Feb. 18, 2018
By Joanne Norell
SEATTLE – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team came up short Sunday in its final match at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, falling to No. 20 Duke in a 4-3 heartbreaker.
The No. 22 Irish (7-3) went up to a 3-0 lead over the Blue Devils (7-4), but were unable to convert a clinching point in the non-conference match-up with their Atlantic Coast Conference counterpart.
The doubles point went to the Irish, who won on Courts 2 and 3 to clinch the early advantage. Richard Ciamarra and Matt Gamble defeated Nicolas Alvarez and Catalin Mateas 6-3 at No. 2, followed by Brendon Kempin and Tristan McCormick‘s 6-4 victory over Sean Sculley and Nick Stackowiak at No. 1.
Gamble and Ciamarra were equally quick in singles, as Gamble turned in a swift 6-0, 6-1 victory over Ryan Dickerson at No. 5, and Ciamarra followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sculley at No. 4.
The four remaining matches each went to three sets, however, with the Irish unable to find that final point. Junior Grayson Broadus fought Jason Lapidus into a third-set tiebreaker on Court 6, which at one point stood at 6-6, but Lapidus eked out a 6-0, 2-6, 7-6(6) victory. McCormick fell to Stackowiak 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 on Court 3, while the 53rd-ranked Alvarez defeated No. 28 Alex Lebedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Court 1. Sophomore Guillermo Cabrera forced a third-set tiebreaker against Mateas on Court 2, breaking the Blue Devil at 5-6 in the third, but Mateas pulled away in the breaker for a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(4) decision to give Duke the 4-3 win.
Up Next
The Irish will return home next weekend for three matches, facing No. 13 Michigan at 5 p.m. ET Friday and No. 2 Ohio State and Toledo in a doubleheader Sunday.
No. 20/20 Duke 4, No. 22/16 Notre Dame 3
Feb. 18, 2018
Seattle Tennis Club
Seattle, Wash.
Singles
1. No. 53 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. No. 28 Alex Lebedev (ND) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Catalin Mateas (DU) def. No. 118 Guillermo Cabrera (ND) 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(4)
3. Nick Stackowiak (DU) def. Tristan McCormick (ND) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
4. Richard Ciamarra (ND) def. Sean Sculley (DU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Matt Gamble (ND) def. Ryan Dickerson (DU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Jason Lapidus (DU) def. Grayson Broadus (ND) 6-0, 2-6, 7-6(6)
Doubles
1. Brendon Kempin / Tristan McCormick (ND) def. Sean Sculley / Nick Stackowiak (DU) 6-4
2. Richard Ciamarra / Matt Gamble (ND) def. Nicolas Alvarez / Catalin Mateas (DU) 6-3
3. Grayson Broadus / Guillermo Cabrera (ND) vs. Ryan Dickerson / Jason Lapidus (DU) 5-6, unfinished
–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 and fencing programs, in addition to assisting with football communications and 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.