Irish Victorious on Senior Day

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The regular season ended tonight for the University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team as they beat defending Big East champions DePaul, 5-2.

The doubles point would go the way of the Irish as the #3 team of Matthew Che and Aditya Vashistha would get out a huge 5-0 lead before finishing up the win 6-2. Soon after, #2 doubles would clinch the point as Peter Conklin and Connor Fu would take their set 6-4. The top court would remain unfinished with Matthew Halpin and Jean-Marc Malkowski up 5-4 and two points from winning themselves.

In singles, the lone graduating player taking the court on senior day, Conklin, would be the first to finish his match with a 6-4, 6-0 over Tuff. Next off was Fu with a 6-1, 7-6 win over Huck on the #3 singles court. The other graduate student Vashistha, who will return next year for another year of play, would put the 4th point on the board and lock up the team victory with a 7-6, 6-0 win.

The remaining three singles matches would all play to completion and all split sets. Junior Che was on the top singles court for the first time in his career and would walk away victorious over a very tough Vito Tonejc. Tonejc entered the day with a 17-2 record before Che would hand him a 3rd loss on the year.

The Blue Demons would take the final two matches of the evening. Malkowski would fall 14-12 in a third set match tiebreak before Braeden Ho lost in a full third set.

Up Next:

With the regular season wrapped up, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team will turn their attention to postseason play and the upcoming ACC tournament. With the final seeding and draw still to be determined, the Irish do know they will play next Thursday, April 21st in Rome, Ga. where both men’s and women’s ACC tournaments will take place. The Irish end the regular season with an overall record of 16-11.

Box Score

#34 Notre Dame 5 – DePaul 2

Doubles

1. Matthew Halpin/Jean-Marc Malkowski(ND) vs. Vito Tonejc/Luuk Wassenaar(DEP) Did Not Finish
2. Peter Conklin/Connor Fu(ND) def. Leon Huck/Jona Gitschel(DEP) 6-4
3. Matthew Che/AdityaVashistha(ND) def. Tripp Tuff/Marino Jakic(DEP) 6-2

Singles

1. Matthew Che (ND) def. Vito Tonejc (DEP) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0(8)
2. #119 Aditya Vashistha (ND) def. Marino Jakic (DEP) 7-6, 6-0
3. Connor Fu (ND) def Leon Huck (DEP) 6-1, 7-6
4. Luuk Wassenaar (DEP) def. Jean-Marc Malkowski (ND) 6-2, 6-7, 1-0(12)
5. Peter Conklin (ND) def. Tripp Tuff (DEP) 6-4, 6-0
6. Matteo Iaquinto (DEP) def. Braeden Ho (ND) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles(3, 2); Singles (5, 3, 2, 1, 4, 6)