Women's Tennis Opens Up Season at Notre Dame

Sunday, February 1

South Bend, Ind.

1 PM

Xavier University

Notre Dame

01.29.26 | Women's Tennis

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Musketeers and Fighting Irish get underway on Sunday at 1 PM

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's tennis is set to open up the dual season on Sunday, Feb. 1, taking on Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The Musketeers and the Fighting Irish get underway at 1:00 p.m.

NOTRE DAME

The Fighting Irish are 3-1 on the season, opening the season with wins over Western Michigan and Duquesne on Jan. 18, then falling to No. 19 Vanderbilt and taking a win over Penn at ITA Kickoff Weekend. Notre Dame will face Navy and Ball State ahead of the match against Xavier.
ND went 21-6 overall last season,w ith a 9-3 record in ACC play. The Fighting Irish took a win over No. 41 Wake Forest in the opening round of the ACC Touranment before falling to No. 12 NC State in the second round.
The Irish earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, taking a win over UIC before falling to No. 4 Ohio State in the second round.
The two teams met last season, with Xavier falling 5-2. Madeleine Rexroat picked up a 7-5, 7-5 win on No. 3 singles, and Clara Owen took No. 6 singles 6-4, 6-0. Owen also partnered with Abby Nugent to take a 6-4 win on the No. 1 doubles court.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Next week, Xavier travels to East Lansing, Mich., to take part in a pair of matches, starting with Michigan State on Friday, Feb. 6, set for a 4:00 p.m. start.
Xavier returns to the MSU Indoor Tennis Center to face Gonzaga on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 1:00 p.m.

THE MUSKETEERS

Xavier returns eight players from last season's BIG EAST Championship winning squad, including senior Abby Nugent, a 2025 All-BIG EAST First Team selection, and 2025 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and All-BIG EAST Second Team selection Madeleine Rexroat.
Sophomore Clara Owen, who partnered with Nugent as one of the top doubles team in the country, returns, as well as seniors Abigail Siminski and Emily Flowers, juniors Ellie Brotherton and Sofia Mazzucato, and sophomore Natalie Smitek.
The Musketeers added freshman Ella DeFord, a five-star recruit from Mount Pleasant, S.C., to the roster.
Xavier finished the 2025 dual season at 14-9 and won the program's fifth-straight and sixth overall BIG EAST Championship, earning the program's sixth bid to the NCAA Championships.