Nov. 13, 2013
By Staci Gasser
The University of Notre Dame Men’s Tennis team’s 2013 five-star recruit Eddy Covalschi is one of two freshmen making an impact on the courts this season.
Covalschi, along with fellow freshman Josh Hagar, started the fall season winning all four of their singles matches at the Bobby Bayliss Invitational and each won a doubles match.
“Eddy has made the transition to Notre Dame seamlessly,” head coach Ryan Sachire says. “He has had a very good fall season on the court and has adjusted to our team environment very well. Eddy has an extremely bright future ahead of him, and we are expecting him to play an integral role in our program over the next four years.”
Covalschi’s record as of now is 7-4, a record he’s proud of for his first season as a Division I collegiate tennis player. He feels he is making huge improvements in his game since he arrived at Notre Dame.
“College tennis has a lot more to do with the mental side of the game than the physical side,” he explains. “Everyone that plays college tennis can hit the ball at a high level, but not everyone is mentally strong enough to compete at high level through out the whole match.”
One thing Covalschi has an advantage of is the familiarity of playing indoor tennis. The Shelby Township, Mich. native has grown up playing indoor tennis and hasn’t had to adjust to the faster game like many of his western and southern teammates did.
And being close to home was one of Notre Dame’s many appeals for Covalschi. He committed to the program early in his high school senior year over Ohio State, Michigan, Northwestern, Illinois and Cornell.
The two aspects of Covalschi’s game that set him apart in the recruiting process were his physical explosiveness and his ability to hurt opponents off of both the forehand and backhand swings. Those techniques helped him win the Division I state tennis championship and finish with an undefeated 22-0 season in high school. He also trained with elite private coaches Tom Walker and Grant Asher.
Now, Covalschi is enjoying being a part of an elite and supportive team as he transitions into college life. He hopes to see the Irish become top ten team this season and have a chance to win a national championship while personally, he aspires to become an All-American and win a national championship in his next four years. He is also planning on majoring in finance.
“I am looking forward to becoming the best tennis player I can become by working hard everyday and graduating with a great degree from Notre Dame.”
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