Nov. 9, 2008
WILLIAMSBURGH, Va. – The Irish men’s tennis team finished its fall slate with the final day of play at the William & Mary’s Tribe Invitational. Notre Dame notched six singles victories as well as three doubles wins at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in day-three action. Sophomores Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) and Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman), as well as freshman Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) were named to the All-Tournament team.
In day-three singles play, Havens played in flight one, defeating Alex Aksanov of Maryland 6-3, 6-1. Stahl, serving it up from flight two, was victorious over Ilja Orre of William & Mary 6-1, 6-3. In flight three, Watt beat Maryland’s Boris Fetbroyt 6-2, 6-1.
Sophomore Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan) accounted for Notre Dame’s fourth singles win of the day, as he downed Richard Wardell of William & Mary 6-5, 7-5. In flight six action, both Niall Fitzgerald (Wicklow, Ireland/Blackrock College) and Sean Tan (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood) proved victorious. Fitzgerald defeated Maryland’s Graham Knowlton 6-2, 6-3; while Tan beat Ben Wirth of William & Mary by a score of 6-2, 6-3 as well.
Notre Dame’s first doubles win of the day came from the team of Santiago Montoya (Austin, Texas/St. Stephen’s Episcopal School) and Matt Johnson (Portage, Mich./Portage Central), who beat Maryland’s Fetbroyt and Kwon 8-4 in flight one action.
In flight three doubles play, Watt and Fitzgerald teamed to defeat Askanov and Moussavi of Maryland 8-3, while Tan and sophomore David Anderson (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) combined to beat Knowlton and Potarazu of Maryland 8-1. Overall, the Irish went 23-3 in singles play and 9-4 in doubles action for a combined 32-7 record at the Tribe Invitational. Singles All-Tournament team performers Havens, Stahl and Watt accounted for 12 singles wins as each posted perfect 4-0 records. The Irish have now completed their fall slate and will continue preparations for the dual match season, which opens as the Irish play host to Pepperdine on January 16, 2009 at the Eck Tennis Pavilion on the campus of Notre Dame.
