Nov. 1, 2004
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The fall season for the Notre Dame men’s tennis team ended fittingly, with a perfect day for Irish players at the Crimson Tide Fall Championships, highlighted by a flight championship and two consolation titles. The Irish, who finished the fall with a 98-38 (.721) record in singles matches and had four different players upset nationally-ranked foes, will begin their spring dual-match slate with a doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 15, when they face Toledo at 9 a.m. (EST) and Illinois State at 2 p.m. in the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
“I was very satisfied with the way we played,” said Irish head coach Bob Bayliss of his team’s performance throughout the event, which featured the dedication of the newly-constructed Alabama Tennis Stadium. “We continued to show that we will have one of the deeper teams in college tennis. This was a terrific tournament. It was extremely well run and played in a magnificent facility. We were happy to be part of its dedication.”
Notre Dame junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) concluded an outstanding fall season by claiming the C flight championship with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Joe Bates of Wake Forest. Buchanan, the flight’s top seed, lost only 17 games en route to four straight-set victories in the tournament. He will head into the spring with a 16-2 record and just one victory shy of matching his career best for a season. Buchanan has won 24 consecutive contests when winning the first set, and he is 39-10 overall in that situation. He won 12 of 13 matches away from Notre Dame during the fall.
Sophomore Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) won the B flight consolation title with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Charles Sartor of Wake Forest. The native of the former Soviet republic of Georgia finished with a 12-5 fall record.
In doubles, it was a matchup of Irish teams in the consolation final of the A flight. Junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) and freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.), who had not teamed up prior to this tournament, first topped David Canudas and Tommy Oston of Southern Mississippi 9-7 in the consolation semis before topping Buchanan and freshman Andrew Roth (Houston, Texas/Tenney School) 8-5 in the title match. Buchanan and Roth topped Andrew Hamar and Todd Paul of Wake Forest 9-7 in the semifinals.
The Crimson Tide Fall Championships consist of three flights in both singles and doubles that have attracted players from 18 schools across the nation. The competition is Notre Dame’s first trip to Tuscaloosa since former Irish assistant Billy Pate became the Tide’s head coach. Pate spent two seasons with the Irish (2000-02), helping Notre Dame to a pair of top-20 finishes and being named ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year in the latter.
Crimson Tide Fall Championships
Singles
B Flight – Consolation Final
Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) def. Charles Sator (Wake Forest) 6-1, 6-2
C Flight – Final
[1] Patrick Buchanan (ND) def. Joe Bates (Wake Forest) 6-0, 6-4
Doubles
A Flight – Consolation Semifinals
Langenkamp/ Parbhu (ND) def. David Canudas/Tommy Oston (Southern Mississippi) 9-7
Patrick Buchanan/Andrew Roth (ND) def. Andrew Hamar/Todd Paul (Wake Forest) 9-7
A Flight – Consolation Final
Langenkamp/ Parbhu (ND) def. Buchanan/Roth (ND) 8-5
Note: Seedings are in brackets preceding names.