Irish look to continue strong start at Illini

league, including two mv P awards, a Finals mv P award and seven All-W nb A First Team h onors. s he played for the Los Angeles s parks for the first 12 years of her career, winning a championship in 2016. s he then played for the c hicago s ky for two years, winning another title in 2021.

Parker’s move comes at the end of her two-year contract with the s ky. n ow an unrestricted free agent, Parker signed a one year contract with the Aces, who won their first championship in franchise history last year with a victory over the c onnecticut s un.

With the addition of Parker to the roster, the Aces are looking for backto-back championships.

The Aces lineup already includes three 2022 W nb A All s tars in Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson. Additionally, Aces guard c helsea Gray was awarded W nb A Finals mv P. Parker will be the fourth 2022 W nb A All- s tar on the Aces’ roster this season, and all five starters are favorites to earn All- s tar honors this season. Additionally, 2020 First Team All- d efensive player Alysha c lark signed with the Aces this week, further deepening their roster.

At this point in the preseason, it seems the Aces will dominate the league this year. The Liberty are shaping up to be strong competitors as well as they add new stars to their roster. h owever, the landscape will continue to shift over the next several weeks as other free agents sign new contracts.

By ADAM AKAN sports Writer

n otre d ame women’s tennis has been spectacular this season, posting an overall 5-1 record and a perfect 4-0 mark at home at e ck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish have an average margin of victory of 4.6, with 7-0 victories over m ichigan s tate and Xavier, a 6-1 win vs. b utler and a 5-2 win vs. UI c

This past weekend, the Irish traveled down to Athens, Georgia for Women’s ITA Kickoff Weekend in an invitational hosted by the University of Georgia. The third-seeded Irish took on n o. 13 ranked U sc , the two seed, in their first match last Friday. The

Irish bested the Trojans in a tight battle, 4-3.

The Irish would then advance to the final against the host squad and n o. 6 team in the nation, the Georgia b ulldogs. d espite strong performances in the doubles competition, the Irish would fail to register the same success in singles competition. The b ulldogs took a decisive four points from the Irish and won the tournament, denying n otre d ame the opportunity to advance to ITA Indoor n ationals.

The Irish will travel to c hampaign, Illinois this s unday for a match against the Fighting Illini. The Illini come into this game having also split their games at the ITA Kickoff h ead coach Alison s ilverio and her highflying Irish are sure to be tuned up and eager to rebound from their heartbreaking defeat in Athens. The game will be played at 11 a.m. this s unday.

Weekend, losing to nc s tate 4-0 but defeating Furman 4-0. Their overall record is 2-1, with an additional win at Kentucky.

The game for the Irish is the first in a long line of b ig Ten games before conference play opens up Feb. 24 against Georgia Tech. After the Illini, the Irish will battle n orthwestern, Penn s tate and Wisconsin at e ck Tennis Pavilion.

Contact Adam Akan at aakan@nd.edu