April 20, 2018
By Joanne Norell
ATLANTA – The 26th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team reached the 16-win plateau for the first time since 2014 Friday, defeating Georgia Tech 5-2 in the penultimate match of the regular season at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.
How It Happened
Though the Irish (16-12, 6-5 ACC) took the first doubles decision on Court 2 – with Grayson Broadus and Richard Ciamarra defeating Elijah Melendez and Chris Yun 6-3 – Georgia Tech (5-16, 1-10 ACC) earned wins on Courts 1 and 3 to take the doubles point.
Notre Dame and Georgia Tech split first-set wins to start singles, but the Irish found their footing and won a pair of three-set matches to overcome the early deficit.
Irish sophomore Guillermo Cabrera picked up the first decision of singles, winning 6-2, 6-4 over Phillip Gresk. Freshman Tristan McCormick made it 2-1 in favor of the Irish, defeating Andrew Li 7-5, 6-1.
Georgia Tech evened the match when Yun defeated Broadus on Court 6, 6-1, 7-6(3), but the Irish won the next two matches to clinch the win. First 42nd-ranked junior Alex Lebedev downed No. 61 Carlos Divar 7-6(4), 6-2 on Court 1, and the 119th-ranked Ciamarra defeated Michael Kay in three sets, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0, securing the victory.
Sophomore Matt Gamble rounded out the win with a three-set triumph over Melendez, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).
The last time the Irish eclipsed 16 wins was during the 2013-14 season when the team went 21-10 and reached the NCAA tournament round of 16.
Up Next
Notre Dame will wrap the regular season on the road at Clemson at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Scoreboard
No. 26 Notre Dame 5, Georgia Tech 2
April 20, 2018
Ken Byers Tennis Complex
Atlanta, Ga.
Singles
1. No. 42 Alex Lebedev (ND) def. No. 61 Carlos Divar (GT) 7-6(4), 6-2
2. No. 119 Richard Ciamarra (ND) def. Michael Kay (GT) 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0
3. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) def. Phillip Gresk (GT) 6-2, 6-4
4. Matt Gamble (ND) def. Elijah Melendez (GT) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3)
5. Tristan McCormick (ND) def. Andrew Li (GT) 7-5, 6-3
6. Chris Yun (GT) def. Grayson Broadus (ND) 6-1, 7-6(3)
Doubles
1. No. 17 Carlos Divar / Michael Kay (GT) def. No. 49 Brendon Kempin / Tristan McCormick (ND) 6-4
2. Grayson Broadus / Richard Ciamarra (ND) def. Elijah Melendez / Chris Yun (GT) 6-3
3. Phillip Gresk / Andrew Li (GT) def. Guillermo Cabrera / Alex Lebedev (ND) 7-6(3)
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Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to assisting with football communications and overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.