Sept. 22, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s tennis team splits up this weekend to compete in a pair of tournaments. Four student-athletes venture out to Napa Valley, Calif., for the elite Land Rover Napa Valley Tennis Classic, while nine stay at home and play host to the Tom Fallon Invitational.
The 11th Napa Valley Classic gets underway on Friday morning with round robin group matches. Set to battle with the nation’s best are Casey Watt, Greg Andrews, Samuel Keeton and Niall Fitzgerald.
Competing against the Irish are top players from California, UCLA, Tennessee, Tulsa and Vanderbilt. Each school provided four players, with eight top junior players completing the field.
The 32-player field is divided into eight groups with each group being composed of three college players and one junior player. After three singles matches, the eight group winners will face off in a single-elimination, 10-point tiebreak tournament to determine a champion. The winner will receive a U.S. Tennis Association-sponsored wild card into a USTA Pro Circuit event that is yet to be determined.
The Tom Fallon Invitational gets underway on Friday with matches beginning at 2 p.m. The Irish welcome Cleveland State, Illinois State, Marquette and Western Michigan to Courtney Tennis Center. Saturday and Sunday’s action begins at 9 a.m.
Expected to compete for the Irish at the invitational will be Ryan Bandy, Douglas Barnard, Daven Brodess, Michael Fredericka, Michael Moore, Blas Moros, Billy Pecor, Spencer Talmadge and Wyatt McCoy.
The invitational is named after legendary head coach Tom Fallon, who coached the Irish from 1957-87, compiling a record of 514-194 (.726). Fallon coached seven All-Americans and led Notre Dame to the 1959 National Championship. For his efforts, Fallon was inducted into the ITA Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988.
Complete results of the two tournaments will be available on UND.com at the conclusion of each day.
–ND–