Following an upset at the hands of No. 25 Illinois Friday, the No. 5 Blue Devils showed their resilience with a 4-0 victory against No. 30 Notre Dame Sunday.
“I was impressed with all six guys out there today,” wrote head coach Ramsey Smith in an email after the win against the Fighting Irish. “As a team we seemed to learn from the things that we did poorly on Friday, and we bounced back strong against Notre Dame.”
Against Notre Dame, the pair of Raphael Hemmeler and Henrique Cunha—ranked No. 1 in the nation—continued their impressive doubles play, defeating the No. 51 ranked doubles team in the nation, Greg Andrews and Spencer Talmadge.
After an unfortunate loss by No. 9 Michael Redlicki and Jason Tahir on court three, the pair of Fred Saba and Chris Mengel clinched the doubles point for the Blue Devils with an 8-6 victory against the Fighting Irish’s Ryan Bandy and Matt Dooley.
“Chris and Fred didn’t play their best doubles match,” Smith wrote. “But they competed very well and kept their composure when ND made their run. Chris and Fred really came through in the clutch when the doubles point was on the line.”
Cunha, a senior clinched the final singles point for the Blue Devils in a 6-4, 6-4, match victory against No. 80 Greg Andrews.
“[Cunha is] off to a stellar start in his final spring season,” Smith wrote. “He’s our rock and our leader out there.”
Cunha also won both his singles and doubles matches against Illinois, though Hemmeler, Redlicki, Fred Saba and Brunco Semanzato lost in singles for the Blue Devils, who had won the doubles point. Still, the team was happy to bounce back with a win to wrap up the weekend.
“This was an important match for us to get back on track and a test for how we handle our first loss of the year,” Smith wrote. “I am proud of the way we regrouped and bounced back strong today.”
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