Women's Tennis Heads to Ann Arbor to Face Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament

Saturday, May 4

Ann Arbor, Mich.

11 AM

Xavier University

Notre Dame

Women's Tennis Heads to Ann Arbor to Face Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament

05.03.24 | Women's Tennis

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Musketeers will face Fighting Irish on Saturday at 11 AM; Winner takes on the winner of match between Michigan and Chicago State.

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's tennis opens up 2024 NCAA Championship play this weekend, taking on Notre Dame on Saturday, May 4, at 11:00 a.m. at at the Varsity Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Michigan.

The winner between the Musketeers and the Irish will advance to face the winner of the match between the host Wolverines, the national No. 3 seed, and Chicago State on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The winner of the weekend will move on to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament and face the winner of No. 14-seeded Florida, Miami (Fla.), Florida International and Stetson.

The Musketeers enter the NCAA Tournament at 19-5 on the season after taking a 4-2 win over DePaul in the BIG EAST title match to claim the program's fourth-straight BIG EAST Championship and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, marking Xavier's fifth appearance in the national tournament.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Saturday, May 4

Match 1 -- Notre Dame vs. Xavier, 11 a.m.
Match 2 -- Michigan vs. Chicago State, 2 p.m.

Sunday, May 5

Match 3 -- Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 1 p.m.

EVENT INFORMATION

Address: 2250 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104
Admission is free to all matches this weekend at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Free parking is located off State St. next to the Varsity Tennis Center.
The spectator entrance will be located on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance to the Preston Robert Tisch Building, between the building and the William Clay Ford Outdoor Courts. If the matches are moved indoors, spectators should use the front main entrance to the Varsity Tennis Center and follow the stairs up to the seating area.
If matches cannot be played outside due to weather or darkness, they will be moved indoors on courts located at the competition site. Indoor surface is the same hard court surface as the outdoor courts.

OPPONENT

Notre Dame, ranked No. 30 in the most recent ITA Team Rankings, is 17-9 overall with a 7-6 record against ACC squads, beating Syracuse in the opening round of the ACC Championship before falling to Virginia in the quarterfinals.
Xavier faced Notre Dame in Lousiville in March, falling 4-0 in the regular season match-up.
In the match earlier this season, the teams split the first two doubles decisions, with Emily Flowers and Sofia Mazzucato combining for a 6-2 win on the No. 3 court, and Imani Graham and Anna Roggenburk falling, 6-2 on the No. 1 court. The Fighting Irish took a 7-6 (3) win over Ellie Brotherton and Abby Nugent on the No. 2 court to clinch the point.
In singles, Notre Dame picked up wins on the No. 2 court, 6-3, 6-3, against Anna Roggenburk, on the No. 3 court, 7-5, 6-0, against Abby Nugent, and on the No. 6 court, 6-2, 6-3, against Emily Flowers to seal the win at 4-0.
When the match was decided, Imani Graham was tied 4-4 in a second set after falling in the first on the No. 1 court. Abigail Siminksi led 5-3 in the second set after falling in the first on court No. 4 and Sofia Mazzucato led 2-1 in the second set after falling in the first on No. 5.
The Fighting Irish have taken the last three match-ups with the Musketeers, dating back to the 2005-06 season.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS

Xavier women's tennis senior Imani Graham was unanimously selected to repeat as the BIG EAST Women's Tennis Player of the Year, as announced by the league on Thursday. Graham was also an All-BIG EAST First Team selection and is joined on the all-conference team by redshirt senior Anna Roggenburk, who was also a unanimous selection to the First Team. Additionally, the Musketeers' coaching staff, led by Doug Matthews, was named the Coaching Staff of the Year.
Graham, originally from St. Johns, Fla., posted a 14-5 record in the No. 1 singles spot while going undefeated in conference play on the way to earning Player of the Year honors for a second-straight season. In non-conference action, she picked up wins over Yale's Shyla Aggarwal, Indiana's Lara Schneider, Lousville's Jamilah Snells, and Virginia Commonwealth's Tania Isabel Andrade Sabando. In addition to earning Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons, Graham has earned All-BIG EAST in each of the last three seasons.
Roggenburk, originally from Avon Lake, Ohio, led the Musketeers with 19 singles wins, posting a 19-5 overall record playing primarily in the No. 2 spot. Roggenburk posted a perfect record in conference action and picked up wins in all three of the Musketeers' BIG EAST Championship matches to help Xavier to a fourth-straight league title. This marks the second time Roggenburk has earned All-Conference in her Xavier career, also earning Freshman of the Year and First Team honors in 2021. She has also been named BIG EAST Championships' Most Outstanding Player twice.
Graham and Roggenburk also teamed up to playing No. 1 doubles, posting a 15-6 record and earning the program's first ITA doubles ranking, coming in as high as #74 nationally in the March 5 rankings.
The duo earned the BIG EAST Doubles Team of the Week three times, and Graham and Roggenburk each picked up Singles Player of the Week honors during the 2024 season.
Doug Matthews and assistant coaches, Kara Matthews and Ryan Rasco, were named the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year after leading Xavier to a 19-5 mark this spring, highlighted by an unblemished 5-0 mark in BIG EAST play. At the 2024 BIG EAST Tennis Championship, the top-seeded Musketeers became the first program in the reconfigured conference to capture four consecutive tennis titles, doing so with a 4-2 victory over second-seeded DePaul.