April 23, 2015
CARY, N.C. — The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team played several tightly contested sets in Thursday’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championships matchup with Georgia Tech, but little fell Notre Dame’s way as the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish fell to the No. 10 seed Yellow Jackets 4-0 in first round action at the Cary Tennis Center in Cary, North Carolina.
Georgia Tech came out strong to start the match in doubles, notching upsets on Courts 1 and 2 to take a 1-0 lead into singles play. At No. 2, Christopher Eubanks and Michael Kay raced to a 5-0 lead before comfortably defeating No. 30 Josh Hagar and Eddy Covalschi, 8-3. Notre Dame’s Dougie Barnard and Kenneth Sabacinski pulled the Irish back even with an 8-6 win over Nathan Rakitt and Cole Fiegel on Court 3, leaving the match left on Court 1. Georgia Tech’s No. 87 Eduardo Segura and Carlos Benito went up a break early on No. 12 Alex Lawson and Billy Pecor, and maintained the lead the rest of the way for an 8-5 win.
It was more of the same as the match shifted to singles, with Georgia Tech corralling the momentum from doubles to take first-set leads on five of six singles courts.
The Yellow Jackets got a quick second point as Fiegel defeated Pecor 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 5 slot, while Segura also quickly defeated Sabacinski 6-1, 6-3 on Court 6.
Elsewhere, the Irish played more closely, as Monaghan and Covalschi forced first-set tiebreakers on Courts 1 and 3, respectively, and Lawson held serve until it was 6-5 in favor of his opponent Kay. On Court 2, Hagar pulled within 5-4 of Benito after going down 5-2, but was broken in the next game, dropping the set. Only Monaghan managed to escape the first set — against No. 61 Eubanks — with a lead.
Georgia Tech got the clincher in Kay’s 7-5, 6-2 victory over Lawson.
The Irish will await their draw in the NCAA Championships, with regionals taking place May 8 and 9. For the latest Irish tennis updates, follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter and like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.
No. 55 Georgia Tech 4, No. 35 Notre Dame 0
SINGLES
1. No. 9 Quentin Monaghan (ND) v. No. 61 Christopher Eubanks (GT), 7-6(4), 2-3, unfinished
2. Josh Hagar (ND) v. Carlos Benito (GT), 4-6, 3-5, unfinished
3. Eddy Covalschi (ND) v. Nathan Rakitt (GT), 6-7(3), 1-3, unfinished
4. Michael Kay (GT) def. Alex Lawson (ND), 7-5, 6-2
5. Cole Fiegel (GT) def. Billy Pecor (ND), 6-1, 6-0
6. Eduardo Segura (GT) def. Kenneth Sabacinski (ND), 6-1, 6-3
DOUBLES
1. No. 87 Eduardo Segura / Carlos Benito (GT) def. No. 12 Billy Pecor / Alex Lawson (ND), 8-5
2. Christopher Eubanks / Michael Kay (GT) def. No. 30 Josh Hagar / Eddy Covalschi (ND), 8-3
3. Dougie Barnard / Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Nathan Rakitt / Cole Fiegel (GT), 8-6
Joanne Norell, Media Relations Assistant
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