April 17, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team saw strong showings at doubles and from the bottom of its singles lineup, but it wasn’t enough to push past No. 12 Wake Forest on Friday, as the 36th-ranked Fighting Irish fell 4-3 at the Courtney Tennis Center.
Notre Dame (13-10, 5-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) got off to a fast start, as 12th-ranked doubles duo Alex Lawson and Billy Pecor notched one of their biggest wins of the season over No. 10 Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim, 8-5. The pair got the first break to go up 5-2, and when the Demon Deacons pulled within 5-4, they tallied a second break and never looked back. On Court 3, Dougie Barnard and Quentin Monaghan clinched the doubles point for the Irish with an 8-6 win over Keivon Tabriz and Romain Bogaerts.
It was all Wake Forest (19-6, 9-3 ACC) as singles commenced, however, as the Demon Deacons grabbed straight-set wins on Courts 1 through 4 to secure the match, their first win in the all-time series between the programs (ND leads 4-1).
At No. 1, ninth-ranked Quentin Monaghan saw his 12-match winning streak snapped as No. 17 Noah Rubin won 6-1, 6-2. It was just the third loss of the dual season for Monaghan, who has tallied career highs in overall and dual match wins this season.
Wake Forest took a 3-1 lead with three straight singles wins before the Irish answered. Lawson rallied from a 4-1 first-set deficit to overcome Seraphim 7-5, 6-1 on Court 5 for his third victory in a row. The Demon Deacons clinched in the next complete match as No. 10 Bogaerts defeated Josh Hagar 6-3, 6-1.
Kenneth Sabacinski contributed the final Irish point, closing out the match with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 win over Maksim Kan on Court 6.
The Irish return to the Courtney Tennis Center for the final time this season for a 2 p.m. EDT match against N.C. State on Saturday. A short ceremony honoring the team’s seniors will take place following the match. For the latest Irish tennis updates, follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter and like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.
No. 12 Wake Forest 4, No. 37 Notre Dame 3
SINGLES
1. No. 17 Noah Rubin (WF) def. No. 9 Quentin Monaghan (ND), 6-1, 6-2
2. No. 10 Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. Josh Hagar (ND), 6-3, 6-1
3. No. 83 Jon Ho (WF) def. Eddy Covalschi (ND), 6-3, 6-2
4. Skander Mansouri (WF) def. Billy Pecor (ND), 6-2, 6-2
5. Alex Lawson (ND) def. Christian Seraphim (WF), 7-5, 6-1
6. Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Maksim Kan (WF), 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
DOUBLES
1. No. 12 Alex Lawson / Billy Pecor (ND) def. No. 10 Skander Mansouri / Christian Seraphim (WF), 8-5
2. No. 30 Josh Hagar / Eddy Covalschi (ND) v. Jon Ho / Noah Rubin (WF), 6-5, unfinished
3. Dougie Barnard / Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. Keivon Tabrizi / Romain Bogaerts (WF), 8-6
Joanne Norell, Media Relations Assistant
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