MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – It took three and a half hours from start to finish, but when it was all over the Notre Dame men’s tennis team walked away with a 5-2 victory that ended the longest active home winning streak in the country. Middle Tennessee State had won 34-straight matches at home at the Adams Tennis Complex prior to today.
The doubles point took an hour just in itself with MTSU taking the #2 slot quickly by a score of 6-2. But the Irish would extend on both the remaining courts and play tiebreakers to determine the doubles point. Peter Conklin and Matt Halpin teamed up for the first time together and saved match points to take a 7-6(7) victory over previously unbeaten team of Chris Edge and Stepan Holis. All eyes turned to #1 doubles where Matt Che and Axel Nefve saved multiple match points themselves before sealing the doubles point with a 7-6(9) win over the #44 ranked doubles team in the country.
In singles, the Irish split the first two matches to finish with Nefve defeating #30 ranked Stijn Slump 6-4, 6-1. Addy Vashistha fell to #82 ranked Francisco Rocha 6-2, 6-1. Peter Conklin would tally a 3rd point after a dominating win at #4 singles against #106 ranked Holis.
After Che fell at the #3 spot and the Irish needing one more point, sophomore Jean-Marc Malkowski would win a 3rd set battle at #5 singles to clinch the victory. He avenged a loss to Pavel Motl from last year and won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Brian Bilsey came back from a set down to wrap up the 5-2 victory after three and a half hours of battle.
Next Up:
Notre Dame returns to the Eck Tennis Pavilion next weekend for a full slate of three matches at home. The Irish will take on Illinois at 4pm on Saturday the 12th before hosting a double header on Sunday the 13th. Sunday will start with a noon match against the Northwestern Wildcats before wrapping up the weekend against Chicago State at 5pm. These will be the first matches played at home since the season opener against Saint Louis in which the Irish won both contests on the day.
Box Score
Notre Dame 5 – Middle Tennessee State 2
Doubles
- Che/Nefve(ND) def. Slump/Motl(MTSU) 7-6(9)
- Poulsen/Rocha(MTSU) def. Malkowski/Vashistha(ND) 6-2
- Conklin/Halpin(ND) def. Edge/Holis(MTSU) 7-6(7)
Singles
- Nefve(ND) def. #30 Slump(MTSU) 6-4, 6-1
- #82 Rocha(MTSU) def. Vashistha(ND) 6-2, 6-1
- Edge(MTSU) def. Che(ND) 7-6(4), 6-4
- Conklin(ND) def. #106 Holis(MTSU) 6-1, 6-2
- Malkowski(ND) def. Motl(MTSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
- Bilsey(ND) def. Poulsen(MTSU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2)
Order of finish: Doubles(2, 3, 1); Singles (2, 1, 4, 3, 5, 6)