April 14, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Fighting Irish men’s tennis team snapped a three-match losing streak by dispatching Ball State, 5-2, on Wednesday afternoon at the Courtney Tennis Center. The victory pushes the Irish record back over the .500 mark at 12-11 on the year. Notre Dame has now won 20 consecutive matchups against the Cardinals, dating back to 1990.
Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan H.S) and Niall Fitzgerald (Wicklow, Ireland/Blackrock College) were first to finish for the Irish in doubles, claiming the opening match, 8-5, over Dalton Albertin and Andres Monroy of Ball State. The two teams traded games to take the score to 3-3. Notre Dame then took four of the next five games to jump up 7-4 before putting the match away two games later.
Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) and Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) clinched the doubles point, claiming an 8-5 victory over the Cardinals number one duo of Eduardo Pavia and Zane Smith. Havens and Watt, now 51st in the latest ITA doubles rankings, reeled off five straight games after the match was tied at two games apiece to grab a commanding 7-2 advantage. Ball State was able to hold twice and break serve to bring the match back to 7-5 before the Irish put the match away and took an early 1-0 lead in the contest.
David Anderson (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) and Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) secured the doubles sweep with a hard-fought victory over Ball State’s team of Shaun Bussert and Cliff Morrison, 8-7 (7-4). The two teams held serve through the entire contest taking the match to 7-7 and a decisive tie breaker. Notre Dame took control with the score at 3-3, winning four of the next five points to earn the tie-break win, 7-4.
Notre Dame pushed the advantage to 2-0 when Anderson finished off Albertin of Ball State, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 5 singles. The win pushes Anderson’s mark to a perfect 4-0 on the season at the fifth position and improves his overall season mark to 11-9.
Blas Moros (Boca Raton, Fla./Pine Crest School) moved the Irish within a point of victory at 3-0 after shutting down Bussert of the Cardinals, 6-2, 6-2 at six singles. Moros continued his streak of hot play recently, moving his record over his last ten contests to 9-1. Overall he now owns a 13-7 dual season record.
The Irish clinched the match when 93rd-ranked Stahl closed out his victory over Monroy of the Cardinals at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-2. The win at third singles was the tenth of the season (10-7) for him.
Samuel Keeton (Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School), who made the move up to No. 4 singles for the match, made it 5-0 when he closed out Alexandre Brym in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.
Ball State then managed to get on the board with a straight sets win at No. 2 singles. The Cardinal’s Morrison was able to defeat Havens, 6-3, 6-4, to make the match 5-1 overall.
Watt, now ranked 44th, was last to finish singles for the Irish, dropping a hard-fought match, 6-4, 7-5 to Pavia of Ball State. He was able to gain a 4-3 advantage in the second set trying to force the decisive third set but was unable to do so, dropping four of the next five games.
The Irish will return to action at 1:00 p.m. on Sat., April 17 at the Dyer Tennis Clubhouse in Annapolis, Md. to take on Navy in the team’s final match before heading to the BIG EAST Championships.
Notes Notre Dame now leads the all-time series with Ball State, 36-5, including 19-2 under Bayliss … Notre Dame is now 9-1 on the season when capturing the doubles point … the Irish have faced a ranked opponent in 16 of their 23 matches thus far (the Campbell/ITA rankings slot the top-75 teams) … Notre Dame’s win over MTSU (4-2) in the opening round of the 2010 Blue Gray tournament marked the 700th career win for head coach Bobby Bayliss (now 704-308-1/41 seasons).
Ball State vs. Notre DameApr 14, 2010 at NOTRE DAME, Ind.
#36 Notre Dame 5, Ball State 2
Singles1. Eduardo Pavia (BSU) def. #44 Casey Watt (ND) 6-4, 7-52. Cliff Morrison (BSU) def. Stephen Havens (ND) 6-3, 6-43. #93 Daniel Stahl (ND) def. Andres Monroy (BSU) 6-4, 6-24. Samuel Keeton (ND) def. Alexandre Brym (BSU) 7-5, 6-25. David Anderson (ND) def. Dalton Albertin (BSU) 6-1, 6-16. Blas Moros (ND) def. Shaun Bussert (BSU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles1. #51 Stephen Havens/Casey Watt (ND) def. Eduardo Pavia/Zane Smith (BSU) 8-52. Tyler Davis/Niall Fitzgerald (ND) def. Dalton Albertin/Andres Monroy (BSU) 8-53. David Anderson/Daniel Stahl (ND) def. Shaun Bussert/Cliff Morrison (BSU) 8-7 (7-4)
Match NotesBall State 13-8Notre Dame 12-11; National ranking #36Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,6,3,4,2,1)
–ND–