April 17, 2016
By Joanne Norell
RALEIGH, N.C. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team was dominant in its regular season-ending match Sunday at North Carolina State, upending the Wolfpack 6-1 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
The Irish won their fourth match in a row, closing out the regular season with a 14-12 record (6-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) heading into next week’s ACC Championships.
The Irish got off to a quick start with doubles wins on Courts 1 and 2 to capture the match’s first point. Seniors and 16th-ranked partners Alex Lawson and Quentin Monaghan defeated No. 54 Thomas Weigel and Simon Norenius 6-2 at the No. 1 slot to give the Irish an edge. They were followed by 39th-ranked junior duo Eddy Covalschi and Josh Hagar, who also won 6-2 over Shoti Meparidze and Ivan Saveljic to clinch the early lead.
Notre Dame won the first set on five of six singles courts and cruised from there.
The Irish went up 2-0 when freshman Grayson Broadus won by default on Court 5, going up 6-3, 2-1 over Ivan Saveljic before the Saveljic conceded for unsportsmanlike conduct. On Court 4, Lawson won his third straight match – and the fifth of his last six at the No. 4 slot – defeating Igor Saveljic 6-4, 6-1. Notre Dame clinched the match at 4-0 when No. 32 Monaghan bested No 89 Weigel 6-3, 6-3 on Court 1.
Hagar pushed the Irish lead to 5-0 with his 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 95 Nick Horton at the No. 3 slot. NC State got a point back as No. 49 Norenius defeated Covalschi 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2, but Irish senior Kenneth Sabacinski closed out the match with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Meparidze at No. 6.
The Irish will return to action next week when they head to Cary, North Carolina, for the ACC Championship at Cary Tennis Park. Action begins Thursday.
Notre Dame 6, NC State 1
SINGLES
1. No. 32 Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. No. 89 Thomas Weigel (NCST) 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 49 Simon Norenius (NCST) def. Eddy Covalschi (ND) 6-3, 6-1
3. Josh Hagar (ND) def. No. 95 Nick Horton (NCST) 6-2, 6-4
4. Alex Lawson (ND) def. Igor Saveljic (NCST) 6-4, 6-1
5. Grayson Broadus (ND) def. Ivan Saveljic (NCST) 6-3, 2-1, default
6. Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Shoti Meparidze (NCST) 6-4, 6-2
DOUBLES
1. No. 16 Alex Lawson / Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. No. 54 Thomas Weigel / Simon Norenius (NCST) 6-2
2. No. 39 Eddy Covalschi / Josh Hagar (ND) def. Shoti Meparidze / Ivan Saveljic (NCST) 6-2
3. Grayson Broadus / Nicolas Montoya (ND) vs. Nick Horton / Michael Ogden (NCST) 5-4, unifinished
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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.