SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 40 Stanford lost on the road at No. 70 Notre Dame on Thursday afternoon, 4-3.
The Cardinal (8-7, 4-3 ACC) erased a 3-0 hole with singles victories from Monika Ekstrand on court one, Tianmei Wang on court four and Caroline Driscoll on court three to even the match at 3-3. But Akari Matsuno beat Alyssa Ahn on court two 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to clinch it for the Irish.
The top four courts all went three sets, with Stanford prevailing in three. Ekstrand moved to 6-2 in three setters and went to 4-0 against ranked opponents in duals with her 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win over No. 77 Bianca Molnar. Wang’s 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Rylie Hanford was the first three-set win of her career and Driscoll is 5-3 this season in three setters after beating Bojana Pozder 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Stanford also dropped singles matches on courts five and six and lost the doubles point on courts one and three. Alyssa Ahn and Tianmei Wang beat Hanford and Gabriella Rawles on court two 6-4.
The Cardinal finishes up its 10-day road trip on Sunday at Louisville before returning home to open the new Arrillaga Tennis Center on April 3 against Virginia Tech.
No. 70 Notre Dame 4, No. 40 Stanford 3
DOUBLES
1) #45 Bianca Molnar/Bojana Pozder (ND) d. #88 Caroline Driscoll/Monika Ekstrand (STAN) 6-1
2) Alyssa Ahn/Tianmei Wang (STAN) d. Rylie Hanford/Gabriella Rawles (ND) 6-4
3) Akari Matsuno/Mari-Louise Van Zyl (ND) d. Valerie Glozman/Sein Myoung (STAN) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1) #30 Monika Ekstrand (STAN) d. #77 Bianca Molnar (ND) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
2) Akari Matsuno (ND) d. #34 Alyssa Ahn (STAN) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
3) Caroline Driscoll (STAN) d. Bojana Pozder (ND) 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-1
4) Tianmei Wang (STAN) d. Rylie Hanford (ND) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
5) Sophia Holod (ND) d. Sein Myoung (STAN) 6-3, 6-2
6) Jessica Kovalcik (ND) d. Emma Sun (STAN) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 2