March 27, 2015
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — For the fifth time the season, the University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team found itself in a match that would be determined in the final singles match of the afternoon when they took on Miami on Friday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables. The Irish were .500 in such matches this season, but managed to pulled out some tough matches to snag the 4-3 victory over former the BIG EAST and current Atlantic Coast Conference rival Hurricanes.
The Irish (11-7, 3-3 ACC) locked up the doubles point as No. 9 Alex Lawson and Billy Pecor sailed to an easy 8-2 win over Nile Clark and Piotr Lomacki, and Dougie Barnard and Quentin Monaghan upended Bernard Tefel and Christian Langmo 8-6.
Monaghan proceeded to give the Irish a 2-0 lead as the ITA’s 17th-ranked singles player defeated No. 77 Lomacki in impressive fashion, 6-0, 6-1. The Hurricanes (6-10, 0-5 ACC) got two points back, though, as Tefel beat Brendon Kempin 6-1, 6-3 on Court 6 and Langmo defeated Covalschi at No. 2, 6-4, 6-4.
Kenneth Sabacinski gave the Irish back the lead with a close 7-5, 7-6(2) win over Clark in the No. 5 slot, but Miami pulled back even as Henrique Tsukamoto defeated Lawson in three sets, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
That left Hagar to battle with Wilfredo Gonzalez on Court 3. The Irish sophomore cruised to a 6-3 win in the first set, then battled back and forth in the second before closing out the 6-3, 6-4 win to clinch the match for Notre Dame.
The Irish will head north for their next match on Sunday against No. 32 Florida State (14-5, 3-2 ACC) at Speicher Tennis Center in Tallahassee, Florida. For the latest Irish tennis updates, follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter and like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.
No. 37 Notre Dame 4, Miami 3
SINGLES
1. No. 17 Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. No. 77 Piotr Lomacki (UM), 6-0. 6-1
2. Christian Langmo (UM) def. Eddy Covalschi (ND). 6-4, 6-4
3. Josh Hagar (ND) def. Wilfredo Gonzalez (UM), 6-4, 6-4
4. Henrique Tsukamoto (UM) def. Alex Lawson (ND), 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
5. Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Nile Clark (UM), 7-5. 7-6(2)
6. Bernard Tefel (UM) def. Brendon Kempin (ND), 6-1, 6-3
DOUBLES
1. No. 9 Alex Lawson / Billy Pecor (ND) def. Nile Clark / Piotr Lomacki (UM), 8-2
2. Wilfredo Gonzalez / Kevin Bondar (UM) def. No. 22 Eddy Covalschi / Josh Hagar (ND) 8-4
3. Dougie Barnard / Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. Bernard Tefel / Christian Langmo (UM), 8-6
Joanne Norell, Media Relations Assistant
–ND–