May 11, 2011
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Notre Dame men’s tennis players seniors Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy), Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman), junior Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and freshman Greg Andrews (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake) were named to the 2011 All-BIG EAST team, while Andrews was also named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, it was announced by the league Wednesday afternoon.
Havens, a senior, earns his second BIG EAST honor, while this season marks Stahl’s third honor in his career. Watt is on pace to be a four-time All-BIG EAST selection as the junior received the honor for the third consecutive season. Andrews was name to the All-BIG EAST team, in addition to being selected as the Freshman of the Year.
The 2011 Men’s tennis All-BIG EAST team includes 13 student-athletes, while St. John’s Eric Rebhuhn was named the conference Coach of the Year and Austen Childs of Louisville and Lucas Jovita of USF were named the co-BIG EAST Players of the Year.
The all-BIG EAST selections are based on the complete season, as opposed to exclusively the tournament.
Watt, Havens, Stahl and Andrews have played the top four spots in the Irish lineup, leading the team to a 17-11 dual season record and a final ITA/Campbell ranking of No. 30. The Irish also finished runner-up to the Louisville Cardinals in the recent BIG EAST Championship, which was held in Notre Dame, Ind.
Watt received the honor after concluding the dual season, including the BIG EAST Championship with a record of 10-13 at first singles. The junior began the season teamed up with Andrews at third doubles where the tandem has a record of 10-3. Watt later moved to second doubles with Havens for a 6-4 record. In singles play, Havens posted an 8-11 record at No. 2 and also played at No. 1 doubles with Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan) and the pair was ranked as high as No. 28 during the season.
Stahl has spent much of the season at third singles and has a 16-6 record at third singles, and at one point during the season he had an eight-match winning streak, before Simon Childs of Louisville snapped the streak with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on April 23. Andrews has a 12-8 record at fourth singles and a 15-10 record overall, and hasn’t lost a singles match since falling to Matt Allare of Ohio State on April 13.
The Irish gear up to play East Tennessee State in the first round of the NCAAs Friday at 10:00 a.m. (ET) at the Stickney Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio.
BIG EAST Players of the Year
Austen Childs, Sr., Louisville
Lucas Jovita, Sr., USF
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Greg Andrews, Fr., Notre Dame
BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Eric Rebhuhn, St. John’s
All-BIG EAST Team
George Chanturia, Jr., DePaul
Austen Childs, Sr., Louisville
Simon Childs, Sr., Louisville
Viktor Maksimcuk, Sr., Louisville
Greg Andrews, Fr., Notre Dame
Stephen Havens, Sr., Notre Dame
Daniel Stahl, Sr., Notre Dame
Casey Watt, Jr., Notre Dame
Milo Hauk, Jr., St. John’s
Mike Lampa, So., St. John’s
Wael Kilani, Jr., USF
Lucas Jovita, Sr., USF
Frederico Sabogal, Fr., USF
–ND–