Women's Tennis Host NKU, Travel to Notre Dame this Weekend

Friday, February 14

Cincinnati, Ohio

2:00 PM

Xavier University

Northern Kentucky

Women's Tennis Host NKU, Travel to Notre Dame this Weekend

02.13.25 | Women's Tennis

Live Stats (NKU)Live Stats (Notre Dame)Live Stream (Notre Dame)

Musketeers face Norse on Friday at 2 PM at Eastern Hills, take on Fighting Irish on Sunday at 11 AM in South Bend

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's tennis opens up the home portion of the schedule this weekend, hosting Northern Kentucky at Eastern Hills on Friday, February 14, set for a 2:00 p.m. start at Eastern Hills Indoor Tennis Club. The Musketeers head back out on the road on Sunday, February 16, traveling to South Bend, Ind., to face Notre Dame, set for an 11 a.m. start.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY

The Norse are 1-3 on the season, falling to EKU (6-1), Dayton (6-1) and WKU (7-0) and picking up a win over Southern Indiana (6-1).
NKU went 6-12 last season, with a 2-4 record in Horizon league matches. The Norse advanced to the Horizon League Championship semifinals, falling to Cleveland State.
The Musketeers are 16-0 against the Norse, going back to 2008. Xavier picked up a 7-0 win in last season's match.

NOTRE DAME

Notre Dame is 9-1 on the season, with wins over Ball State (4-0), Illinois (4-2), DePaul (4-0), Western Michigan (7-0), Butler (7-0), Maryland (4-3), Columbia (4-2) and Bellarmine (7-0 and 6-0) with the lone loss coming to No. 17 Ohio State (6-1).
The Fighting Irish went 18-10 overall last season with a 7-6 record in ACC play. After falling to Virginia in the ACC Championships match, ND earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, taking a 4-3 win over Xavier in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 3 Michigan.
The Musketeers and the Fighting Irish face each other twice last season, with Notre Dame taking a 4-0 win in Louisville during the regular season and then the two teams facing off in the NCAA First Round at Michigan, with the Musketeers falling narrowly, 4-3.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Next week, Xavier will return to Eastern Hills to host Cleveland State on Saturday, February 22, set for a 5:00 p.m. start.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier women's tennis picked up a 6-1 win over Indiana on Sunday afternoon at the IU Tennis Center.
In doubles play, Emily Flowers and Elizabeth Pendergast combined to take a 6-4 win on the No. 1 court in the first decision. Indiana took a 6-4 win on the No. 2 court against Clara Owen and Abigail Siminski. Madeleine Rexroat and Natalie Smitek clinched the point for the Musketeers with a 7-5 win on the No. 3 court.
Abigail Siminski made it a 2-0 lead after taking a 6-4, 6-3 win on the No. 4 court. Indiana picked up a point with a 6-2, 6-1 win on the No. 3 court against Emily Flowers.
Madeleine Rexroat came back to take a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 win on the No. 2 court and Elizabeth Pendergast won on No. 1, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, to clinch the match for the Musketeers at 4-1.
Natalie Smitek took a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win on the No. 6 court and Clara Owen won on No. 5, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, to set the final score at 6-1 Xavier.

THE MUSKETEERS

The Musketeers are looking for their fifth-straight, and sixth overall, BIG EAST Championship, and look to make a return trip to the NCAA Championship.
Xavier returned six student-athletes from last year's BIG EAST Championship roster including juniors Emily Flowers, Abby Nugent and Abigail Siminski as well as sophomores Ellie Brotherton and Sofia Mazzucato and senior transfer Elizabeth Pendergast, who made her debut as a Musketeer this fall. Xavier also added a trio of freshmen to the roster, Clara Owen, Madeleine Rexroat and Natalie Smitek.
Xavier wrapped up the fall schedule with Abby Nugent and Clara Owen becoming the first players in program history to compete in doubles at the NCAA Individual Championships. The pair earned the bid after advancing to the finals of the ITA Conference Masters Championships.
Madeleine Rexroat also took part in the ITA Conference Masters Championships, representing the BIG EAST in singles. Elizabeth Pendergast and Emily Flowers competed at the ITA Sectional Championships as a doubles team, with Pendergast also playing in the singles draw.