Jan. 27, 2007
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 13 Notre Dame men’s tennis team rebounded from its season opening loss to #8 Virginia Friday with a 7-0 thrashing of William & Mary on Saturday night. The Irish even their record at 1-1, while the Tribe drop to 0-2.
Notre Dame swept the three doubles matches to grab an early 1-0 lead. Sheeva Parbhu (Jr./Omaha, NE) and Ryan Keckley (Sr./South Bend, IN), ranked #11 in the most recent ITA poll, improved to 16-5 with an 8-5 victory over #30 Colin O’Brien and Alex Cojanu. Barry King (Sr./Dublin, Ireland) and Brett Helgeson (So./Overland Park, KS) knocked off Richard Wardell and Marwan Ramadan, 8-6, at No. 2. Stephen Bass (Sr./Bronxville, NY) and Andrew Roth (Jr./Houston, TX) sealed the sweep after squeaking past Kavi Sud and Keziel Juneau, 9-8.
Notre Dame had little trouble in singles action. The Irish won all six matches, including five in straight sets. Playing at No. 2, Bass (12-7, 1-1) cruised past O’Brien, 6-2, 6-1. Keckley (10-2, 2-0) routed Ramadan, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 3 and Helgeson (9-4, 1-1) blasted Juneau, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 4.
King (12-5, 1-1) and Roth (9-6, 1-1) also were victorious at No. 5 and No. 6, but neither came easily. King got past Alexander Zuck, 6-1, 7-6 (6), and Roth held off Wardell, 7-6 (1), 7-5.
#30 Parbhu knocked off #49 Cojanu in three sets at No. 1. Parbhu took the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3) and Cojan rebounded to the claim the second, 6-3, but Parbhu took the decisive third set in a super tiebreak, 10-5.
Notre Dame returns to action Monday afternoon for its home opener against Indiana. First-serve is scheduled for 4 p.m.
NOTRE DAME 7, WILLIAM & MARY 0
Singles
No. 1 – #30 Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. #49 Alex Cojanu (W&M) – 7-6(3), 3-6, 10-5
No. 2 – #14 Stephen Bass (ND) def. Colin O’Brien (W&M) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 – Ryan Keckley (ND) def. Marwan Ramadan (W&M) – 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 – Brett Helgeson (ND) def. Keziel Juneau (W&M) – 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 – Barry King (ND) def. Alex Zuck (W&M) – 6-4, 7-6(6)
No. 6 – Andrew Roth (ND) def. Richard Wardell (W&M) – 7-6(1), 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 – #11 Keckley/Parbhu (ND) def. #30 O’Brien/Cojanu (W&M) – 8-5
No. 2 – King/Helgeson (ND) def. Wardell/Ramadan (W&M) – 8-6
No. 3 – Bass/Roth (ND) def. Juneau/Sud (W&M) – 9-8(3)
— ND —