Feb. 13, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 29th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team (8-2) dropped just one set en route to a pair of dominating 7-0 victories Sunday in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish first beat future BIG EAST rival Marquette (3-4) in an afternoon contest before downing the University of Indianapolis (0-3) in the first-ever meeting between the schools in men’s tennis. Notre Dame, which dropped just 1.64 games per singles set, returns to action on Friday, when it plays host to #39 Northwestern at 8 p.m. (EST) in the final Irish home match before a nearly month-long road trip.
Notre Dame was hardly challenged on the day, using 13 different players and still surrendering two games or fewer in 10 of the 18 matches. The Irish registered five 6-0 sets in singles, while notching eight 6-1 sets, as well as a pair of 8-1 doubles triumphs. Only three sets – out of 31 played in both singles and doubles – were decided by two games or fewer.
The commencement of the action did not foreshadow things to come, as Marquette started quickly in doubles, going up 3-0 in the No. 2 match and 5-1 at No. 3. But the Irish – who dropped the doubles point in their only two losses this season – would come back. In the bottom spot, it was the team of brothers senior Jimmy Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and sophomore Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) who won seven consecutive games to rally for an 8-5 win against Ian Kawas and Greg Sirotek.
Notre Dame’s top doubles team, senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School) and sophomore Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.), clinched the doubles point for the second time this spring, by defeating Eigis Vedrickas of Australia and Lithuanian Troy Delmege 8-5 at No. 1.
At No. 2, the hottest Irish team – junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) and freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) – needed a tiebreaker, but they eventually beat Brett Binkley and Pete Van Lieshout 9-8 (7-2). The Notre Dame duo won their sixth consecutive match to improve to 10-2 this season, including 7-1 this spring at No. 2.
Singles did not provide as much drama, as the Irish registered straight-set victories – losing no more than seven games in any contest – at each of the bottom five positions. First off the court was Stephen Bass, who beat Delmege 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2. Sophomore Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) then defeated Kawas 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 to put the Irish within a point of victory. The clinching point was provided by Keckley, who beat Sirotek 6-1, 6-4 at No. 5 for his third career clinching victory.
Shortly after, Langenkamp finished a 6-2, 6-2 win against Van Lieshout at No. 6, and junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) beat Binkley 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4. The latter was the team-leading 22nd singles victory (in 26 contests) of the season for Buchanan, who last month became the fastest Irish player ever to register 20 victories in a campaign. He has now won 30 consecutive matches when taking the opening set and holds a 49-24 career record. Buchanan is 14-1 vs. the ITA’s Midwest Region this season, and his victory in the second set improved his record in sets decided by two games or fewer to 17-3 this season and 44-16 in his career.
The lone blemish in Notre Dame’s performance was provided by Vedrickas, who came back to win the second set against D’Amico at No. 1 before the Irish captain regained control of the match for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory. It was the first career victory for the Notre Dame senior at No. 1, a spot in which he debuted last weekend. He is now 12-5 on the season, including 4-1 in three-set affairs. D’Amico has won 15 in a row when taking the opening frame.
The match with the Greyhounds – a Division II school and the 12th Indiana team to face the Irish in men’s tennis action – was striking in its brevity. Notre Dame took just 30 minutes to win the doubles point (dropping just four total games in the process) and then had the victory clinched 45 minutes into singles play, eventually losing only 12 total games in those six matches.
The doubles featured a variety of fresh faces in the Irish lineup, though D’Amico and Keckley remained in the No. 1 slot and registered an 8-1 victory against Australian Ross Johnson and Jan Stastny. The Notre Dame duo had lost four its last five matches before the two wins on Sunday, which brought its season record back to 6-6, including 6-4 in dual matches at No. 1.
Clinching the doubles point were a pair of Irish rookies who combined to both earn their first collegiate doubles victories: Brandon Pierpont (St. Petersburg, Fla./Tampa Preparatory School) and Yuichi Uda (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Laurel Springs School [CA]). They defeated Dustin Guthrie and Mexican Felipe Rojas 8-1 at No. 3. It was the first intercollegiate victory in singles or doubles for Pierpont since he earned a spot on the Irish as a walk-on last fall.
