Sept. 18, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team continued its outstanding singles play, winning going 21-5 (including two losses in match tiebreakers) in singles on Friday at the Courtney Tennis Center on the second day of the Tom Fallon Invitational. Five Irish players – including sophomores Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) and Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School), who both gained their first career wins against ranked foes – went undefeated in both singles and doubles play on the day, which saw all 14 student-athletes on Notre Dame’s roster compete.
The Irish, who split their roster into two teams (ND Blue and ND Gold), won six of seven singles matches against Purdue, five of six vs. Maryland, four of five against Drake, and five of seven vs. William & Mary. Notre Dame lost two of three doubles contests with the Terps and dropped three of four vs. the Tribe.
King, who played mostly No. 5 for the Irish as a rookie and accrued a 17-11 overall record, defeated William & Mary’s top player, #26 Jeff Kader, 6-4, 6-1. Prior to that match, he had never played against an opponent ranked among the top 60 in the nation. That match came after he handled Purdue’s No. 4 player from ’04, Sounak Chatterjee, 6-3, 6-3 earlier in the day. In doubles, King teamed with freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) to defeat Colin O’Brien and Matthew Rubenstein of William & Mary 8-4. Parbhu defeated Colin Foster of Purdue 6-0, 6-3 and then downed O’Brien 6-1, 6-2 in singles action.
Bass, playing a ranked player for just the second time in his collegiate career, upset #56 Paul Rose of Purdue 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4) for his first career ranked win. Bass, who was 22-7 as a rookie en route to being voted a team co-MVP, then registered another match tiebreaker win, defeating William & Mary’s No. 2 player from 2004, Sean Kelleher, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, 1-0 (10-6).
In addition to King and Parbhu, junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) and freshman Andrew Roth (Houston, Texas/Tenney School) also won a pair of singles contests and then were victorious in their only doubles tilt.
Buchanan dropped just four games in four sets of singles play, first defeating Jonathan Tishler of Drake 6-0, 6-1 before topping Maryland’s Dave Reichsfield 6-0, 6-3. In doubles, he teamed with Roth to beat the Terrapins’ Troy Demers and Ian Bliss 8-5. Roth won his first two collegiate singles matches, first downing Purdue’s Chris Cozad 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 and then topping Alexandru Cojanu of William & Mary 6-3, 6-1.
Four other Notre Dame players – seniors Jimmy Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School), Nick Chimerakis (West Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School), and Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) and junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) – were unbeaten in singles before losing in doubles.
Chimerakis, a former walk-on who is now one of Notre Dame’s co-captains, registered his first two career victories, defeating Purdue’s Matt Zollman 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7) and another Boilermaker, Eric Hodgman – who played No. 6 singles a year ago – 6-4, 6-2.
Jimmy Bass beat Chris Lueth of Drake 6-2, 6-1 and then topped Maryland’s Scott Fink – who played No. 4 for the Terps in ’04 – 7-5, 6-1. D’Amico beat Drake’s Sergi Vila 6-3, 6-2 and then downed Maryland’s top player, Troy Demers, 6-2, 6-2. Langenkamp had a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 1-0 (10-3) win against Drake’s Jack Frankowicz before beating Maryland’s Ian Bliss 6-0, 6-2.
Other singles winners for Notre Dame were sophomores Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) and Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) and freshman Yuichi Uda (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Laurel Springs School [CA]). The Austria native defeated Filip Koziell of Purdue 6-1, 6-4, while Keckley downed Maryland’s Josh Brauser 6-1, 6-2, and Uda beat William & Mary’s Matthew Rubenstein 6-4, 6-4 for his first collegiate victory.
The Irish now hold a 26-8 record in singles action in two days of the 2004-05 season, with five of the losses coming in match tiebreakers. Doubles remained a concern for the Irish, as they lost five of seven matches to make their record 2-9 in two days of partnered play at the Tom Fallon Invitational.
Saturday will feature competition beginning at 9 a.m. (EST) and ending around 4 p.m. at the Courtney Tennis Center, with all five teams seeing significant action. The Irish will split their roster into two groups – ND Blue and ND Gold – meaning Notre Dame players will be on the court virtually constantly.
The Tom Fallon Invitational is named after legendary former Irish tennis coach Tom Fallon, who compiled a 514-194 (.726) record in 31 years leading the program, winning the 1959 national championship. He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1988. Fallon began the tradition of a fall tennis season, starting the Irish Invitational in 1970. The tournament was renamed in his honor when he retired in 1987 and is being played for the 36th consecutive fall. The TFI features a “hidden dual” format, in which teams play simulated dual matches against each other, but no team scores are recorded. All individual results are counted for ranking purposes.
Singles
Stephen Bass (ND) d. #56 Paul Rose (P) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4)
Barry King (ND) d. Sounak Chatterjee (P) 6-3, 6-3
Sheeva Parbhu (ND) d. Colin Foster (P) 6-0, 6-3
Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) d. Filip Koziell (P) 6-1, 6-4
Andrew Roth (ND) d. Chris Cozad (P) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
Scott Warner (P) d. Yuichi Uda (ND) 6-4, 7-5
Nick Chimerakis (ND) d. Matt Zollman (P) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Brent D’Amico (ND) d. Sergi Vila (D) 6-3, 6-2
Eric Langenkamp (ND) d. Jack Frankowicz (D) 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 1-0 (10-3)
Patrick Buchanan (ND) d. Jonathan Tishler (D) 6-0, 6-1
Dalibor Pavic (D) d. Ryan Keckley (ND) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
Jimmy Bass (ND) d. Chris Lueth (D) 6-2, 6-1
Stephen Bass (ND) d. Sean Kelleher (W&M) 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, 1-0 (10-6)
Barry King (ND) d. #26 Jeff Kader (W&M) 6-4, 6-1
Sheeva Parbhu (ND) d. Colin O’Brien (W&M) 6-1, 6-2
Kavi Sud (W&M) d. Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9)
Andrew Roth (ND) d. Alexandru Cojanu (W&M) 6-3, 6-1
Yuichi Uda (ND) d. Matthew Rubenstein (W&M) 6-4, 6-4
Stephen Ward (W&M) d. Brandon Pierpont (ND) 6-1, 6-0
Brent D’Amico (ND) d. Troy Demers (M) 6-2, 6-2
Eric Langenkamkp (ND) d. Ian Bliss (M) 6-0, 6-2
Patrick Buchanan (ND) d. Dave Reichsfield (M) 6-0, 6-3
Ryan Keckley (ND) d. Josh Brauser (M) 6-1, 6-2
Jimmy Bass (ND) d. Scott Fink (M) 7-5, 6-1
John O’Rourke (M) d. Brandon Pierpont (ND) 6-0, 6-3
Nick Chimerakis (ND) d. Eric Hodgman (P) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
Patrick Buchanan/Andrew Roth (ND) d. Troy Demers/Ian Bliss (M) 8-5
Dave Reichsfield/Mike Coleman (M) d. Jimmy Bass/Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) 8-4
Josh Brauser/John O’Rourke (M) d. Peter Graham/Nick Chimerakis (ND) 8-5
Stephen Ward/Sean Kelleher (W&M) d. Brent D’Amico/Eric Langenkamp (ND) 8-6
Barry King/Sheeva Parbhu (ND) d. Colin O’Brien/Matthew Rubenstein (W&M) 8-4
Alexandru Cojanu/#26 Jeff Kader (W&M) d. Jimmy Bass/Ryan Keckley (ND) 8-4
Kavi Sud/Peter Szewczyk (W&M) d. Yuichi Uda/Brandon Pierpont (ND)