Feb. 12, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In an absolute thriller that wasn’t decided until the final point of the second to last singles match, the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats held off the No. 30 Notre Dame men’s tennis team, 4-3, in front of a raucous and passionate crowd at Eck Tennis Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
In the night cap, the Irish dropped visiting IUPUI, 7-0.
The Irish (8-4) play at Michigan next Saturday at 6 p.m. in their lone match on the week.
No. 6 Kentucky 4, No. 30 Notre Dame 3
Notre Dame claimed the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead, but the Wildcats roared back at four, one and three singles to push the Irish to the limit. However, Notre Dame rallied back, winning at two singles to cut the lead to 3-2. The win set up a wild 20 minutes where five and six singles both went to three sets with the match on the line.
Getting the Wildcats to the brink of victory was a trio of players. No. 95 Tom Jomby got Kentucky on the board with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Billy Pecor, while No. 5 Eric Quigley gave the Wildcats their first lead at 2-1 as he took down Casey Watt 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Finally No. 36 Anthony Rossi won at No.3 singles, 6-3, 7-5, over No. 74 Sam Keeton to put the Wildcats one victory from taking the match.
The Irish comeback began at No. 2 singles as Greg Andrews rocked No. 13 Alex Musialek in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Andrews improved to 10-1 on the year with the win, and should move into the new singles rankings that come out on Tuesday.
The matches at five and six singles became the featured attraction as fans and players jumped from bleacher to bleacher to try and watch both matches at the same time. As the crowd cheered and yelled, senior Niall Fitzgerald rallied from a first-set loss to force a third set with No. 111 Alejandro Gomez. With the score tied at three, Gomez put himself up 4-3 on serve and then broke Fitzgerald’s serve to give the Colombia native a 5-3 lead with serve. Gomez finished off Fitzgerald to claim the three-set victory, 6-4, 6-7 (7-2), 6-3, and give the Wildcats the victory.
Less than two minutes after Kentucky secured the win, junior Blas Moros finished off an impressive comeback. After dropping the first set quickly, 6-1, the Boca Raton, Fla., product won the final two sets, 6-1, 6-2, to give Notre Dame its second singles victory on the day.
The wild singles portion the match came after Notre Dame played arguably its best doubles of the season as the Irish swept the Wildcats to claim the early 1-0 lead. Andrews and Spencer Talmadge played brilliant tennis at No. 2 doubles as they rolled past Musialek and Gomez, 8-1.
With the Irish only needing one more victory to win the doubles point, the action turned to the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles courts where each was going down to the wire.
At No. 3 doubles, the team of Keeton and Pecor trailed Rossi and Ryuji Hirooka for much of the early going. Losing 5-3, the duo made a run culminating in the score being knotted at six after Keeton and Pecor broke the serve of the Wildcats. The break gave the Irish the final momentum they needed as they closed out the match over the final two points to win 8-6 and give the Irish the early 1-0 lead.
Over on the middle court at No. 1 doubles, the team of Watt and Fitzgerald were in a dog fight with Jha and Quigley. With eight points not enough to decide a winner, the tandems went into a tiebreaker. The Irish and the Wildcats battled back and forth with Notre Dame winning the tiebreaker (9-7) and the match, 9-8.
The loss at doubles was just the third on the year for the highly-ranked Wildcats, while the Irish improved to 7-4 but lost for the first time when they won the doubles point.
“It was disappointing to find ourselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard after that match, but I’m so proud of the way our team fought against an elite team,” said head coach Bobby Bayliss. “I hope going forward it gives our team confidence that we can play with anyone.”
RESULTS – No. 6 Kentucky 4, No. 30 Notre Dame 3
SINGLES
No. 1 Singles
No. 5 Eric Quigley (UK) d. Casey Watt (ND), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Singles
Greg Andrews (ND) d. No. 13 Alex Musialek (UK), 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Singles
No. 36 Anthony Rossi (UK) d. No. 74 Sam Keeton (ND), 6-3, 7-5
No. 4 Singles
No. 95 Tom Jomby (UK) d. Billy Pecor (ND), 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 Singles
Blas Moros (ND) d. No. 85 Panav Jha (UK), 1-6, 6-0, 6-2
No. 6 Singles
No. 111 Alejandro Gomez (UK) d. Niall Fitzgerald (ND), 6-4, 6-7 (7-2), 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 3, 2, 6, 5
DOUBLES
No. 1 Doubles
Casey Watt / Niall Fitzgerald (ND) d. Panav Jha / Eric Quigley (UK), 9-8 (9-7)
No. 2 Doubles
Greg Andrews / Spencer Talmadge (ND) d. Alex Musialek /Alejandro Gomez (UK), 8-1
No. 3 Doubles
Sam Keeton / Billy Pecor (ND) d. Anthony Rossi / Ryuji Hirooka (UK), 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
No. 30 Notre Dame 7, IUPUI 0
The Irish got the second match of the day off on the right foot with a three-match sweep of the Jaguars in doubles play.
The No. 1 doubles team of Andrews and Talmadge made quick work of Patrick O’Neill and Luke Bielawski, 8-3. At No. 2 doubles Michael Moore and Wyatt McCoy slipped past Nick Volz and Joel Modesitt, 8-6, while at No. 3 Ryan Bandy and Matt Dooley knocked off Deon Shafer and Thomas Gans, 8-5.
In singles the Irish rolled handily, winning all six doubles contests in straight-sets. Watt defeated Volz at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-2, while Andrews notched a 6-0, 6-1 win against Bielawski.
Moros defeated Emerson at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-4, while Moore won at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 6-1, over Chase Emerson.
McCoy got his third singles victory of the season at No. 5, earning a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Ivan Mojesjev. Sophomore Ryan Bandy earned his first singles win of the year, knocking off Deon Shafer, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.
The 7-0 win was the fifth on the season for the Irish.
RESULTS – No. 30 Notre Dame 7, IUPUI 0
SINGLES
No. 1 Singles
Casey Watt (ND) d. Nick Volz (IUPUI), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Singles
Greg Andrews (ND) d. Luke Bielawski (IUPUI), 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 Singles
Blas Moros (ND) d. Joel Modesitt (IUPUI), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Singles
Michael Moore (ND) d. Chase Emerson (IUPUI), 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 Singles
Wyatt McCoy (ND) d. Ivan Mojsejev (IUPUI), 6-3, 6-0
No. 6 Singles
Ryan Bandy (ND) d. Deon Shafer (IUPUI), 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 4, 5, 3, 6
DOUBLES
No. 1 Doubles
Greg Andrews / Spencer Talmadge (ND) d. Patrick O’Neill / Luke Bielawski (IUPUI), 8-3
No. 2 Doubles
Michael Moore / Wyatt McCoy (ND) d. Nick Volz / Joel Modesitt (IUPUI), 8-6
No. 3 Doubles
Ryan Bandy / Matt Dooley (ND) d. Deon Shafer / Thomas Gans (IUPUI), 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
–ND–