Sept. 27, 2002
BOSTON – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team continued its busy fall schedule by opening play in the Harvard Fall Invitational on Friday. The Irish are playing in their third tournament in as many weeks to open the 2002-03 season. Four Notre Dame players gained multiple wins on Friday, as Irish competitors played singles matches against Alabama before taking on Brown and Princeton in doubles action.
Juniors Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) and Ben Hatten (Potomac, Md.), as well as sophomore Peter Graham (Luxembourg) and freshman Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y.) each gained wins in singles against Crimson Tide opponents before teaming up to be victorious against doubles teams from Brown University.
Lopez-Acevedo defeated Michael Ray Pallares 6-4, 6-2, while Hatten downed Matt Drummond 6-4, 7-6 for his first singles victory of the fall. After not winning a match as a freshman, Graham improved to 4-1 in singles action this fall by beating Tim Givan 6-2, 6-2. Langenkamp continued his hot play in his first collegiate season with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) triumph over William Boyles to improve to 7-2 in singles contests.
In doubles matches against the Bears, Hatten and Lopez-Acevedo dropped Phil Charm and Chris Drake 8-5 to improve to 2-0 as a doubles team. Langenkamp and Graham defeated Ben Brier and Luke Tedaldi 9-7 for their second wins of the day. Junior tri-captains Luis Haddock (Caguas, Puerto Rico) and Matthew Scott (Oakton, Va.) continued their hot doubles play with a 9-7 win over Jamie Cerretani and Zack Pasanen. After a loss to a Princeton team later in the day, Haddock and Scott have a 5-2 record together this fall. Freshmen Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif.) and Sergey Leonyuk (Boca Raton, Fla.) also downed a Brown team, registering an 8-3 victory over Kris Goddard and Richard Moss. Buchanan is 3-0 in collegiate doubles action and 9-3 overall (singles and doubles combined), while Leonyuk picked up his first win at the college level after not competing in either of the two previous tournaments.
The Irish singles matches against the University of Alabama provided a reunion, as Crimson Tide head coach Billy Pate was an assistant at Notre Dame in each of the last two seasons before leaving in July to take the Alabama job. Pate was named 2002 National Assistant Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, becoming the first Irish assistant so honored.
Notre Dame will continue play in the Harvard Fall Invitational on Saturday, taking on Harvard players in singles at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) and then facing Princeton competitors in singles at 12:30 p.m. (EDT). Irish doubles teams will meet Alabama pairs at 3:00 p.m. (EDT).
Harvard Fall Invitational Results
Singles
Stephen Mitchell (Alabama) d. Luis Haddock (ND) 6-4, 6-4
Chris Gostek (A) d. #85 Matthew Scott (ND) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (12-10)
Geoff Hiscox (A) d. Patrick Buchanan (ND) 7-6, 6-4
Christian Broderson (A) d. Sergey Leonyuk (ND) 6-4, 6-3
Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (ND) d. Michael Ray Pallares (A) 6-4, 6-2
Eric Langenkamp (ND) d. William Boyles (A) 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
Paul McNaughton (ND) d. Bradley Friedman (A) 6-4, 6-0
Peter Graham (ND) d. Tim Givan (A) 6-2, 6-2
Ben Hatten (ND) d. Matt Drummond (A) 6-4, 7-6
Doubles
Nick Goldberg/Adil Shamasdin (Brown) d. Brent D’Amico/McNaughton (ND) 8-4
Haddock/Scott (ND) d. Jamie Cerratani/Zack Pasanen (B) 9-7
Hatten/Lopez-Acevedo (ND) d. Phil Charm/Chris Drake (B) 8-5
Graham/Langenkamp (ND) d. Ben Brier/Luke Tedaldi (B) 9-7
Buchanan/Leonyuk (ND) d. Kris Goddard/Richard Moss (B) 8-3
Josh Burman/Tim Kofol (Princeton) d. Haddock/Scott (ND) 8-4
Trevor Smith/Hans Plukas (P) d. Lopez-Acevedo/McNaughton (ND) 8-4
Darius Craton/David Gopstein (P) d. Graham/Hatten (ND) 8-4
Daniel Friedman/Andrew Lieu (P) d. Langenkamp/Leonyuk (ND) 8-4