Jan. 20, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 12th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team started the dual-match season off with two wins Sunday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion as the Irish defeated both Penn State and Toledo. Notre Dame beat Penn State 5-2 and continued on to sweep Toledo, 7-0.
The Irish took two doubles matches early on in the competition to take a 1-0 lead over Penn State. Junior Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, KS) and senior Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, NE) earned their third doubles victory of the season, improving their record to 3-2 with an 8-6 victory over Adam Slagter and Eddie Bouchier of Penn State. The other Notre Dame victory came from junior Andrew Roth (Houston, TX) and Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, OH) when they defeated Michael James and James Dwyer of the Nittany Lions 8-4. Roth and Havens’ record now sits at 2-0.
Notre Dame’s lead continued to grow as Helgeson, ranked 12th nationally in singles action, won his match over James, who is currently the No. 51 player in singles competition. Helgeson took the win in two sets, 6-1 and 7-5, to improve his record to 16-1.
Other singles wins came from Parbhu (6-4, 6-4) at the No. 2 spot, Roth (7-5, 6-2) at the No. 3 spot and Dan Stahl (3-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (9)) at the No. 6 spot. Parbhu’s victory put Notre Dame ahead, 4-1, and clinched the win for the Irish.
Later in the evening, Notre Dame matched up with Toledo, continuing a win streak from the previous match. As in earlier competition, the Irish started off with a point in doubles action. Helgeson and Parbhu dominated their competition, taking the team of Chris Clark and Wade Ward from Toledo and defeating them, 8-1. Freshman Tyler Davis (Nashville, TN) and junior Santiago Montoya (Austin, TX) pulled out the other doubles win for Notre Dame, 8-4.
Notre Dame went on to get wins in singles from Parbhu (6-2, 6-3), Helgeson (6-3, 6-4), freshman David Anderson (6-2, 1-6, 6-3), Havens (6-4, 6-4), Stahl (6-4, 7-5) and Davis (6-3, 6-1). The victory bumped the Irish dual-match record to 2-0 on the season.
The Irish return to action next Sunday when they play host to top-ranked Virginia at noon at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
NOTRE DAME 5, PENN STATE 2SinglesNo. 1 - #12 Brett Helgeson (ND) def. #51 Michael James (PSU) - 6-1, 7-5No. 2 - Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Adam Slagter (PSU) - 6-4, 6-4No. 3 - Andrew Roth (ND) def. Eddie Bouchier (PSU) - 7-5, 6-2No. 4 - Brendan Lynch (PSU) def. Stephen Havens (ND) - 6-3, 6-2No. 5 - Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. David Anderson (ND) - 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)No. 6 - Dan Stahl (ND) def. James Dwyer (PSU) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (11-9)
DoublesNo. 1 - Parbhu/Helgeson (ND) def. Slagter/Bouchier (PSU) - 8-6No. 2 - Roth/Havens (ND) def. James/Dwyer (PSU) - 8-4No. 3 - Lynch/Gormley (PSU) def. Montoya/Davis (ND) - 8-7
NOTRE DAME 7, TOLEDO 0SinglesNo. 1 - Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Jared Miller (TOL) - 6-2, 6-3No. 2 - #12 Brett Helgeson (ND) def. Chris Clark (TOL) - 6-3, 6-4No. 3 - David Anderson (ND) def. Sven Burus (TOL) - 6-2, 1-6, 6-3No. 4 - Stephen Havens (ND) def. Tyler Sonkin (TOL) - 6-4, 6-4No. 5 - Dan Stahl (ND) def. Knut Likitkumchorn (TOL) - 6-4, 7-5No. 6 - Tyler Davis (ND) def. Wade Ward (TOL) - 6-3, 6-1
DoublesNo. 1 - Parbhu/Helgeson (ND) def. Clark/Ward (TOL) - 8-1No. 2 - Miller/Likitkumchorn (TOL) def. Roth/Havens (ND) - 8-6No. 3 - Montoya/Davis (ND) def. Burus/Harika (TOL) - 8-4
–ND–