Notre Dame Downs Columbia for Seventh-Straight Win

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Notre Dame women’s tennis continued its winning ways Sunday morning, downing Columbia 4-2. The Irish have now won seven games in a row to start the season, the best winning streak to start a spring season since 2006.

The Irish jumped out to an early lead after a tightly contested doubles portion of the match. For the second consecutive day, Carrie Beckman/Akar Matsuno took the victory at No. 1 doubles, winning 6-4 to set the tone. Rylie Hanford/Nibi Ghosh secured the doubles point for the Irish shortly after, winning 7-5 at No. 2 doubles to give Notre Dame the advantage headed into singles play.

After Columbia earned wins at No. 5 and No. 2 singles to take the lead, Ghosh hit the equalizer at No. 4 singles, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to tie the match.

Bojana Pozder, playing at the top singles matchup, won in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to put the Irish one point away from a clinch.

After splitting the first two sets, both Matsuno at No. 3 singles and Hanford at No. 6 singles were in close battles with Notre Dame needing to win one court for the win and Columbia needing both. After going back and forth in the first couple games of the third set, Hanford was able to prevail, winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to end Columbia’s comeback bid and secure the seventh straight for the Irish.

Notre Dame returns to the home courts this weekend, hosting Ohio State on Friday, February 7th at 4:00 pm before a doubleheader against Bellarmine at noon and 4:00 pm on Saturday the 9th. All three matches will be held in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Admission is free to all Notre Dame tennis matches.

Notre Dame 4, Columbia 2

Singles:

Bojana Pozder (ND) def. Fatima Keita (COL-WT) 6-3, 6-2 Malak El Allami (COL-WT) def. Carrie Beckman (ND) 6-2, 6-3 Gayathri Krishnan (COL-WT) vs. #67 Akari Matsuno (ND) 2-6, 6-2, 5-4, unfinished Nibi Ghosh (ND) def. Sophia Wang (COL-WT) 6-2, 6-2 Amber Yin (COL-WT) def. Bianca Molnar (ND) 6-1, 6-2 Rylie Hanford (ND) def. Winta Tewolde (COL-WT) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3

Order of Finish: (5,2,4,1,6)

Doubles:

Carrie Beckman/Akari Matsuno (ND) def. Fatima Keita/Malak El Allami (COL-WT) 6-4 Rylie Hanford/Nibi Ghosh (ND) def. Gayathri Krishnan/Sophia Strugnell (COL-WT) 7-5 Emily Baek/Sophia Wang (COL-WT) vs. Maria Olivia Castedo/Bojana Pozder (ND) 6-5, unfinished

Order of finish: (1,2)

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