Nefve

#11 Irish Drop First Round To #7 Bruins, 4-1

CHICAGO, Ill. — In a hard fought first round, No. 11 Notre Dame fell to No. 7 UCLA by a final of 4-1 at the ITA National Indoor Championships.

Freshman Axel Nefve tallied the lone Irish point in the loss, taking the point in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles
The Irish battled hard in the doubles competition, dropping a tight one on courts two and three.

After falling down 5-1 in No. 3 doubles, Grayson Broadus and Matt Gamble stormed back to tie the match at five but just shy of the victory. Alex Lebedev and Axel Nefve also traded points back and forth with their doubles opponents, Goldberg and Nanado of UCLA, ultimately dropping the set 7-5.

Richard Ciamarra and Tristan McCormick ended in a 6-6 tie on the first court in another tough match heading into singles.

Singles
Both teams traded sets early in the singles, with Alex Lebedev, Tristan McCormick and Axel Nefve all taking the first set on their courts.

With the Irish down 2-0, Nefve cut the Bruins’ lead in half with his 6-4, 6-3 set victories in No. 4 singles.

All six courts fought hard, with four being forced to the decisive third set. Ultimately, the Irish came up short as the Bruins claimed three singles courts for the 4-1 win.

Up Next
The Irish will face No. 12 Columbia tomorrow (February 16) at 12 p.m. CT in the second round.