Feb. 20, 2010
SEATTLE, Wash. – The Fighting Irish men’s tennis team was edged at No. 25 Washington on Saturday evening inside the Nordstrom Tennis Center by a score of 4-3. The Irish, who were facing a ranked opponent for the seventh time in eight matches, have now taken part in four matches decided by just one point in the 2010 dual season.
Washington took a 1-0 lead by winning all three doubles matches. At first doubles, Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan) and Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) were defeated by Kyle McMorrow and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 8-1. At second doubles, Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) and Niall Fitzgerald (Wicklow, Ireland/Blackrock College) fell to Derek Drabble and Martin Kildahl 8-4. At third doubles, the Husky duo of Alex Rosinski and Tobi Obenaus downed David Anderson (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) and Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) 8-3.
Nedunchezhiyan, who is ranked 51st, put the Irish in a 0-2 hole by defeating 28th-ranked Watt at first singles 6-4, 6-1.
Stahl then halved the Husky lead with a win at third singles over Drabble. In the first set, the 101st-ranked Stahl established a 3-2 lead and then held and broke serve to jump out to a 5-3 lead. He went on to win the first set 6-4. The second set was tied at 2-2 before Stahl pulled away for his third singles win of the season.
But then Washington earned wins at fifth and second singles to clinch the win. Obenaus downed 105th-ranked Blas Moros (Boca Raton, Fla./Pine Crest School) at fifth singles 6-3, 6-3. Moros had tied the first set at 3-3 but Obenaus then took a lead he would not relinquish. McMorrow clinched the win for Washington at second singles with a win over 123rd-ranked Havens. Havens battled back to force a tie-breaker in the first, but ultimately dropped the first set 7-6 (7-2). Then McMorrow broke a 3-3 tie in the second set to defeat Havens 6-3.
With the overall match decided, Anderson earned a win at fourth singles to move his record to 4-1 on the season. After dropping a close first set 7-6 (6) to Kildahl, Anderson earned a 6-3 win in the second set to force a third set. In the third, Anderson cruised to a 6-0 win.
Sophomore Samuel Keeton (Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School) earned Notre Dame’s final win at sixth singles over Rosinski in three sets 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. The third set was tied at 3-3 before Keeton pulled away for the win. He is now 2-0 in 2010 dual season singles play.
With the win, 25th-ranked Washington improves to 8-1 on the year, while 36th-ranked Notre Dame moves to 3-5.
The Irish return to the courts next weekend as they play host to three matches at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. On Saturday, Feb. 27 the Irish will play host to Michigan State at 3:00 pm. Then, on Sunday, Feb. 18 Notre Dame will take part in a doubleheader against Wisconsin and Toledo.
Notes Washington now leads the all-time series with Notre Dame by a 3-1 margin dating back to the first meeting between Notre Dame and Washington in 2000 … Dating back to March 28 of last season, Anderson is 10-1 in his last 13 dual season singles starts (two matches unfinished) … Notre Dame’s class of 2014 has been ranked fifth-best in the country according to a recent tennisrecruiting.net poll, which was released on Jan. 25 … The most recent ranking mark Notre Dame’s third consecutive top-six signing class according to the website making Notre Dame the only program in the nation that can currently boast a top-six recruiting ranking for three consecutive years (2008, 2009 & 2010).
No. 25 Washington 4, No. 36 Notre Dame 3February 20, 2010 - Seattle, Wash.Nordstrom Tennis Center
Doubles1) Nedunchezhiyan/McMorrow (UW) def. Watt/Davis (ND), 8-12) Drabble/Kildahl (UW) def. Havens/Fitzgerald (ND), 8-43) (42) Obenaus/Rosinski (UW) def. Anderson/Stahl (ND), 8-3Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles1) (51) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (UW) def. (28) Casey Watt (ND), 6-4, 6-12) Kyle McMorrow (UW) def. (123) Stephen Havens (ND), 7-6 (2), 6-33) (101) Daniel Stahl (ND) def. Derek Drabble (UW), 6-4, 6-34) David Anderson (ND) def. Martin Kildahl (UW), 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-05) Tobi Obenaus (UW) def. (105) Blas Moros (ND), 6-3, 6-36) Sam Keeton (ND) def. Alex Rosinski (UW), 5-7, 6-1, 6-4Order of finish: 1, 3, 5, 2, 4, 6
–ND–