April 14, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 39 Notre Dame men’s tennis team gave its fans something to cheer about on Senior Day as the Irish defeated BIG EAST rival No. 38 Louisville, 5-2, at Courtney Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
The squad will now turn to postseason play as the squad heads to Tampa, Fla., for the 2012 BIG EAST Championship. USF will play host this year, with all matches occurring at the Varsity Tennis Courts. Notre Dame will begin the championship on Friday in the quarterfinals with its seed determining time. Stay tuned to UND.com for complete BIG EAST Championship information.
Notre Dame (18-7, 3-1 BE) ran through doubles in 45 minutes to take the 1-0 lead. Greg Andrews and Billy Pecor claimed the first victory with an 8-4 win over Sebastian Stiefelmeyer and Robert Hall. The No. 66 duo of Casey Watt and Niall Fitzgerald gave Notre Dame the doubles point with an 8-3 victory over Andrew Carter and Albert Wagner and Sam Keeton and Billy Pecor gave the Irish the doubles sweep with an 8-3 win over Adam Donaldson and Sumit-Prakash Gupta.
In singles all six matches provided entertainment for the 200-plus fans in attendance as three went a full three sets, with two others offering 7-5 sets. Winning for the Irish were Fitzgerald at five (6-1, 7-5), Keeton at three (6-3, 3-6, 6-0), No. 64 Andrews at two (7-5, 6-3) and Blas Moros at six (7-5, 0-6, 6-3).
Saturday was also Senior Day for Daven Brodess, Fitzgerald, Keeton and Watt. The latter three all performed well in their final home match, as Fitzgerald and Keeton went 2-0 on the day, while Watt went 1-1 with a three-set loss at No. 1 singles offering his only blemish.
The Irish concluded the year with an impressive 12-2 record at home, with the only losses coming to top-10 opponents Kentucky (4-3) and Ohio State (5-2). Notre Dame also concludes the regular season 8-6 versus ranked foes, including three in a row dating back to a March 4 home win over Maryland.
Andrews ran his remarkable spring singles record to 22-3 and his 2011-12 record to 31-8.
RESULTS
SINGLES
No. 1 Singles
Sebastian Stiefelmeyer (LOU) d. Casey Watt (ND), 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 Singles
No. 64 Greg Andrews (ND) d. Andrew Carter (LOU), 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 Singles
Sam Keeton (ND) d. Albert Wagner (LOU), 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
No. 4 Singles
Michael Lippens (LOU) d. Billy Pecor (ND), 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Singles
Niall Fitzgerald (ND) d. Robert Hall (LOU), 6-1, 7-5
No. 6 Singles
Blas Moros (ND) d. Luis Elizondo (LOU), 7-5, 0-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1, 3, 2, 6
DOUBLES
No. 1 Doubles
No. 66 Casey Watt / Niall Fitzgerald (ND) d. Andrew Carter / Albert Wagner (LOU), 8-3
No. 2 Doubles
Greg Andrews / Spencer Talmadge (ND) d. Sebastian Stiefelmeyer / Robert Hall (LOU), 8-4
No. 3 Doubles
Sam Keeton / Billy Pecor (ND) d. Adam Donaldson / Sumit-Prakash Gupta (LOU), 8-3
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
–ND–