Cary, N.C. - No. 7 Seed Clemson Women’s Tennis (17-8, 7-6 ACC) fell to No. 10 Seed Notre Dame (18-8, 5-7 ACC) 4-3, coming up just short on Thursday night at the ACC Championships.
Notre Dame swept the doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead over the Tigers. Sophomore Talia Neilson-Gatenby and Senior Romana Cisovska fell quickly to the pair of Rylie Hanford and Gabriella Rawles 6-4. On court 12, Akari Matsuno and Marilouise Van Zyl defeated Sophomores Artemis Aslanisvili and Sophie Clayton 6-3 to clinch the doubles point for the Fighting Irish. The No. 43 pairing of Freshman Rinon Okiwaki and Senior Jade Groen fell to No. 41 Biana Molnar and Bojana Pozder 6-4 to complete the doubles slate.
Clemson fought back in singles with three consecutive victories. Neilson-Gatenby tied the match 1-1 with a straight-set victory over Sophie Holod 6-3, 6-0. Artemis Aslanisvili followed suit on court 12, defeating Rylie Hanford 6-4, 6-1 to give the Tigers the lead. Shortly after, Cisovska defeated Pozder 6-2, 6-1 on court 11 to put Clemson ahead 3-1 with three matches ongoing. Notre Dame’s Jessica Kovalcik bested Ria Bhakta 6-2, 6-2 to bring the Irish within one. Over on court 9, Matsuno defeated Okuwaki 7-5, 6-4 to tie the match at three points each. In a three-set battle, No. 71 Molnar defeated Jade Groen 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 to clinch the match for Notre Dame.
UP NEXT: The Tigers will wait to hear their NCAA Tournament fate which will be announced on April 27th.
BOX SCORES:
Doubles (2,3*,1)
- #41 Molnar/Pozder (UND) def. #43 Okuwaki/Groen (CU), 6-4
- Hanford/Rawles (UND) def. Neilson-Gatenby/Cisovska (CU), 6-4
- Matsuno/Van Zyl (UND) def. Clayton/Aslanisvili (CU), 6-3
Singles (4,5,3,6,2,1*)
- #71 Molnar def. Groen (CU), 6-1, 7-5, 6-1
- Matsuno (UND) def. #69 Okuwaki (CU) 7-5, 6-4
- Cisovska (CU) def. Pozder (UND), 6-2, 6-1
- Neilson-Gatenby (CU) def. Holod (UND), 6-3, 6-0
- Aslanisvili (CU) def. Hanford (UND) 6-4, 6-1
- Kovalcik (UND) def. Bhakta (CU) 6-2, 6-2