Oct. 6, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A full day of tennis paid dividends Friday for the University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team, highlighted by junior Alex Lebedev’s three-set thriller to defeat No. 29 JJ Wolf of Ohio State to advance at the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The rest of the Irish made themselves at home hosting the annual Bobby Bayliss Invitational and picking up several wins in both singles and doubles.
All-American Championships
Lebedev took the confidence garnered from Thursday’s first-round win and channeled it into an early lead against Wolf. The junior from Island Park, New York, claimed the first set by a score of 6-3 and held on as Wolf looked to even the score. Neither player snared a break for the rest of the match. Instead, Wolf claimed the second in a tiebreaker, but Lebedev returned the favor. While serving down 4-5 in the third set, Lebedev fought off three straight match points and forced the tiebreaker, ultimately picking up the three-set victory.
Lebedev is into Saturday’s Round of 16, where he will face No. 43 Alexis Galarneau of NC State at 11 a.m. ET. Galarneau defeated No. 21 Wayne Montgomery (Georgia) in the first round and Tulsa’s Majed Kilani in the Round of 32. The winner of Saturday’s Round of 16 will advance to a quarterfinal match later in the day.
Bobby Bayliss Invitational
The rest of the Irish squad saw action on an extended day inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion as rain forced the first day of the Bobby Bayliss Invitational indoors. Notre Dame players went 8-4 in singles on the day, and 2-0 in doubles.
Senior Brendon Kempin, juniors Grayson Broadus and Nathan Griffin, sophomores Matt Gamble and Guillermo Cabrera, and freshmen Richard Ciamarra, Tristan McCormick and William Howells all claimed wins in singles. In doubles, Ciamarra and Gamble combined to defeat Michigan’s Harrison Brown and Mattias Siimar, and Griffin and classmate Daniel Rayl downed Louisville’s Ciro Lampasas and Brandon Lancaster.
Play will continue Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET with two rounds of singles on the schedule. Matches are scheduled to take place at the Courtney Tennis Center, but will move inside if weather necessitates.
Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships
Michael D. Case Tennis Center
Tulsa, Okla.
Oct. 5-9, 2017
Singles – Main Draw
Round of 64
No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) def. No. 9 William Bushamuka (UK) 6-1, 3-1, ret.
Round of 32
No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) def. No. 29 JJ Wolf (OSU) 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(5)
Round of 16
No. 104 Alex Lebedev (ND) vs. No. 43 Alexis Galarneau (NCSU)
Bobby Bayliss Invitational
Eck Tennis Pavilion
Notre Dame, Ind.
Oct. 6-8, 2017
Singles
Brendon Kempin (ND) def. Jonas Larsen (Iowa) 7-5, 7-6
Clement Filho (UL) def. Daniel Rayl (ND) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Grayson Broadus (ND) def. Jasper Koenen (MSU) 6-4, 6-2
Matt Gamble (ND) def. Chase Colton (UW) 7-5, 6-2
Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Ciro Lampasas (UL) 7-5, 7-5
Guillermo Cabrera (ND) def. Felix Rauch (Memphis) 6-2, 6-3
Richard Ciamarra (ND) def. Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) 6-3,6- 4
Nick Schnobel (WMU) def. Drew Dawson (ND) 6-3, 6-2
Tristan McCormick (ND) def. Kristofer Siimar (UM) 6-4, 6-3
William Howells (ND) def. Afonso Salgado (IU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
Billy Shisler (MSU) def. Paul Gota (ND) 6-1, 6-7, 6-2
Alexander Kim (MSU) def. Conor Somers (ND) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
Doubles
Richard Ciamarra / Matt Gamble (ND) def. Harrison Brown / Mattias Siimar (UM) 6-3
Nathan Griffin / Daniel Rayl (ND) def. Ciro Lampasas / Brandon Lancaster (UL) 6-4
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.