Oct. 23, 2016
By Joanne Norell
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A pair of University of Notre Dame men’s tennis doubles teams played their way into the doubles semifinals at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, but both fell in tough three-set losses in the final four at Ohio State.
Top-seeded seniors Josh Hagar and Eddy Covalschi defeated Valparaiso’s Kyle Dunn and Garrett Gardner in Sunday’s quarterfinal, 8-7(8) to meet Michigan’s Jathan Malik and Kevin Wong in the semifinal. There, however, Hagar and Covalschi dropped a close 3-6, 6-3, 13-11 decision to the Wolverines.
Eleventh-seeded sophomore Alex Lebedev and freshman Matt Gamble defeated Valpo’s Chad Kissell and Dave Bacalla to open the day, but fell to another Crusader duo. This time it was Charlie Emhardt and Jeffrey Schorsch, who defeated Lebedev and Gamble 6-4, 6-7, 10-8.
Earlier in the day, Lebedev dropped his singles quarterfinals match to Michigan’s Myles Schalet, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.
The Irish are slated to return to action with select student-athletes at the ITF Futures event in Birmingham, Alabama, October 28-November 3.
ITA Midwest Regional Championships presented by Oracle
Varsity Tennis Center
Columbus, Ohio
Oct. 20-24, 2016
Singles
Main Draw Singles Round of 64
[4] No. 70 Josh Hagar (ND) def. Artem Vasheshnikov (DET), 6-3, 6-4
[18] Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Darius MacKenzie (WIS) 6-2, 6-0
[21] Johnathan Small (ND) def. Carl Hedstrom (UIC), 6-4, 6-4
[24] Guillermo Cabrera (ND) def. Andreas Boers (ISU) 7-5, 6-2
Matt Gamble (ND) def. [23] Nico Mostardi (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
[3] No. 65 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Daniel Rayl (ND), 6-2, 6-3
Luke Smrek (MARQ) def. [12] Eddy Covalschi (ND), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Riley Reist (OSU) def. [20] Grayson Broadus (ND), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
Lamar Remy (WIS) def. Brendon Kempin (ND), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Main Draw Singles Round of 32
[4] No. 70 Josh Hagar (ND) def. Alvaro Verdu (MARQ), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
[18] Alex Lebedev (ND) def. [13] Dominik Stary (NU), 7-6, 6-4
Maik Steiner (WMU) def. [21] Johnathan Small (ND), 6-1, 6-0
[10] Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. [24] Guillermo Cabrera (ND), 5-7, 7-6, 6-4
[14] Kevin Wong (UM) def. Matt Gamble (ND), 6-3, 6-3
Main Draw Singles Round of 16
[18] Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Charlie Emhardt (VU), 6-1, 6-4
[14] Kevin Wong (UM) def. [4] No. 70 Josh Hagar (ND), 7-6, 6-1
Main Draw Singles Quarterfinal
[19] Myles Schalet (UM) def [18] Alex Lebedev (ND) 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
Consolation Singles
Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Brett Forman (MSU), 8-6
Daniel Rayl (ND) def. Mitch Maroscher (YSU), 8-3
Qualifying Singles Round 1
[3] Brendon Kempin (ND) def. Elliot Sprecher (WIS), 6-2, 6-1
Drew Dawson (ND) def. Omar Espinosa (TOL), 6-2, 6-2
Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Benjamin Slade (CSU), 6-2, 6-3
Thomas Rodrigues (YSU) def. Conor Somers (ND), 6-3 6-3
Qualifying Singles Round 2
[3] Brendon Kempin (ND) def. Thomas Rodrigues (YSU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Nathan de Veer (DEP) def. Drew Dawson (ND), 6-2, 6-2
Nathan Ponton (DET) def. Nathan Griffin (ND) 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
Qualifying Singles Round 3
[3] Brendon Kempin (ND) def. Kyle Dunn (VU), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
Main Draw Doubles Round of 64
[11] Matt Gamble / Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Alex Kim / Ivan Rakic (MSU), 8-3
[16] Grayson Broadus / Johnathan Small (ND) def. John Zordani / Darius MacKenzie (WIS), 8-4
Guillermo Cabrera / Drew Dawson (ND) def. Joshua Schramm / Ivan Radomirovic (WGB), 8-2
[7] Runhao Hua / Myles Schalet (UM) def. Daniel Rayl / Conor Somers (ND), 8-3
[14] Maik Steiner / Jannik Opitz (WMU) def. Nathan Griffin / Brendon Kempin (ND), 8-3
[1] No. 26 Josh Hagar / Eddy Covalschi (ND), bye
Main Draw Doubles Round of 32
[1] No. 26 Josh Hagar / Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Artem Vasheshnikov / Ismail Kadyrov (DET), 8-3
[11] Matt Gamble / Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Michael Lorenzini / Chris Ephron (NU), 8-4
Billy Heckman / Nick Schnobel (WMU) def. [16] Grayson Broadus / Johnathan Small (ND), 8-5
[4] Jonathan Malik / Kevin Wong (UM) def. Guillermo Cabrera / Drew Dawson (ND), 8-3
Main Draw Doubles Round of 16
[1] No. 26 Josh Hagar / Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. [10] Julian Childers / Alex Jesse (UI), 8-4
[11] Matt Gamble / Alex Lebedev (ND) def. [3] Hunter Tubert / Martin Joyce (OSU), 8-6
Main Draw Doubles Quarterfinal
[1] No. 26 Josh Hagar / Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Kyle Dunn / Garrett Gardner (VU), 8-7(8)
[11] Matt Gamble / Alex Lebedev (ND) def. [12] Chad Kissell / Dave Bacalla (VU), 8-7
Main Draw Doubles Semifinal
Jathan Malik / Kevin Wong (UM) def. [1] No. 26 Josh Hagar / Eddy Covalschi (ND), 3-6, 6-3, 13-11
Charlie Emhardt / Jeffrey Schorsch (VU) def. [11] Matt Gamble / Alex Lebedev (ND), 6-4, 6-7, 10-8
— ND —
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.