Looking to rebound from a narrow 4-3 loss to Georgia Tech earlier this week, Northwestern will face Notre Dame in its home opener on Sunday at Combe Tennis Center.

The Wildcats (1-3, 0-0 Big Ten) are coming off a trio of road trips to start the duals season and will end February with three matches at home, starting with the Fighting Irish. 

In its most recent matchup against the Yellow Jackets, all six of NU’s singles matches finished in straight sets, with only sophomore Maria Shusharina and graduate student Ema Lazic earning victories. 

Notre Dame (5-2, 0-0 ACC) has won two consecutive matches, dispatching Yale 6-1 and Northern Illinois 5-2 last Sunday. The Fighting Irish will face Purdue on Friday before traveling to Evanston. 

Senior Clarissa Hand remains the lone ranked singles player for the Cats, jumping nine spots in the latest ITA rankings to 85th in the country. 

Hand has held firm at the No. 1 spot on coach Claire Pollard’s singles card in all four matches. The sextet of players on the singles has remained in stone since the Penn State match, featuring Hand, Shusharina, Lazic, first-year Sydney Pratt, junior Justine Leong and senior Hannah McColgan.

Lazic is undefeated on the season in singles, boasting three wins, though her match against Wake Forest was unfinished. Shusharina is at an even .500 with victories over the Yellow Jackets and the Demon Deacons. 

The Cats overall won two consecutive doubles points against Georgia Tech and Penn State and hope to make it three in a row against Notre Dame. Pratt and McColgan have remained No. 1 on the doubles card for the last three matches. Hand and Shusharina snagged a 7-6 (7-3) victory last Sunday as the duo of Leong and junior Christina Hand were also victorious in their doubles game. 

NU will host the Irish on Sunday before a pair of matches against Harvard and Miami-Ohio on Feb. 20 to close out the month’s action. 

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