Feb. 2, 2018
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team will open the Atlantic Coast Conference season on Saturday, heading east to take on Boston College in the lone Irish match of the weekend.
Match 6
WHO: Notre Dame (5-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Boston College (1-0, 0-0 ACC)
WHERE: Flynn Recreation Complex | Chestnut Hill, Mass.
WHEN: 11 a.m. ET Saturday
RESULTS: Live Stats
On The Eagles
Boston College opened the season last Friday with a 7-0 win over Fordham. The Eagles took the first two doubles decisions and won each of their singles matches in straight sets.
Last Time Out
The Irish posted two impressive wins last week, defeating No. 8 Texas 4-3 and Minnesota 4-1 to win their ITA Kick-Off Weekend pod and earn a spot at the ITA National Indoor Team Championship. After dropping the doubles point against the Longhorns on Saturday, Notre Dame came back to win four singles matches from Richard Ciamarra, Guillermo Cabrera, Grayson Broadus and 45th-ranked Alex Lebedev. The Irish won the last three singles matches after Texas took a 3-1 lead, capped by Lebedev’s 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4) victory over No. 37 Leonardo Telles. On Sunday, the Irish held on to win the doubles point after facing a handful of match points for Minnesota, then got wins from Ciamarra, Tristan McCormick and Broadus to secure the win.
ACC Honors Roll
Following his win over Telles and the Longhorns, Lebedev was named the ACC Player of the Week for the second week in a row. It’s the second career weekly honor for the junior from Island Park, New York. Lebedev is 4-0 in dual matches (11-4 overall) and 5-2 against ranked opponents in 2017-18.
Rankings Rundown
After starting the season 5-0 and earning wins over Kentucky (receiving votes) and then-No. 8 Texas, the Irish entered the Oracle/ITA Division I Men’s Rankings at No. 23 and the USTA College Tennis Top 25 at No. 18. Lebedev opened the dual season ranked No. 45 in singles, with the next individual poll set to be released Feb. 7.
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For the latest on all things Irish men’s tennis, follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter and ndmenstennis on Instagram and like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.
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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 and fencing programs, in addition to assisting with football communications and 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.