Feb. 6, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team will play its first double-header of the season when the No. 16 Irish host Ball State and Wisconsin on Sunday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
The Irish will have enjoyed a nine-day hiatus after this Monday’s scheduled match with Illinois was postponed because of inclement weather. The extra time off has allowed time to recuperate from a bruising stretch of schedule in which all four of Notre Dame’s matches to date have come down to the final one or two matches on the court.
“We’ve had (time) now to train and address the individual needs of each guy and get a little bit healthier for those that were beat up a little bit,” head coach Ryan Sachire said. “I expect us to play the best matches of the year on Sunday. Within our program we always talk about the process and the continuous development from day to day, and as the year moves forward, we want to be the most improved team in the country and this window between the Northwestern match and this doubleheader will give us a chance to hopefully make some significant strides.”
The Irish defeated No. 30 Northwestern 4-3 on January 30, wherein they endured four three-set singles matches and a doubles match decided in a tiebreaker. Junior Quentin Monaghan clinched the match at No. 1 singles with a comeback 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-4 win over Sam Shropshire.
Notre Dame will open the day against Ball State at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday. The Cardinals are 2-3 on the season with wins over Detroit and Eastern Illinois and losses to Wisconsin-Green Bay, No. 5 Illinois and Cleveland State. Ball State will play No. 60 Michigan State at home on Saturday before traveling to South Bend.
The Irish will host a 1-3 Badgers team at 6 p.m. ET in the nightcap. It will be the first matchup between Notre Dame and Wisconsin since 2011-12, when the Irish defeated the Badgers 7-0. Wisconsin’s lone win this season came against Seattle on January 24. The Badgers will host No. 33 Minnesota on Saturday.
Live results for both matches will be available at the links above, and the action will be streamed on WatchND. For in-match updates, follow the Irish on Twitter, @NDMensTennis and for all Irish news and notes, like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.
By Joanne Norell, Media Relations Assistant
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