Oct. 17, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Notre Dame men’s tennis player Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) won two singles matches on Saturday to advance to the ITA Midwest Regional quarterfinals.
In the second round, ninth-seeded Watt defeated Connor Roth of Illinois 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Then in the afternoon session he knocked-off top-seeded Justin Kronauge of Ohio State 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Watt will take on fifth-seeded Marek Michalicka of Wisconsin.
Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) also won his second round match in the singles main draw on Saturday, downing Wisconsin’s Luke Rossow-Kantor 6-1, 6-3. But in the Round-of-16, Havens fell to sixth-seeded Chase Buchanan of Ohio State 6-1, 6-3.
Double play also got underway for the Irish on Saturday. In the doubles main draw, the Irish team of junior co-captain Tyler Davis (Nashville, TN/Father Ryan) and Watt downed the Illinois tandem of Roth and Souza by an 8-5 margin to advance to the Round-of-16. The 10th-seeded tandem of Havens and Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) join their teammates in the Round-of-16 by virtue of a 8-5 win over Maselli and Ssztrajtman of IPFW.
The Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships continue tomorrow, Oct. 18 at Michigan’s Varsity Tennis Center as the Irish participate in both singles and doubles play. Watt’s quarterfinals match is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. while double play will not begin before 11:00 a.m.
Live Stats and video of selected indoor matches will be available through Michigan’s ITA Midwest Regional homepage: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/101409aab.html. Recaps of Notre Dame’s performances at the event will be posted on und.com.
— ND —