May 25, 2017
By Joanne Norell
ATHENS, Ga. – A successful career ended for University of Notre Dame men’s tennis senior Josh Hagar on Thursday as the 51st-ranked Irish captain fell to No. 4 Nuno Borges 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Singles Championship at the Dan Magill Tennis Center at the University of Georgia.
Borges opened the match by winning three straight games before Hagar got on the board and then won three of the next four games to take the set 6-2.
The two traded holds to start the second before Borges got the first break to go up 3-2, but Hagar answered immediately with a break of his own. Borges broke back, however, and held in the next game to go up 5-3. Hagar cut it to 5-4 and took the next game to deuce, but could not snag the break point to extend the match.
Hagar ends his career with a 76-49 career singles mark and a 67-41 record in doubles. He was a two-time All-ACC selection, including a first-team nod in 2017. He reached a career high ranking of No. 27 in singles and No. 6 in doubles, both watermarks reached this year. Following the season, he was named the ITA Midwest Region Most Improved Player (Senior). He was also a two-time ACC Player of the Week in 2017.
As a sophomore, Hagar won the ITA Midwest Regional Doubles Championship with partner Eddy Covalschi, and the pair qualified for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Doubles Championship. This season, they returned to the national tournament and won the consolation final. In 2016, Hagar was named to the All-ACC Academic Team.
It was the first appearance for Hagar at an NCAA individual tournament. This marked the 12th straight year that an Irish student-athlete has competed in the singles championship.
2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Singles Championship
May 24-29
Dan Magill Tennis Center
Athens, Georgia
Singles
Round of 64
No. 51 Josh Hagar (ND) def. No. 67 Konrad Zieba (NU), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3)
Round of 32
No. 4 Nuno Borges (Miss. St.) def. No. 51 Josh Hagar (ND) 6-2, 6-4
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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 women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.