Feb. 24, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s tennis team defeated Purdue in impressive fashion Sunday afternoon inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish lost only one set all day and cruised to a 7-0 victory and improved their record to 9-3.
The doubles play was hotly contested and it appeared the Boilermakers might be able to steal a point from the home team. Notre Dame’s No. 1 duo of Sheeva Parbhu and Brett Helgeson were broken late in the match and trailed Branko Kuzmanovic and Slavko Bijelica of Purdue 6-5. But the Irish veterans broke right back and eventually prevailed in a tiebreaker 9-8 (8-6). The win improved the pair’s record to 8-4 this spring and completed a doubles sweep for the Irish.
Andrew Roth teamed with new partner Santiago Montoya to win a close 8-6 decision over P.J. Rose and Eric Ramos at No.2. The match featured 13 consecutive holds before an Irish break in the final game sealed the victory. The win was the second in as many matches for the Roth/Montoya team this season.
A pair of freshmen teamed together to earn the clinching doubles win for the Irish. Tyler Davis and Steven Havens broke Jose Fuenmayor and Griffin Nienberg at 2-2 and held serve the rest of the way and won 8-6. The freshmen, who were teamed together for the first time since the fall, ran their record to 6-3 as a doubles team.
After winning the doubles point, the Irish never looked back and dominated singles play. Five of the six wins came in straight sets and the final came in a match tie-breaker.
Brett Helgeson continued his dominance with an easy 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Branko Kuzmanovic at No. 1. The win was the junior’s seventh this spring and ran Helgeson’s record to a team best 22-4.
Irish captain Sheeva Parbhu made it 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Slavko Bijelica. His record stands at 9-2 this spring, with all of the wins coming at the No. 2 position.
Andrew Roth snapped his six-match losing streak by soundly defeating Rose 6-2, 6-2. The senior earned his fourth dual win of the season and stands at 7-10 on the year.
Three Irish freshman rounded out the scoring by earning wins at the four, five, and six singles positions. Havens notched his seventh win this spring with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) victory over Ramos. David Anderson broke a four match losing streak with a match tiebreak win over Griffin Nienberg. The Irish rookie rebounded from losing the second set to even his dual record at 5-5. Daniel Stahl continued his impressive singles play by earning his eighth win this spring against two losses. The freshman was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Paul Foley and improved his record to 19-5.
The Irish will have the week off before returning to the court Saturday when they travel to Champaign to face perennial power and 2007 NCAA runner-up Illinois. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 CST.
#12 Notre Dame 7, Purdue 0
Singles
No. 1: #32 Brett Helgeson (ND) d. Branko Kuzmanovic (PUR) 6-1, 6-1
No. 2: #73 Sheeva Parbhu (ND) d. Slavko Bijelica (PUR) 6-2, 6-1
No. 3: Andrew Roth (ND) d. P.J. Rose (PUR) 6-2, 6-2
No. 4: Stephen Havens (ND) d. Eric Ramos (PUR) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5)
No. 5: David Anderson (ND) d. Griffin Nienberg (PUR) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0
No. 6: Daniel Stahl (ND) d. Paul Foley (PUR) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3*, 6, 4, 5
Doubles
No. 1: Helgeson/Parbhu (ND) d. Bijelica/Kuzmanovic (PUR) 9-8 (8-6)
No. 2: Roth/Santiago Montoya (ND) d. Ramos/Rose (PUR) 8-6
No. 3: Havens/Tyler Davis (ND) d. Fuenmayor/Nienberg 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 3*, 1