Oct. 27, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Senior Luis Haddock (Caguas, P.R./Notre Dame H.S.) and freshman Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) won a pair of matches Monday to advance to the doubles final of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Championships in the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. The Irish pair will take on the third-seeded team of Michael Calkins and Chris Martin of Illinois on Tuesday at 3 p.m. (EST) in the championship.
Haddock and Keckley, one of the 9-16 seeds, knocked out two of the other 9-16 seeds on Monday. They topped Ball State’s Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thomas 8-6 in the morning before defeating Scott Green and Ross Wilson of Ohio State 8-2 in the tournament’s semifinals. The Buckeye pair, ranked 42nd in the nation, was tough early, but the Notre Dame tandem won six consecutive games after the match was tied 2-2.
“Luis and Ryan are playing good, aggressive doubles,” said Irish assistant coach Todd Doebler. “They are competing well and just doing a good job all the way around. They are being aggressive and making a lot of balls, which makes them hard to play. Also, they are playing really well on the big points. I am very excited for them.”
The Irish team improves to 7-1 this fall, with its only defeat coming in an 8-5 decision against the nation’s No. 7 pair, Fisher and Hazley of LSU, in their first match of the fall.
This marks the first time since 1993 that a Notre Dame team has reached the doubles title match in the regional indoor championships. That year, Andy Zurcher and Allen Lopez won the championship, capping a string of three Irish appearances in the doubles final in four years.
A win on Tuesday would give Haddock and Keckley an automatic berth to the second leg of the collegiate tennis grand slam, the National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, slated for Nov. 6-9 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
ITA Midwest Championships
Doubles — Quarterfinals
[9-16] Luis Haddock/Ryan Keckley (ND) d. [9-16] Matt Baccarani/Patrick Thomas (Ball State) 8-6
Doubles — Semifinals
[9-16] Haddock/Keckley (ND) d. [9-16] #42 Scott Green/Ross Wilson (Ohio State) 8-2
Note: Tournament seeding in parentheses followed by national ranking.