Nov. 6, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Picking up where it had left off the previous three days, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team closed out the weekend at the Gopher Invitational with three group singles titles and a group doubles crown.
Senior Samuel Keeton won Group B, sophomore Billy Pecor won Group C and junior Blas Moros won Group D, while the doubles duo of Casey Watt and Greg Andrews won the Group B doubles crown. In all, the Irish claimed three of the four singles group titles and one of the two doubles titles.
Keeton closed out his weekend singles play with a three-set victory over Denver’s Yannick Weihs. After claiming the first set, 6-3, Keeton dropped the second set in the same fashion. Keeton left little to chance in the all-deciding third set, winning 6-1.
Sophomore Greg Andrews closed out his weekend with a three setter against Denver’s Jens Vorkefeld. After claiming the first set, 6-3, Andrews dropped the second, 6-4. In the third and deciding set, Andrews dominated Vorkefeld, 6-1, to take the match.
Other Notre Dame singles winners on day four included freshman Wyatt McCoy, who knocked off the Pioneers’ Othar Kordsachia, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2, junior Michael Moore, who topped the Golden Gophers’ Eric Frueh, 6-3, 6-3, and senior Niall Fitzgerald, who rallied to drop Minnesota’s Michael Sicora, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Despite losing to Minnesota’s Juan Pablo Ramirez, 7-5, 6-1, on Sunday, Pecor still earned the Group C title with a 3-1 mark on the weekend.
Going undefeated on the weekend was a trio of Irish players in Keeton (4-0), Moros (3-0) and sophomore Ryan Bandy (2-0). Also putting together winning weekends were Andrews (4-1), Fitzgerald (3-1), McCoy (3-1) and Moore (2-1).
For the tourney, Notre Dame went 25-8 in singles and 6-5 in doubles.
Watt and Andrews closed out their doubles weekend with a hard-fought victory over Minnesota’s Phillip Arndt and Leandro Toledo, 9-8 (5). Also earning a doubles victory on Sunday was the pair of Keeton and Pecor, who cruised past Minnesota’s Mathieu Froment and Julian Dehn, 8-2. On the weekend, Watt and Andrews went 2-0.
The Irish have now concluded their 2011 fall season and open the 2012 spring season on January 15, when they host Illinois State and Toledo at Eck Tennis Center.
Round 4 Singles
Group A
Andrews (ND) d. Vorkefeld (D) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Group B
Keeton (ND) d. Weihs (D) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Group C
McCoy (ND) d. Kordsachia (D) 5-7, 7-6, 6-2
Group D
Moore (ND) d. Frueh (M) 6-3, 6-3
Fitzgerald (ND) d. Sicora (M) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
Ramirez (M) d. Pecor (ND) 7-5, 6-1
Round 3 Doubles
Group A
Watt/Andrews (ND) d. Arndt/Toledo (M) 9-8 (5)
Group B
Keeton/Pecor (ND) d. Froment/Dehn (M) 8-2
Group C
Ruddock/Frueh (M) d. Bandy/Moore (ND) 8-5
–ND–