ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Notre Dame women’s tennis program opened up the NCAA Tournament with a decisive 4-0 victory over the Mid-American Conference Champion Ball State Cardinals, 4-0 Friday. The win is the first in the NCAA Tournament for the Fighting Irish since its last tournament appearance in 2017. The Irish improve to 16-10 on the season with the victory.
How It Happened
The scoring started with the Irish decisively taking the top two doubles positions for the point. Yashna Yellayi and Rylie Hanford combined for a dominating 6-1 win at No. 2 for the first win. 30th ranked doubles team Julia Andreach and Carrie Beckman cemented the point with a 6-4 win at the top flight.
Andreach and Yellayi continued their hot starts into singles play. Andreach earned a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2, with Yellayi scoring the third point by the same score at the fourth flight. Bojana Pozder secured the match with a 7-5, 6-2 win at the third flight for the fourth and final point.
Up Next
The Irish will take on the winner of Michigan and Youngstown State Saturday at 4 p.m. in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.