May 3, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame men’s tennis sophomore Greg Andrews (Richland, Mich.) has been chosen to compete in the 2012 NCAA Singles Championship May 23-28 at the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens, Ga., it was announced Wednesday evening. Seniors Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa.) and Niall Fitzgerald(Wicklow, Ireland) will represent the Irish in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
This is the 6th year in a row that the Irish have had at least one player selected to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship and the first time since Sheeva Parbhu and Ryan Keckleyqualified in ’07 that the Irish will be represented in the doubles tournament.
Sixty-four singles players and 32 doubles teams are selected for the NCAA Championships. The full list of singles and doubles players can be found at www.ncaa.com.
Automatic qualification in the singles championship was awarded to any conference with one or more eligible singles players ranked in the ITA Top 125 for eligible/entered singles players. All singles players must have recorded a minimum of 13 completed singles matches in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection.
Automatic qualification into the doubles championship was awarded to any conference with one or more eligible doubles teams ranked in the ITA Top 60 for eligible/entered doubles teams. All doubles teams must have recorded a minimum of 10 completed doubles matches in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection.
This is the first selection to the NCAA Singles Championship for Andrews, who earned the BIG EAST’s automatic berth. The sophomore concluded the year with a record of 34-8 and ended the season on a nine-match winning streak, helping him climb to 57th in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. Of those 34 victories, six came against nationally-ranked opposition.
Watt and Fitzgerald, meanwhile, earned the BIG EAST’s automatic bid in doubles after finishing the year ranked 55th with eight victories at the No. 1 court. The pairing also earned four victories against ranked opponents that were ranked in the final ITA doubles ranking before the beginning of the NCAA Tournament.
Before the singles and doubles tournament begins, the Irish will compete in the NCAA Team Championship, beginning May 11 with Notre Dame heading to Ohio State for first- and second-round matches in Columbus, Ohio. The fifth-seeded Buckeyes play host and face East Tennessee State with the Irish taking on Vanderbilt in their first round tilt.
–ND–