NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Day one of the ITA Midwest Regional tournament wrapped up with two members of the Notre Dame men’s tennis team advancing on to the second round of qualifications.
Senior Daniel Rayl kicked off the tournament for the Irish, advancing to the second round after defeating his DePaul opponent with scores of 6-2 and 7-6(2). Rayl continued his run of the qualifying round, advancing swiftly past Pol Botifoll Ruis of Illinois State (6-1, 6-2) for a spot in tomorrow’s matches.
Paul Gota was the lone Irish participant today at the Lakeland Athletic Club in Niles, Michigan. He won his first match, defeating Kasper Parlklo of Illinois-Chicago 7-6(4) and 6-3. He returned to campus for his second match of the day, falling in a tight contest to Luis Heredia of Marquette (2-6, 6-7(8)).
Andrew Mariados and Conor Somers also competed for the Irish on day one of competition, slipping in the first round before Maridos came back to defeat Conor O’Meara of DePaul in a hard-fought three sets of consolation play (7-6, 5-7, 10-5).
Day two of competition begins at 8 a.m. Friday, with the final round of qualifying leading off the morning, followed by doubles play at noon at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Lakeland Athletic Club will feature a similar schedule, with three rounds of doubles following the last round of singles qualifiers.
Rayl will take the court at 8 a.m. against Raul Teichmann of Cleveland State. The Irish also have six doubles teams competing tomorrow in William Howells/Alex Lebedev, Johnathan Smalls/Conor Somers, Grayson Broadus/Matt Gamble, Guillermo Cabrera/Daniel Rayl, Paul Gota/Nathan Griffin and Richard Ciamarra/Tristan McCormick. Howells/Lebedev and Ciamarra/McCormick have a bye in the first round and will begin action in round two tomorrow afternoon.–ND–