March 20, 2015
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Irish junior Quentin Monaghan provided the sunlight for the University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team on a chilly and overcast day Friday at the Courtney Tennis Center, even as the 36th-ranked Irish fell to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Virginia, 6-1.
Monaghan has been the undeniable leader for the Irish, providing a steady hand atop the Irish singles lineup. On Friday, he proved once again he deserves every bit of his No. 22 ITA ranking, upsetting Virginia’s No. 3 Ryan Shane in a gutsy 7-6(4), 6-3 affair.
“It feels pretty good to see hard work pay off in the results,” Monaghan said. “I think regardless of wins or losses, I try to approach every day the same, but when you get a nice win, it’s good for the confidence and emphasizes how important it is to keep working hard.”
Things appeared to be going south quickly for Monaghan at the outset, trailing 1-5 in the first set before making his move. In the next game, he secured a break, then used the momentum to tie the set and, then, take a 6-5 lead.
Shane fired back to force a tiebreaker, but from then it was all Monaghan, who went up 5-1 before finally locking it down for a 7-4 win to claim the set.
“He actually served for the win with the wind and I played kind of a loose game (to get the break) and was able to hold to get it to 5-3 and put some pressure on him and ended up playing a good game to break him again,” Monaghan said. “It was good to get the initial break back at 5-1 and go from there.”
Monaghan went on to take a 5-1 lead of his own in the second set. Shane picked up a break then held, but Monaghan put the match away on his second chance to serve for the win. He is now 12-2 on the season and has won four matches in a row.
Monaghan was also part of the only other Irish win of the afternoon, as he and Alex Lawson defeated JC Aragone and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski 8-3 at No. 2 doubles.
The Irish put together some tough fights, but were unable to get over the hump elsewhere. Josh Hagar battled No. 70 Collin Altamirano at No. 3 singles, forcing a second-set tiebreaker that would have forced a third set, but fell 6-4, 7-6(3). Kenneth Sabacinski forced three sets against JC Aragone at No. 5, but fell 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Nicolas Montoya led for most of the second set against Henrik Wiersholm, but could not complete the win and dropped 6-3, 7-5.
Virginia (11-3, 4-0 ACC) has not lost to an ACC opponent since April 23, 2006.
The Irish (8-7, 1-3 ACC) return to action at noon EDT on Sunday when they welcome Georgia Tech, and again at 6 p.m. EDT against IPFW at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. For the latest Irish tennis updates, follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter and like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.
No. 9 Virginia 6, No. 36 Notre Dame 1
SINGLES
1. No. 22 Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. No. 3 Ryan Shane (UVA), 7-6(4), 6-3
2. No. 27 Mitchell Frank (UVA) def. Eddy Covalschi (ND), 6-0, 6-1
3. No. 70 Collin Altamirano (UVA) def. Josh Hagar (ND), 6-4, 7-6(3)
4. No. 6 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVA) def. Alex Lawson (ND), 6-2, 6-1
5. JC Aragone (UVA) def. Kenneth Sabacinski (ND), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
6. Henrik Wiersholm (UVA) def. Nicolas Montoya (ND), 6-3, 7-5
DOUBLES
1. No. 19 Ryan Shane / Luca Corinteli (UVA) def. No. 14 Eddy Covalschi / Josh Hagar (ND), 8-5
2. Alex Lawson / Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. JC Aragone / Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVA), 8-3
3. Collin Altamirano / Mitchell Frank (UVA) def. Dougie Barnard / Michael Fredericka (ND), 8-0
Joanne Norell, Media Relations Assistant
–ND–