North Dakota’s men’s tennis team was in rally mode as they visited Air Force on Saturday. Their Belfast tandem of Dylan Leeman and Cian McDonnell both rebounded from defeats in the first set to score points for the Fighting Hawks. McDonnell, a sophomore playing at no. 3, overcame Nick Vroman, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, while Leeman, a freshman, did likewise at no. 6 against Jordan Azuma, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. North Dakota pulled out a 4-3 triumph.
Montana needed every point in edging Weber State, 4-3, in Missoula, Mont. on Saturday. Oisin Shaffrey was good for one of those points. The Dublin senior rallied to take down Tristan Sarap, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, at no. 3.
Neil O’Connor can’t seem to get on the same page with his Coastal Carolina teammates. In a 4-2 loss to South Alabama in Mobile on Friday, O’Connor managed one of the Chanticleers’ two points via a 6-4, 6-1 win over Martin Bugaj at sixth singles. The next day at Troy, CCU pulled off a 4-3 victory but the Dublin senior was a victim of Vito Llinares, 6-0, 6-4.
Holy Cross (Ind.) earned a 4-1 win at home on Saturday over Judson. Freshman Ciaran McCarthy of Portmarnock, Co. Dublin held down the sixth singles spot for the Saints, defeating Antoine Ageon, 6-1, 6-2.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Caragh Courtney produced victories in singles and doubles play to help San Francisco defeat Pacific, 6-1, in a Friday road match. The senior from Castleknock, Dublin was slotted at the no 4 slot, where she dispatched Megan Carmichael, 7-5, 6-2. Earlier, she teamed with Simran Chhabra for a 6-4 win at third doubles over Carmichael and Danielle Zamora.
Rice’s Anna Bowtell managed a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Khim Iglupas at the no. 5 spot but that wasn’t enough to keep the Owls from falling, 4-3, to Arizona in Tempe on Friday. Bowtell is a senior from Delgany, Co. Wicklow.
Dublin sophomore Emily O’Donovan of Seton Hall had her work cut out for her at sixth singles but she prevailed over Villanova’s Amanda Rivera-Gonzalez, 7-6(8), 7-6(5), in Bryn Mawr, Pa. on Sunday. Villanova took the match, 4-3.
WOMEN’S GOLF
Sara Byrne of Miami (Fla.) was one of four golfers to garner a slice of 24th place in the Clemson Invitational at The Reserve at Lake Keowee in Sunset, S.C. The freshman from Douglas, Cork signed to rounds of 79, 76 and 71. She was 14 strokes off the low number produced by LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad.
Wake Forest’s Lauren Walsh posted an 11-over-par 227 (73-77-77), which was good for a share of 25th place in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the University of Georgia’s course in Athens, Ga. She is a junior from County Kildare. One stroke behind Walsh came Louisville’s Mairead Martin, a senior from Kanturk, Co. Cork. She overcame a first-round 80 to shoot 75 and 73. That lodged her in joint-33rd position. Alabama’s Polly Mack shot a winning 213.
Nobody broke par in the Bama Beach Bash in Gulf Shores, Ala., so don’t let that 15-over-par 231 (77-79-75) from Little Rock’s Anna Dawson suggest that she was off form. That was good enough for joint-25th in a field of 97 women. Dawson is a freshman from Waterford. Top honors went to Dartmouth’s Samatha Yao, who shot 1-over-par 217.
MEN’S GOLF
Tennessee Southern’s Shane Lillis was in the catbird seat after shooting a first-round 70 in the Blue Mountain Golf Classic at Old Waverly in West Point, Miss. All the junior from Cooraclare, Co. Clare had to do was shoot 75 or better in the second and final round and he’d be posing for photos. That’s not how it played out, however. Lillis went from first to worst, his 84 representing the highest score of the top 40 in this event. He settled for a share of 13th place, eight strokes off the low number, shared by two rivals.
