April 13, 2009
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Irish men’s tennis team closed out its regular season on a high note, defeating in-state rival Ball State on Monday afternoon, 7-0. With the win, the 20th-ranked Irish improve to 12-10 on the season while the Cardinals of Ball State are now 11-10 on the year.
It was a dominant day for Notre Dame, as the Irish swept doubles play and won in straight sets at five of the six singles positions. The victory was particularly special as it proved to be Notre Dame’s 400th under head coach Bobby Bayliss, who is in the midst of his 22nd season with the Irish.
At first singles in Notre Dame’s win over Ball State, 24th-ranked Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) downed Jose Perdomo, 6-2, 6-3 to improve to 11-9 on the season. At second singles, 124th-ranked sophomore Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) recorded his ninth singles win, as he knocked off Eduardo Pavia, 6-4, 7-5. Freshman Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) made his seventh consecutive start at third singles, downing Cliff Morrison, 6-1, 6-4.
At the No. 4 position, sophomore Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) defeated Andres Monroy, 6-3, 7-5 to improve to 11-7 on the dual season, including a 5-1 mark at fourth singles. At fifth singles, Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan) recorded his third consecutive singles win (dating back to March 28 versus South Florida as he did not appear in the singles lineup versus Illinois). Davis beat Ball State’s Jorge Rodriguez, 7-5,5-7 (10-7). Rounding out singles play, freshman Samuel Keeton (Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School) defeated Shaun Bussert, 6-3, 6-3. It was Keeton’s first singles start since playing against Wisconsin on March 1. He improved to 7-3 on the year.
At first doubles, 23rd-ranked Helgeson and Davis took out Ball State’s team of Perdomo and Zane Smith, 8-4. At second doubles, Havens and Watt combined to defeat Pavia and Monroy, 8-5. At third singles, Stahl teamed with senior Santiago Montoya (Austin, Texas/St. Stephen’s Episcopal) to down Jorge Rodriguez and Derek Carpenter, 8-4.
With the regular season slate now complete, Notre Dame will head to Tampa, Fla. for the 2009 BIG EAST Championship. The Irish enter the tournament as the second seed and they will face seventh-seeded Georgetown on Friday, April 17 at 9:00 a.m.
Last season, Bayliss was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season and the seventh time in the last 11 years. To date at Notre Dame, Bayliss has posted a 400-191 record (.677), giving him a career Division I head coaching record of 691-296-1 (.700) over 39 seasons. He has helped Irish players earn All-America honors on 20 occasions. His squads have won 17 league championships and finished in the national top-20 in 12 different seasons.
“I would like to thank the people I worked with along the way at Notre Dame including Gene Corrigan, who hired me, as well as Dick Rosenthal, Mike Wadsworth, Kevin White and now Jack Swarbrick,” said Bayliss about achieving the milestone. “They, along with Missy Conboy, have helped give me the opportunity to hold what I consider to be the best head coaching job in collegiate tennis. I have also had the privilege to work with several outstanding assistant coaches who make winning a lot easier including current associate head coach Ryan Sachire, who is, in my opinion, the top assistant coach in the country. But more important than the 400 wins, I am extremely excited about the future of our young team as we look forward to postseason play.”
Ball State vs. Notre DameApr 13, 2009 at Muncie, Ind.#20 Notre Dame 7, Ball State 0
Singles competition1. #24 Brett Helgeson (UND) def. Jose Perdomo (BSU) 6-2, 6-32. #124 Stephen Havens (UND) def. Eduard Pavia (BSU) 6-4, 7-53. Casey Watt (UND) def. Cliff Morrison (BSU) 6-1, 6-34. Daniel Stahl (UND) def. Andres Monroy (BSU) 6-3, 7-55. Tyler Davis (UND) def. Jorge Rodriguez (BSU) 5-7, 7-5, 10-76. Samuel Keeton (UND) def. Shaun Bussert (BSU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition1. #23 Brett Helgeson/Tyler Davis (UND) def. Jose Perdomo/Zane Smith (BSU) 8-42. Stephen Havens/Casey Watt (UND) def. Eduard Pavia/Andres Monroy (BSU) 8-53. Daniel Stahl/Santiago Montoya (UND) def. Jorge Rodriguez/Derek Carpenter (BSU) 8-4
Match NotesNotre Dame 12-10; National ranking #20Ball State 11-10
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