May 20, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Irish men’s tennis player Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) overcame a first set loss to defeat Washington’s Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in the opening round of the NCAA Singles Championship on Wednesday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Center on the campus of Texas A&M University.
Helgeson dropped the first set to the sophomore from Chennai, India, 3-6, before rebounding to win in he second and third sets, 6-4, 6-0.
With the win, Helgeson will return to the Mitchell Tennis Center to take on second-seeded Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State in the Round of 32 on Thursday, May 21. It will mark Helgeson and Nedovyesov’s second consecutive meeting at this stage of the NCAA Singles Championship. Last season, Nedovyesov knocked Helgeson out in the second round, 6-3, 6-2.
Helgeson entered the Championship with a 13-10 record in 2009. All of his starts have come at No. 1 singles for the Irish, where 16 of his 23 completed matches were played against nationally ranked opponents. The recently graduated finance major was a unanimous selection to the 2009 All-BIG EAST men’s tennis team.
Helgeson’s at-large selection for the 2009 draw gives Notre Dame 15 all-time competitors in the event who have combined for 24 appearances. He joins former teammates Stephen Bass and Sheeva Parbhu (2006-07), as well as current associate head coach Ryan Sachire (1997-00), Mike Sprouse (1995-96), Andy Zurcher (1992 & 1994) and David DiLucia (1990-92) as players to appear in the singles championship on more than one occasion for the Irish. In 2006, Parbhu earned Notre Dame’s best finish, as he was able to reach the quarterfinals.
Live scoring and video will be available at www.aggieathletics.com and complete results can be found at www.und.com following the second round match.
— ND —