Irish Secure Two Victories to Open the 2021 Season

NOTRE DAME, Indiana — The Notre Dame Women’s Tennis team opened the 2021 season with a home doubleheader sweep over Northern Illinois, 7-0 and 4-0, on Tuesday night at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.

“We are grateful to be back together on the court competing,” Coach Silverio said after the match, as the team helped celebrate her birthday. “We missed it and it missed us! Ready for our next opportunity!”

In the first contest of the day, the Irish earned the doubles point with a sweep of all three doubles matches. Junior Maeve Koscielski partnered with mid-year enrollee Yashna Yellayi to earn a 6-1 victory. Next, senior Cameron Corse and sophomore Page Freeman secured a decisive, 6-2 win to clinch the doubles point. Senior Ally Bojczuk and freshman Julia Andreach rounded out the Irish doubles by adding a 6-1 win of their own to the tally.

In singles play, the Irish earned the sweep behind victories on all six singles courts. In her first collegiate singles contest, Andreach made quick work of NIU’s Fernanda Naves, 6-0, 6-1. Koscielski defeated Lara Slisko in a 6-3, 6-1 win before Bojczuk added a point of her own with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Diana Lukyanova. Yellayi also earned her first collegiate win, downing Paula Veyhle, 6-2, 6-1. 

Freeman and Corse both saw their singles matches head to the tiebreaker before both clinching Irish points in their victories. After winning her first set, 6-1, Freeman dropped the second set, 3-6. In the tiebreak, Freeman was victorious, earning the point for the Irish. Corse dropped her first set, 4-6, but rebounded, 6-3, to force a tiebreak. It would take 10 points for Corse to break the tie, eventually winning  and rounding out the sweep for the Irish.

In the second match of the day, Corse and Freeman paired up for a quick, 6-0 win over the Huskies’ Potsi and Slisko. The freshmen duo of Andreach and Yellayi clinched the doubles point for Notre Dame with a 6-4 win. 

In singles play, Yellayi made a strong statement early by defeating NIU’s Fernanda Naves, 6-2, 6-1 for the first Irish victory. Andreach followed her classmate with a 6-1, 6-2 victory to secure her second collegiate singles victory. Freeman also worked over a win, 6-3, 6-1, defeating Maria Potsi for the third Irish singles point.

MATCH ONE

Singles Competition

1. POTSI (NIU) vs. CORSE (ND)  6-4 , 3-6 , 0-1 (10)
2. RAKITA (NIU) vs. FREEMAN (ND) 1-6 , 6-3 , 0-1 (7)
3. BOJCZUK (ND) def. LUKYANOVA (NIU) 6-1 , 5-3
4. ANDREACH (ND) def. NAVES (NIU) 6-0 , 6-1
5. YELLAYI (ND) def. VEYHLE (NIU) 6-2 , 6-1
6. KOSCIELSKI (ND) def. SLISKO (NIU) 6-3 , 6-1

Order of Finish — 3, 1, 2

Doubles Competition

1. SLISKO and POTSI (NIU) vs. CORSE and FREEMAN (ND) 2-6
2. RAKITA and NAVES (NIU) vs. BOJCZUK and ANDREACH (ND) 5-7
3. VEYHLE and LUKYANOVA (NIU) vs. KOSCIELSKI and YELLAYI (ND) 1-6

Order of Finish — 4, 6, 3, 5, 2, 1

MATCH TWO

Singles Competition

1. FREEMAN (ND) def. POTSI (NIU) 6-3 , 6-1
2. ANDREACH (ND) def. LUKYANOVA (NIU) 6-1 , 6-2
3. BOJCZUK (ND) def. RAKITA (NIU) 6-3 , 6-0
4. YELLAYI (ND) def. NAVES (NIU) 6-2 , 6-1
5. VEYHLE (NIU) vs. KOSCIELSKI (ND) 1-6, 0-4 ABANDONED
6. SLISKO (NIU) vs. COLEMAN (ND) 3-6 , 2-4 ABANDONED
   

Order of Finish — 4, 2, 1, 3

Doubles Competition

1. POTSI and SLISKO (NIU) vs. CORSE and FREEMAN (ND) 0-6
2. NAVES and RAKITA (NIU) vs. ANDREACH and YELLAYI (ND) 4-6
3. VEYHLE and DMITRIVA (NIU) vs. COLEMAN and KOSCIELSKI (ND) 5-4

Order of Finish — 1, 2

Next Up
The Irish will head to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to participate in the ITA Kickoff event. They will battle UNC, Ole Miss, and Old Dominion on January 22 and 23.

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