Oct. 16, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Notre Dame men’s tennis players Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) won their opening round matches at the ITA Midwest Regionals on Friday to advance to the second round. Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and Tyler Davis (Nashville, TN/Father Ryan) were knocked out of the singles main draw, but will still participate in the doubles main draw.
Watt, the ninth seed in the 64-player main draw, downed Filip Miljevic of Illinois State 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. He will face Connor Roth of Illinois in the second round.
Havens, the 15th seed, earned a straight sets victory on day one as he defeated Northwestern’s Mark Schanerman 6-3, 6-2 to advance. In the second round, he will face Luke Rossow-Kantor of Wisconsin.
Stahl, the 16th seed, dropped a close decision to Marquette’s Jacob Straus 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). Davis lost to seventh-seeded Evan King of Michigan in the first round. Davis took the first set before King outlasted Notre Dame’ junior captain for the three-set victory, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships continue tomorrow, Oct. 17 at Michigan’s Varsity Tennis Center as the Irish participate in both singles and doubles play. In the doubles draw, the Irish team of Davis and Watt are seeded sixth, while Havens pairs with Stahl as the 10th-seeded team at the event.
Live Stats and video of selected indoor matches will be made 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 —