Oct. 22, 2005
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A pair of doubles teams from the University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team won opening-round matches on Friday at the University of Michigan’s Varsity Tennis Center in the main draw of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Championships. The Irish also had a pair of doubles teams fall in the first round, plus two singles players fail in their attempts to qualify for the main draw in singles.
The teams of senior captain Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) and freshman Santiago Montoya (Scottsdale, Ariz./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]), as well as sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) and freshman Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West H.S.) both moved into the round of 32 of the doubles main draw. The latter squad beat Brett Taylor and Bart van Monsjou of Iowa by an 8-6 score, while Buchanan and Montoya prevailed 8-4 against Mourad Filho Nabil and Nzudie Landry of Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. Buchanan and Montoya will next face the 13th-seeded squad of Marc Spicijaric and Monte Tucker from Illinois. The ND senior is 4-0 this season in doubles. Parbhu and Helgeson – now 3-0 as a team – will next take on the fifth-seeded squad of Bryan Koniecko and Ross Wilson from Ohio State.
Irish senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) and junior Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./Penn H.S.), the No. 7 seed in the draw, were upset in the opening round of play in a 9-7 decision against Adam Monich and Chris Rinks from Michigan State. Junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and sophomore Andrew Roth (Houston, Texas/Tenney School) lost 8-6 to the sixth-seeded duo of Ruben Gonzales and Ryan Rowe from Illinois.
Also on Friday, Roth and Yuichi Uda (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Laurel Springs School [CA]) failed in their bids to qualify for the singles main draw. Roth, the No. 15 seed in qualifying, beat Scott Bruckmann of Michigan 6-1, 6-2, but then lost 7-5, 6-3 to Western Michigan’s Alex Birchmeier in the qualifying round. Uda dropped a 6-3, 6-2 decision in the second round to Eric Hodgman of Purdue.
The Irish already have six players – fourth-seeded junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School), fifth-seeded sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.), 10th-seeded senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.), 12th-seeded freshman Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West H.S.), senior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.), and junior Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./Penn H.S.) – in the singles main draw of the Midwest Championships, which begins Saturday. No other school has a pair of top-five seeds, nor a trio of top-10 seeds, nor even a quartet of top-20 seeds.
ITA Midwest Championships (October 21)Singles - Qualifying[15] Andrew Roth (ND) def. Scott Bruckmann (Michigan) 6-1, 6-2 - second roundEric Hodgman (Purdue) def. Yuichi Uda (ND) 6-3, 6-2 - second roundAlex Birchmeier (Western Michigan) def. [15] Andrew Roth (ND) 7-5, 6-3 - qualifying roundDoubles - Main DrawAdam Monich/Chris Rinks (Michigan State) def. [7] Ryan Keckley/Eric Langenkamp (ND) 9-7 - first roundPatrick Buchanan/Santiago Montoya (ND) def. Mourad Filho Nabil/Nzudie Landry (IPFW) 8-4 - first round[6] Ruben Gonzales/Ryan Rowe (Illinois) def. Stephen Bass/Andrew Roth (ND) 8-6 - first roundBrett Helgeson/Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Brett Taylor/Bart van Monsjou (Iowa) 8-6 - first round
Note: Numbers in brackets are seedings. Numbers preceding names are ITA national rankings.