who toppled Max Motlagh 6-3, 6-4. Braeden Ho claimed his first ACC victory of his career with a 7-5, 6-4 win at #6 singles in a match where he only needed one break of serve per set as he never lost serve of his own. Connor Fu would wrap up the day at #3 singles. After a blistering start and a 6-0 win in the opening set, Fu would find himself on the wrong end of a 6-4 second and in a deciding set. The final set was a full third since the team match had not been decided when they began but Fu would take it 6-3 to complete the 7-0 sweep of the Eagles.
Up Next:
Notre Dame will return to South Bend for their final regular season match on Wednesday, April 13 where they will host Big East opponent DePaul at 4pm. This will be senior day for the Irish and they will recognize the departing graduates. Seniors Axel Nefve and Andrew Mariados as well as graduate student Peter Conklin will be recognized following the conclusion of the match.
Box Score
#29 Notre Dame – Boston College
Doubles
- #69 Bianchi/Motlagh(BC) def. #67 Halpin/Malkowski(ND) 6-2
- Conklin/Fu(ND) def. Fung/Vassel(BC) 6-2
- Che/Vashistha(ND) def. Kasten/Campbell(BC) 7-6(2)
Singles
- #123 Vashistha(ND) def. Motlagh(BC) 6-3, 6-4
- Fu(ND) def. Worth(BC) 6-1, 6-4
- Che(ND) def. Campbell(BC) 6-0, 4-6, 6-3
- Malkowski(ND) def. Kasten(BC) 6-3, 6-0
- Conklin(ND) def. Bianchi(BC) 6-1, 6-4
- Ho(ND) def. Vassel(BC) 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles(2, 1, 3); Singles (4, 2, 5, 1, 6, 3)