Hokie ClubOUTH BEND, Ind. – The 30th-ranked Virginia Tech women’s tennis team lost a close battle with No. 51 Notre Dame on Friday, dropping the match by a count of 4-3 in an ACC contest on the road. The Hokies drop to 14-8 on the year and 7-6 in the ACC while the Irish improved to 11-11on the season while going 5-8 in the conference.
Doubles play got started with the 32nd-ranked duo of Quinn Gleason and Monica Robinson getting past Francesca Fusinato and Kelly Williford on court 1, winning 6-4 and giving the Irish the first victory of the day. Mary Closs and Julie Vrable then edged out Tech’s Caroline Daxhelet and Raluca Mita 7-5 on court 2, clinching the doubles point for Notre Dame and putting them up 1-0.
Elena Cerezo-Codina and Sansitha Nandakumar were tied 4-4 on court 3 before the point was decided.
Willford tied the match at 1 when singles play began by defeating Closs 6-4, 6-4 in the 4 slot before No. 81 Robinson took down No. 95 Cerezo-Codina on court 2 to put Notre Dame back up 2-1.
No. 50 Gleason then claimed a 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 45 Fusinato in the one spot to put the Irish up 3-1 and get them within one point of clinching the match. Katherine Butler kept the Hokies’ hopes alive with a 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 win over Jane Fennelly on court 6 before Daxhelet pulled off a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over No. 108 Allison Miller to tie the score at 3 and set up a match-deciding third set over on court 5 between Mita and Brooke Boda.
Mita ended up falling in three sets, losing 2-6, 7-6, 3-6 to Boda to give Notre Dame the win in the teams’ second to last matches of the regular season.
The Hokies will head to Syracuse for a Sunday match at 1 p.m. with the Orange to wrap up the regular season slate before traveling to Cary, N.C. for the ACC Championships next week.