April 11, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Notre Dame men’s tennis team dropped a closely contested match, 4-3, to BIG EAST rival Louisville on Saturday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The 20th-ranked Irish move to 11-10 on the season.
Louisville jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. At third doubles, Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) David Anderson (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) were defeated by Alejanddro Calligari and Robert Hall, 8-1. At second doubles, Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) and Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) evened things up with a win over Austen Childs and Sumit-Prakash Gupta, 8-5. But at first doubles, Simon Childs teamed with Viktor Maksimcuk to edge the 23rd-ranked team of Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) and Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan), 9-8 (7-5).
Louisville took a 2-0 lead with a win by 78th-ranked Viktor Maksimcuk at second singles over 124th-ranked Havens, 6-0, 7-5. The Irish then got on the board as Anderson took out Gupta, 6-0, 6-2 at fifth singles. Watt then tied the overall match at 2-2 as he won at third singles over Simon Childs, 6-1, 7-5. Louisville regained the lead when Calligari beat Stahl at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 6-2. At No. 6 singles, Davis kept Notre Dame’s hopes alive as he produced a 6-4, 6-2 win over Andrew Carter.
The match subsequently came down to a battle at No. 1 singles between the two highest ranked singles players in the BIG EAST, namely Helegson and Austen Childs. Childs, ranked 41st, took the first set, 6-0, only to see Helgeson, ranked 24th, rally back to take the second set, 6-2. In the decisive third set, Childs proved victorious, 6-4, to claim the win for the Cardinals.
Notre Dame has a final tune-up before the BIG EAST tournament as it faces in-state rival Ball State on Monday, April 13 in Muncie, Ind. at 2:00 p.m. A recap and box score will be posted on und.com at the conclusion of the match.
No. 26 Louisville 4 - No. 20 Notre Dame 3
Singles1. #41 Austen Childs (UL) def. #24 Brett Helgeson (UND) 6-0, 2-6, 6-42. #78 Viktor Maksimcuk (UL) def. #124 Stephen Havens (UND) 6-0, 7-53. Casey Watt (UND) def. Simon Childs (UL) 6-1, 7-54. Alejanddro Calligari (UL) def. Daniel Stahl (UND) 6-3, 6-25. David Anderson (UND) def. Sumit-Prakash Gupta (UL) 6-0, 6-26. Tyler Davis (UND) def. Andrew Carter (UL) 6-4, 6-2Order of finish: 2,5,3,4,6,1
Doubles1. S. Childs/Maksimcuk (UL) def. #23 Helgeson/Davis (UND) 9-8(7-5)2. Havens/Watt (UND) def. A. Childs/Gupta (UL) 8-53. Calligari/Robert Hall (UL) def. Stahl/Anderson (UND) 8-1
–ND–