March 27, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. – The Fighting Irish men’s tennis team took an early lead and never looked back as they defeated the Northwestern Wildcats, 5-2, Saturday at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill. With the win, Notre Dame improved to 10-8 on the season, while Northwestern falls to 8-6.
Notre Dame took an early 1-0 lead after taking two of three matches to win the doubles point. David Anderson (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) and Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) fell to Alex Sanborn and Spencer Wolf, 8-6, at third doubles, but Niall Fitzgerald (Wicklow, Ireland/Blackrock College) and Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan) topped Mark Schanerman and Joshua Graves, 8-6, at No. 2 doubles to even the match. Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian) and Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) clinched the point for the Irish after battling Tobias Reitz and Andrew McCarthy to a 9-8 (8-6) tiebreak win at No. 1 doubles.
No. 86 Havens put the Irish up 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over McCarthy at second singles. Sidarth Balaji handed Samuel Keeton (Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School) his first dual-match loss of the season with a 6-2, 7-5 defeat at No. 4.
Stahl gave Notre Dame a 3-1 advantage as he earned his ninth win of the season with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Wolf at third singles. No. 115 Graves edged No. 27 Watt, 6-3, 6-3, at first singles to pull the Wildcats within one. Blas Moros (Boca Raton, Fla./Pine Crest) clinched the win for the Irish with his fifth straight victory, a 6-3, 7-5 win over Schanerman at sixth singles. Anderson topped Sanborn, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, at No. 5 singles to complete Notre Dame’s 5-2 win.
The Irish will wrap-up their nine-match road swing next weekend when they travel to Texas for matches against SMU and Texas A&M.
Notes
The Irish are now 42-36-1 all-time against the Wildcats, including 17-4 under head coach Bobby Bayliss … Notre Dame has won seven straight against the Wildcats … The Irish have faced a ranked opponent in 13 of their 18 matches … Notre Dame is 7-1 on the season when claiming the doubles point.
#36 Notre Dame 5, #45 Northwestern 2
Singles1. #115 Joshua Graves (NU) def. #27 Casey Watt (ND) 6-3, 6-32. Stephen Havens (ND) def. Andrew McCarthy (NU) 6-1,6 -43. #86 Daniel Stahl (ND) def. Spencer Wolf (NU) 7-5, 6-24. Sidarth Balaji (NU) def. Samuel Keeton (ND) 6-2, 7-55. David Anderson (ND) def. Alex Sanborn (NU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-46. Blas Moros (ND) def. Mark Schanerman (NU) 6-3, 7-5Order of finish: 2,4,3,1,6,5Doubles1. Havens/Watt (ND) def. Reitz/McCarthy (NU) 9-8 (8-6)2. Fitzgerald/Davis (ND) def. Schanerman/Graves (NU) 8-63. Sanborn/Wolf (NU) def. Anderson/Stahl (ND) 8-6Order of finish: 3,2,1
–ND–