Completing the sweep for Notre Dame were a pair of seniors, Peter Graham (Luxembourg, Luxembourg/International School of Luxembourg) and co-captain Nick Chimerakis (North Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School), who defeated Alan Dowell and Ketan Saggar 8-2 at No. 2.
In singles, it took King, ranked 112th in the nation, just 35 minutes to beat Saggar 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 for the first Irish victory. The Irishman, who dropped just four games in four sets on the day, has won four straight and is 15-5 on the season, including 8-2 in dual matches at Nos. 2 and 3. King is 13-3 in indoor action this season and has held opponents to two games or fewer in sets on 13 occasions this season.
Quickly after King finished, Keckley followed with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph against Guthrie at No. 5. He moved to 8-4 on the season and 4-1 in dual matches.
Sophomore Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) provided the clinching victory for the first time in his career, making quick work of Dowell in a 6-1, 6-0 decision at No. 4. He snapped a three-match losing streak and improved to 18-8 on the season.
Shortly thereafter, Parbhu ended a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Stastny at No. 3 to up his season mark to 19-5, including 7-1 in dual matches (each of the previous seven were at No. 4). He is 7-1 in the Eck Tennis Pavilion and 18-1 when winning the opening set. Parbhu has held his opponent to two games or fewer in a set 17 times as a collegian.
Langenkamp dropped just a single game in beating Rojas 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6. It improved his record to 11-4 and extended his winning streak in home matches to nine. Five times in 15 matches this season he has given up five games or fewer to his opponent.
Bass, ranked 78th in the nation, knocked off the #24 player in Division II, Johnson, by scores of 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 to complete the perfect day for the Irish. The Notre Dame sophomore had come into Sunday on a four-match losing streak, but he now stands 15-8 on the season. Bass has won 20 consecutive matches when claiming the opening set.
Notre Dame continued its perfection against Marquette, improving its all-time record against the Golden Eagles to 45-0. The Irish are now 26-0 at home against Marquette, including shutout wins in each of the last four affairs. The schools had not met in any location since 1991, but they could see more of each other beginning next year, when the Golden Eagles become members of the BIG EAST Conference.
The Irish registered a pair of 7-0 victories on the same day for the first time since opening the spring of 2002 with shutouts against #75 UC Irvine and #64 Furman on Jan. 19 in the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Notre Dame’s 8-2 record is its best 10-match start to the season since 2000-01, when the Irish began 11-2 en route to a 17-7 record and final ranking of 16th.
#29 Notre Dame 7, Marquette 0
Singles
No. 1: Brent D’Amico (ND) def. Eigis Vedrickas (M) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
No. 2: #78 Stephen Bass (ND) def. Troy Delmege (M) 6-0, 6-2
No. 3: #112 Barry King (ND) def. Ian Kawas (M) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4: Patrick Buchanan (ND) def. Brett Binkley (M) 6-3, 6-4
No. 5: Ryan Keckley (ND) def. Greg Sirotek (M) 6-1, 6-4
No. 6: Eric Langenkamp (ND) def. Pete Van Lieshout (M) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 5*, 6, 4, 1
Doubles
No. 1: D’Amico/Keckley (ND) def. Delmege/Vedrickas (M) 8-5
No. 2: Langenkamp/Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Binkley/Van Lieshout (M) 9-8 (7-2)
No. 3: Jimmy Bass/S. Bass (ND) def. Kawas/Sirotek (M) 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 1*, 2
#29 Notre Dame 7, Indianapolis 0
Singles
No. 1: #78 Stephen Bass (ND) def. #24 [Div. II] Ross Johnson (I) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2: #112 Barry King (ND) def. Ketan Saggar (I) 6-2, 6-0
No. 3: Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Jan Stastny (I) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4: Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) def. Alan Dowell (I) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5: Ryan Keckley (ND) def. Dustin Guthrie (I) 6-0, 6-1
No. 6: Eric Langenkamp (ND) def. Felipe Rojas (I) 6-0, 6-1
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 4*, 3, 6, 1
Doubles
No. 1: Brent D’Amico/Keckley (ND) def. Johnson/Stastny (I) 8-1
No. 2: Nick Chimerakis/Peter Graham (ND) def. Dowell/Saggar (I) 8-2
No. 3: Brandon Pierpont/Yuichi Uda (ND) def. Guthrie/Rojas (I) 8-1
Order of Finish: 1, 3*, 2