March 5, 2006
LA JOLLA, Calif. – The 18th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team ventured west to take part in the 117th staging of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships, a prestigious single-flight doubles tournament running Thursday through Sunday at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. Each of the top three Irish doubles teams advanced to the third round of the 128-team event, but none could reach the final 16. Since the event also is open to non-collegiate players, results from it do not count in the official records for the Irish. This was the ninth time in the last 10 years (the only exception being 1999) that Notre Dame took part in the event.
Juniors Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) and Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College), ranked 51st in the nation, were one of the Nos. 5-8 seeds in their quarter, which gave them a first-round bye. They beat a team from San Diego State and then lost 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to another Nos. 5-8 seed. Sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) and freshman Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West H.S.) also had an opening-round bye, and they beat a squad from USC in the second round before falling 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 against the No. 2 team from Texas A&M. Senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) and sophomore Andrew Roth (Houston, Texas/Tenney School) won over a team from UC San Diego and then knocked off a seeded team in the tournament before losing to a squad from Stanford.
Junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and freshman Santiago Montoya (Scottsdale, Ariz./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) prevailed in the opening round against a team from Rice and then lost to one of the Nos. 5-8 seeds. Additionally, Irish senior captain Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) teamed with former Indiana University player Scott Lippitt, winning a first-round match before falling in the second round.
Two former Irish players also competed. Trent Miller (`00) paired with his brother and former Purdue player, Derek Miller, to win a match before losing to a team from California. Aaron Talarico (`02) also entered, but withdrew from his first contest and then lost in consolation. For complete results of the event, click here. Notre Dame returns to dual action on Tuesday, traveling to Indiana for a 2 p.m. (EST) match.