No. 25 Illinois’ (4-3) luck stopped at the door of Notre Dame (8-1) as it saw its four-game win streak come to an end. The Illini’s 4-1 loss in South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday is their first to an unranked opponent.
The matchup was the final road game for the Illini in a two-week stretch that saw them travel to Lexington, Kentucky, before their matchup against the Fighting Irish.
Doubles troubles
“Credit to Notre Dame,” wrote head coach Brad Dancer to Fighting Illini Athletics. “They outplayed us in doubles.”
Doubles play has been the Achilles heel for this Illinois roster. In the team’s last two matches, the Illini have failed to secure the doubles point, despite winning later in singles.
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Illinois has secured the doubles point only twice this season: in its win against Xavier (3-6) and in its season-opening loss to then-No. 7 Mississippi State (8-1).
This match saw some changes to the Illini’s duos. The pairings of junior Jeremy Zhang and senior William Mroz, and senior Kenta Miyoshi and freshman Sasha Colleu made their spring season debuts.
Zhang and Mroz fell on Court 3, 6-2, following the sinking blow of freshman Gabriel Debru and redshirt junior Tyler Bowers 6-4 loss.
Singles slowdown
“In singles, I felt Perry Gregg deserved that clinch,” Dancer wrote to Fighting Illini Athletics. “He played strong. We have to prepare our team better. Just no doubt about that.”
While past performances have shown the Illini’s strength to come back after suffering a doubles loss, the Fighting Irish had the Illini’s number.
The first court losses would come in quick succession. On Court 5, freshman Hayden Jones’ four-match win streak finally came to an end, as he fell to Fighting Irish junior Kyran Magimay, 6-1, 6-3.
Freshman Adam Jilly would fail a comeback in the second set, falling to Notre Dame sophomore Peter Nad, 6-2, 7-5.
Mroz was the lone Illini to prevail on the singles court. The senior secured Court 3 over Notre Dame sophomore Giuseppe Cerasuolo, 7-5, 6-3.
The clinching victory for the Fighting Irish came as the unranked Gregg secured a two-set win over No. 12 Miyoshi. Miyoshi fought hard in his second straight loss, but ultimately fell, 6-4, 7-5.
The Illini will be off the road for a while, hosting their next five matches at Atkins Tennis Center. The team’s next foe is the North Carolina Tar Heels (6-2) on Sunday, Feb. 22.
