Belles tennis team stumbles during MIAA

By THOMAS ZWILLER sports Writer

After 13 straight wins, quite easily the best mark in program history, s aint m ary’s tennis saw its baker’s dozen get burned last weekend.

The b elles of s aint m ary’s came into the weekend 3-0 in conference play, looking to avenge a 0-5 loss to h ope c ollege in the m ichiana Intercollegiate Athletics Association ( m IAA) Tournament s emi-finals. Instead, it is back to the chalkboard for the women. d oubles’ play saw a clean sweep by the f lying d utchmen, by scores of 8-1, 8-3 and 8-4.

In singles play, the b elles did not fair much better. o nly freshmen

Leah h osang and e velyn d emblans- d echans won their matches. h osang won a closely contested first set 7-6 and used the momentum to win her second set 6-3. d emblans- d echans won hers more quickly, first 6-1 and 6-4.

There were two notable losing performances with freshman e mma Kealy and senior Kathleen m cLeod putting up valiant efforts but coming up short.

When the dust settled, h ope earned a dominant win, 7-2, and its third conference win of the season, putting them in second place behind Kalamazoo.

After a disappointing

ND MEN’S goLf result on f riday night, the b elles came into s unday hoping for a better result. The Kalamazoo h ornets did not allow them that opportunity. d emblans- d echans and m cLeod lost a hotly contested set, 6-8. h osang was the lone bright spot for the b elles in singles play. After losing her first set in a 0-6 blowout, she won her following two sets comfortably, winning 6-2 and 6-3. f or Kalamazoo, they maintain their top spot in the m IAA with a 9-6 record overall and a 5-0 record in conference play.

Unlike against h ope, the b elles won a doubles play match as senior Lucy c hamberlin and h osang earned an 8-5 win. The other two doubles matches were close losses with sophomore Alayna c ampbell and Kealy falling short 5-8.

In the singles contests, the b elles lost the top three matches. c hamberlin lost to her opponent 4-6 and 3-6 while c ampbell lost 2-6 and 4-6. Kealy won her opening set 6-3 but then lost her next two 3-6 each.

In the fifth match, m cLeod nearly won the first set, losing 6-7 before falling 2-6. In the final singles match of the day, d emblans- d echans lost 4-6 and 3-6.

As they did against h ope c ollege, the b elles fell 7-2 to the Kalamazoo h ornets.

The back-to-back losses for the b elles mean that they are now 13-2, with a 3-2 record in the m IAA. While they are no longer undefeated, the b elles still hold fourth place in the conference. b esides Kalamazoo and h ope, only Trine University has a better record than s aint m ary’s, where they are 9-3 (1-0).

The b elles will have a chance to pass the T s torm’ on April 12 when they will travel down to Angola. While the b elles may have a ten-day break between matches, the schedule will be quite busy for Trine, something s aint m ary’s will benefit immensely from. In the ten days leading up to match day, Trine will host Alma and then go on the road to play h ope before welcoming the b elles. There is also the potential for the team to make up its postponed game against Adrian.

A match-up against Trine might be just what the doctor ordered. In the past four years, the two teams have played twice, with the b elles winning 6-3 in 2019, losing a closely contested 5-4 match, before winning again 6-3.

The match is slated for a 4:00 p.m. start in Angola, Indiana.

Contact Thomas Zwiller at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu inning of action. b ecker and Kastor’s combined 11 strikeouts marked a season high for the Irish staff on the year. n otre d ame currently has one conference series win to their name, a road decision against n orth c arolina s tate. If the Irish are to continue their streak of nc AA Tournament appearances, they’ll need more in that department. A red-hot Louisville team will present a tough task this weekend, but also the opportunity for a tone reset heading into the home stretch of the season. n otre d ame head coach d eanna Gumpf has stressed an interest in her side’s consistency of play over their actual record. If the Irish can piece together a winning weekend in Louisville, it will almost certainly mean they brought the consistent and thorough performance that Gumpf has emphasized. And she certainly wouldn’t complain about an addition to the team’s win column, either. n otre d ame softball will look to push their winning streak to three games Thursday against Louisville at Ulmer s tadium. The first pitch of game one is set for 6 p.m. and can be streamed on A cc n etwork e xtra.

While n otre d ame hasn’t been bad in A cc play by any means, the Irish haven’t excelled either. Inconsistency defined a series loss to Pitt. A frustrating 0-0 tie left n otre d ame unable to get anything more than a 1-1-1 split out of a series against s yracuse. A walk-off home run left the Irish heartbroken against d uke.

The c ardinals have won nine of their last 10 games. s itting third in the A cc , Louisville is piecing together a dark horse push to be ranked in the top 25 nationally. If the Irish can go on the road and steal a series, it will be a strong statement of intent.

Leading the way for the c ardinals at the plate will likely be pitcher/designated hitter Taylor r oby. r oby has displayed exceptional power in the cleanup spot this season. In Louisville’s most recent game against s yracuse, she clubbed a pair of home runs. That performance was just another in a string of electric outings for r oby this spring. With 14 home runs, 40 rb I and a slugging percentage of .860, the graduate student leads the c ardinals in just about every conceivable metric of power hitting.

In the circle, a combination of r oby and Alyssa Zabala should shoulder the load against the Irish bats. The pair have each made 20 appearances for Louisville. n o other c ardinal pitcher has more than 13. While r oby and Zabala will likely pitch the first two games for Louisville, the starter for the series’ final game is less clear. s am b ooe and Gabby h olloway have started four and three games on the year, respectively. b ooe has excelled in limited action, posting a 1.68 er A and holding opposing batters to a .196 batting average.

Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu