Oct. 2, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A handful of University of Notre Dame men’s tennis student-athletes will compete in the season’s second national collegiate championship beginning Saturday at the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at the University of Tulsa.
WHAT: Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships
WHO: Top Division I men’s tennis players (ND reps: Eddy Covalschi, Alex Lawson, Alex Lebedev, Quentin Monaghan)
WHERE: Michael D. Case Tennis Center – Tulsa, Oklahoma
WHEN: October 3-12, 2015
DRAWS: ITAtennis.com
TWITTER: @NDMensTennis | @ITAtennis
Below, find all the need-to-know info as the Irish kick off competition with pre-qualifying rounds on Saturday:
All-American Breakdown
The Irish will send four representatives to this year’s All-American championships: junior Eddy Covalschi (pre-qualifying singles), senior Alex Lawson (pre-qualifying singles; qualifying doubles), Alex Lebedev (pre-qualifying singles) and senior Quentin Monaghan (main draw singles, qualifying doubles).
Pre-Qualifying Matchups
Three Irish student-athletes will take part in the pre-qualifying rounds, starting with Saturday’s Round of 256. Alex Lawson with square off with Texas A&M’s Jordi Arconada at 11:30 a.m. ET, Eddy Covalschi will face TCU’s Gianni Mancini at noon ET and Alex Lebedev will take on Auburn’s Dante Saleh at 5:30 p.m. ET. Play will continue Sunday with the Rounds of 128 and 64. The qualifying draws will begin Monday, October 5, while the main draws will start on Thursday, October 8.
Combining Their Strengths
Though with limited experience as doubles partners, Quentin Monaghan and Alex Lawson bring their own personal strengths to what they hope will be a lasting match on the court this season. Monaghan’s dominance as a singles player throughout his career has manifested itself in appearances on the highest collegiate stages, including last season’s NCAA Singles Championship semifinal. Lawson, meanwhile, has made two trips to the NCAA Doubles Championship, first with Greg Andrews (’14) as a sophomore and, last season, with Billy Pecor (’15). Lawson and Pecor became the first Notre Dame doubles tandem to advance to the Round of 16 since 1998, and spent the majority of the year ranked inside the top 15.
Monaghan and Lawson began the fall season as partners at the Oracle/ITA Masters, where they advanced to the semifinal after defeated LSU’s fourth-ranked Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle. They eventually fell to tournament champions, Guilherme Hadlich and Gabriel Sidney of Pepperdine.
Rankings
Four men’s tennis student-athletes appeared in the first Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, with two appearing in both singles and doubles polls. In addition to Quentin Monaghan and his No. 5 ranking, junior Josh Hagar will enter the season ranked No. 114 in singles. Hagar also makes an appearance in the doubles rankings with classmate Eddy Covalschi, coming in at No. 10. Hagar and Covalschi played together throughout the 2014-15 season, compiling a 17-12 record to go with the ITA Midwest Regional Doubles crown, and ended the year at No. 35. Monaghan and Alex Lawson enter the season ranked No. 28 in doubles.
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For the latest on all things Irish men’s tennis, follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter and like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.
Joanne Norell, Athletics Communications Assistant
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