March 5, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 27 University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team picked up a hard-fought 4-1 home victory over No. 13 Illinois Tuesday evening inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
“This was a great college tennis match tonight,” said head coach Bobby Bayliss. “I talk my hat off to Illinois. They fought awfully hard. We served for the match twice on two different courts and they came back and broke us. I’m really proud of our guys. I thought we competed hard, the best we have all year and we are excited with the win.”
After trailing 1-0 coming out of the doubles portion of the competition, Illinois knotted up the score 1-1 after No. 38 Jared Hiltzik defeated No. 97 Greg Andrews, 6-4, 6-4.
Notre Dame regained control of the match following Michael Moore’s 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Bruno Abdelnour. The Irish extended their lead to 3-1 after Wyatt McCoy posted a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) triumph over Farris Gosea.
The overall team competition was finally decided after a long back-and-forth battle on singles court number four. After a disappointing loss in the first set, Billy Pecor rallied in the second, jumping out to 3-0 lead. Pecor’s lead was erased by the Illini’s Ross Guignon, forcing the set into a tiebreaker, which Pecor held on to win 7-6 (7-4). In the third set, Pecor once again sprung out to a 3-0 lead and this time went on to win the set, 6-1, to clinch the match for the Irish.
With the overall team score set at 4-1 in favor of the Irish and the competition length nearing the four-hour mark, the last two remaining matches were stopped early. Quentin Monaghan held a 2-1 lead in the third set of his match and Blas Moros was trailing 3-4 in the third set before both of the matches were stopped.
On the No. 3 doubles court, Matt Dooley and Quentin Monaghan used the momentum from an initial 4-1 lead to carry themselves to an 8-5 defeat of Bruno Abdelnour and Jared Hiltzik. With the win, Dooley and Monaghan record their first victory together in the dual season.
The Irish’s number two pairing of Alex Lawson and Billy Pecor found themselves in a hole early as they went down 3-1. The pairing tied the match up at 4-4 and would eventually break out late, winning the match 8-5 over Farris Gosea and Alex Jesse.
Greg Andrews and Spencer Talmadge got off to a comfortable 4-1 lead to start their match. However, their opponents Tim Kopinski and Ross Guigon cut the lead to one before the match was ruled unfinished due to Notre Dame victories on courts one and two.
FINAL RESULTS
DOUBLES
1) Greg Andrews / Spencer Talmadge (ND) vs. Tim Kopinski / Ross Guignon (ILL) 4-3, unfinished
2) Alex Lawson / Billy Pecor (ND) def. Farris Gosea / Alex Jesse (ILL) 8-5
3) Matt Dooley / Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. Bruno Abdelnour / Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 38 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) def. No. 97 Greg Andrews (ND) 6-4, 6-4
2) Quentin Monaghan (ND) vs. Stephen Hoh (ILL) 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 2-1, unfinished
3) No. 102 Blas Moros (ND) vs. No. 113 Tim Kopinski (ILL) 6-4, 5-7, 3-4, unfinished
4) Billy Pecor (ND) def. No. 118 Ross Guignon (ILL) 2-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1
5) Wyatt McCoy (ND) def. Farris Gosea (ILL) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
6) Michael Moore (ND) def. Bruno Abdelnour (ILL) 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 5, 4
–ND–