Sept. 24, 2017
By Joanne Norell
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The final round of competition at the Crimson Tide 4-In-The-Fall tournament at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium, and University of Notre Dame men’s tennis players went 2-2 on the day with only one round of singles on the docket.
Freshman Paul Gota defeated junior Daniel Rayl in the Crimson flight, winning 6-4, 6-2. In the Houndstooth flight, junior Nathan Griffin downed Tulane’s Eric Wagner, 6-3, 6-2.
The Irish will be back in action beginning next Friday when pre-qualifying begins at the All-American Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Sophomores Matt Gamble and Guillermo Cabrera, junior Grayson Broadus and senior Brendon Kempin, will compete in singles pre-qualifying. Broadus and Kempin have been selected for doubles qualifying. Junior Alex Lebedev will compete in the singles main draw after winning a wild card entry by claiming the ITA Summer National Championship.
Crimson Tide 4-In-The-Fall
University of Alabama Tennis Stadium
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Sept. 22-24
Sunday
Crimson Singles Flight
Paul Gota (ND) def. Daniel Rayl (ND) 6-4, 6-2
Houndstooth Singles Flight
Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Eric Wagner (TUL) 6-3, 6-2
Turner Voges (MEM) def. Conor Somers (ND) 6-3, 6-3
Saturday
Crimson Singles Flight
Alexey Nesterov (ALA) def. Daniel Rayl (ND) 6-3, 7-6(4)
Kai Lemke (MEM) def. Paul Gota (ND) 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4)
Houndstooth Singles Flight
Matt Story (MEM) def. Conor Somers (ND) 6-1, 7-5
Terrance Whitehurst (FSU) def. Nathan Griffin (ND) 6-3, 6-3
Crimson Doubles Flight
Paul Gota / Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Jacob Eskeland / Oscar Janglin (RICE), 8-4
Jochen Bertsch / Jake Van Emburgh (OU) def. Paul Gota / Nathan Griffin (ND), 8-2
Houndstooth Doubles Flight
Jan Pallares / Turner Voges (MEM) def. Daniel Rayl / Conor Somers (ND), 8-5
Daniel Rayl / Conor Somers (ND) def. Ferran Calvo / James Davis (OU), 8-4
Friday
Crimson Singles Flight
First Round
Jose Gracia (FSU) def. Daniel Rayl (ND) 6-1, 6-2
Florian Broska (MSU) def. Paul Gota (ND) 6-3, 7-6(5)
Consolation Second Round
Daniel Rayl (ND) def. Caleb Chakravarthi (UI) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Paul Gota (ND) def. Chase Wood (FSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Houndstooth Singles Flight
First Round
Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Jacob Eskeland (RICE) 6-3, 6-2
Jake Van Emburgh (OU) def. Conor Somers (ND) 6-2, 6-3
Second Round
Edson Ortiz (ALA) def. Nathan Griffin (ND) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4
Consolation Second Round
Conor Somers (ND) def. Sam Fischer (ALA) 6-3, 6-4
Crimson Doubles Flight
First Round
Lemke/Story (MEM) def. Paul Gota / Nathan Griffin (ND) 8-2
Houndstooth Doubles Flight
First Round
Daniel Rayl / Conor Somers (ND) def. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz / Eric Rutledge (RICE) 8-2
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.