Oct. 27, 2002
MADISON, Wis. – With two wins on Saturday and another on Sunday, Notre Dame junior tri-captain Luis Haddock (Caguas, Puerto Rico) advanced to the singles quarterfinals in the OMNI HOTELS Midwest Championships in the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Haddock, who also reached the round of 16 in doubles with classmate Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) before losing, is the lone Irish participant left in the regional indoor tournament of the top players in the midwest. He will face sixth-seeded and 52nd-ranked Michael Calkins of Illinois at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) on Monday.
Haddock, the fourth seed in the tournament, topped Jakub Praibis of Indiana 6-3, 6-2 in Saturday’s first round before defeating Toledo’s Khalid Al Navhani 6-4, 6-2. On Sunday, he beat Matt Baccaranni of Ball State 6-3, 6-4 in round-of-16 action. Haddock is 11-2 in singles this fall, including 8-0 against midwest-region opponents. He has won 11 straight matches against regional foes, dating back to last season.
“It is great to see Luis solidify the strong fall he has had with a great showing at regionals,” said Irish head coach Bob Bayliss. “He has assumed the role of a Notre Dame No. 1 player and looks like he will establish himself as a national presence in collegiate tennis this year.”
Haddock continues a streak of singles success for Irish players in the Midwest Championships. In the last five years, five Notre Dame players have reached the quarterfinals, including National Senior Player of the Year Javier Taborga last season. The last Irish player to reach the semifinals was three-time All-American Ryan Sachire, who did so in 1998 and ’99.
Fellow classmate and tri-captain Matthew Scott (Oakton, Va.), ranked 85th nationally and seeded 12th, fell one win short of joining Haddock in the quarterfinals. He beat Jay Tee of Cleveland State (6-1, 6-0) and Western Michigan’s Ryan Maarschalk (6-1, 6-4) on Saturday, but fell to the third seed, 44th-ranked Phil Stolt of Illinois, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in the round of 16 on Sunday.
Sophomore Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo.) was the only other Notre Dame player to win a match in the main draw. He beat qualifier Tommy Dennis of Western Michigan 6-1, 6-4, but then lost to 51st-ranked Aleksey Zharinov of Minnesota 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) in the second round.
Haddock and Lopez-Acevedo were the only Notre Dame doubles pair to escape the tournament’s first round. The team defeated Johan Bergenas and Pete Rose of Iowa 8-5 in the opening round on Saturday. Sunday saw the Irish pair top Alex Hobson and Evan Zeder of Illinois 8-6 before losing 8-3 in the round of 16 to Troy Havens and Scott Mayer of Purdue. Havens is a South Bend native and a graduate of Penn High School.
Two other Irish doubles teams put scares into nationally-ranked foes before bowing out in the opening round. Senior Jake Cram (Littleton, Colo.) and sophomore Paul McNaughton (Hinsdale, Ill.) were on-serve at 6-5 before being broken by the tournament’s top-seeded pair, 12th-ranked Thomas Haug and Avery Ticer of Minnesota. The Gopher team went on to win 8-6. D’Amico and Scott were on-serve and one point from evening the match at 6-6 before the fourth seeds, Illinois’ 44th-ranked team of Stolt and Brian Wilson, finished off an 8-5 victory.
The OMNI HOTELS Midwest Championships are one of nine regional championships sponsored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The event features a 64-player singles qualifying draw followed by a 64-player singles main draw and 64-team doubles main draw. The tournament continues through Tuesday and the singles finalists and doubles champion will earn berths to the second leg of the collegiate tennis grand slam, the OMNI HOTELS National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, slated for Nov. 7-10 in Dallas.
OMNI HOTELS Midwest Championships
SINGLES
First Round (Saturday)
Octavian Nicodim (Louisville) d. Brian Farrell (ND) 6-2, 6-3
Brent D’Amico (ND) d. Tommy Dennis (Western Michigan) 6-1, 6-4
[12] #85 Matthew Scott (ND) d. Jay Tee (Cleveland State) 6-1, 6-0
[4] Luis Haddock (ND) d. Jakub Praibis (Indiana) 6-3, 6-2
Troy Havens (Purdue) d. Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (ND) 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
Second Round (Saturday)
[5] #51 Aleksey Zharinov (Minnesota) d. D’Amico (ND) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
#85 Scott (ND) d. Ryan Maarschalk (Western Michigan) 6-1, 6-4
[4] Haddock (ND) d. Khalid Al Navhani (Toledo) 6-4, 6-2
Round of 16 (Sunday)
[3] #44 Phil Stolt (Illinois) d. #85 Scott (ND) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
[4] Haddock (ND) d. Matt Baccaranni (Ball State) 6-3, 6-4
DOUBLES
First Round (Saturday)
[1] #12 Thomas Haug/Avery Ticer (Minnesota) d. Jake Cram/Paul McNaughton (ND) 8-6
Pramod Dabir/Conner Murnigham (Illinois) d. Patrick Buchanan/Ben Hatten (ND) 8-4
[4] #44 Stolt/Brian Wilson (Illinois) d. D’Amico/Scott (ND) 8-5
Haddock/Lopez-Acevedo (ND) d. Johan Bergenas/Pete Rose (Iowa) 8-5
Second Round (Sunday)
Haddock/Lopez-Acevedo (ND) d. Alex Hobson/Evan Zeder (Illinois) 8-6
Round of 16 (Sunday)
Havens/Scott Mayer (Purdue) d. Haddock/Lopez-Acevedo (ND) 8-3
Note: Tournament seedings are in brackets. ITA national rankings immediately precede names.