SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The shorthanded Fighting Illini women's tennis team suffered a 4-2 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday. Illinois struck first, winning the doubles point while Kida Ferrari picked up a victory on the singles courts.
Illinois' season-opening action took place inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion as the Fighting Irish improved to 2-0. Illinois moves to 9-31 all-time against Notre Dame with the loss.
Head coach Evan Clark moves to 131-86 during his time as an Illini and now owns a 162-97 career coaching record.
Illinois won the first doubles point of the season with victories at No. 2 and No. 3 to take a 1-0 lead over the host Fighting Irish. McKenna Schaefbauer and Kasia Treiber teamed up at No. 2 for a 6-2 win. The duo jumped out to a 2-0 lead, pushing ahead for a 3-2 advantage, and ultimately won the final three games. At No. 3 doubles, Alice Xu and Ariel Madatali earned a 6-4 win and never trailed. The underclassman duo won the opening game before Notre Dame knotted things at 1-1. From there, the Illini pushed out to a 4-1 advantage and would lead the rest of the way.
Notre Dame struck first in singles play, picking up wins at No. 3, No. 6, and No. 4 singles, respectively, to take a 3-1 lead in the match.
Madatali made her Illini dual match debut at Notre Dame, teaming up with Xu for a win at No. 3 doubles before falling to No. 67-ranked Akrai Matsuno at No. 3 singles (6-0, 6-2). After earning the doubles win with Madatali, Xu suffered a 6-1, 6-3 loss at No. 6 singles. Treiber would suffer a 6-3, 6-2 defeat at No. 4 singles.
Ferrari earned a hard-fought 7-6 (5), 6-4 win at No. 5 singles to pull the match score to 3-2. The senior trailed 0-3 and 3-5 in the opening set before battling back to force the tiebreaker. She would lead 2-0 and 3-1 in her second set before her counterpart knotted the score at 4-4. Ferrari followed with back-to-back games to clinch the straight-set win.
Soon after, Notre Dame clinched the match with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles.
After opening the season on the road, Illinois will host Northwestern (Jan. 25), Georgia Tech (Jan. 31), and Colorado (Feb. 2) before switching gears to host the ITA National Indoor Championships from Feb. 7-9.
FINAL SCORE: NOTRE DAME (2-0) 4, ILLINOIS (0-1) 2
Doubles
No. 1 – Megan Heuser/Kida Ferrari vs. Beckman/Matsuno (Notre Dame) – 5-5, unfinished
No. 2 – McKenna Schaefbauer/Kasia Treiber vs. Hanford/Ghosh (Notre Dame) – 6-2
No. 3 – Alice Xu/Ariel Madatali vs. Molnar/Pozder (Notre Dame) – 6-3
Singles
No. 1 – Bojana Pozder (Notre Dame) def. No. 109 McKenna Schaefbauer – 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
No. 2 – Megan Heuser vs. Carrie Beckman (Notre Dame) – 5-7, 6-3, 1-4 unfinished
No. 3 – No. 67 Akari Matsuno (Notre Dame) def. Ariel Madatali – 6-0, 6-2 Â
No. 4 – Nibi Ghosh (Notre Dame) def. Kasia Treiber – 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 – Kida Ferrari def. Bianca Molnar (Notre Dame) – 7-6 (5), 6-4
No. 6 – Rylie Hanford (Notre Dame) def. Alice Xu – 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish
Doubles: 2, 3
Singles: 3, 6, 4, 5, 1
Duration: 2:38
Played indoors
