April 23, 2010
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Fighting Irish men’s tennis team opened their postseason with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Georgetown on Friday morning in BIG EAST quarterfinal action at Leeper Park. The Irish claimed the doubles point and then earned three singles win without dropping a set to improve to 14-11 on the year. With the win, Notre Dame advances to one of the BIG EAST semifinal matches, which is slated to begin at noon tomorrow at Notre Dame’s Courtney Tennis Center. The Irish will play the winner of this afternoon’s USF and St. John’s match.
The Irish clinched the doubles point with wins at the first and second positions to take a 1-0 lead. At No. 1 doubles, eighty-eighth ranked Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) and Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) downed Andrew Bruhn and Tim Walsh, 8-5. Then Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan H.S) and Niall Fitzgerald (Wicklow, Ireland/Blackrock College) defeated Will Lowell and David Tillem, also by an 8-5 margin. At No. 3 doubles, David Anderson (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) and Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) were tied with Georgetown’s Charlie Caris and Anthony Tan, 6-6, when the point was clinched.
The Irish took a 2-0 lead when Blas Moros (Boca Raton, Fla./Pine Crest School) cruised past Walsh 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. After dropping the first game of the match, Moros won the next 12 to claim his 14th win of the year. Next, Watt downed Tan 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to stake the Irish to a 3-0 lead.
Samuel Keeton (Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School) then clinched the win at No. 4 singles when he defeated Lowell 6-2, 6-1 for his team-best 15th win of the year. Keeton just edged out Anderson to notch the clinching win, as Anderson was leading Bruhn at No. 5 singles 6-3, 5-1 when the match was decided.
Rounding out the Irish lineup, Havens was leading Tillem at No. 2 singles 6-1, 3-2 and Stahl was defeating Caris at No. 3 singles 6-4, 2-0 when Keeton clinched the win.
With the win, Notre Dame improves to 8-1 all-time versus the Hoyas and has now registered 19 shutouts in BIG EAST Championship play.
#36 Notre Dame 4, Georgetown 0April 23, 2010 at South Bend, Ind. (Leeper Park)
Singles1. #47 Casey Watt (ND) def. Anthony Tan (GU) 6-1, 6-12. Stephen Havens (ND) vs. David Tillem (GU) 6-1, 3-23. #110 Daniel Stahl (ND) vs. Charlie Caris (GU) 6-4, 2-04. Samuel Keeton (ND) def. Will Lowell (GU) 6-2, 6-15. David Anderson (ND) vs. Andrew Bruhn (GU) 6-3, 5-16. Blas Moros (ND) def. Tim Walsh (GU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles1. #88 Stephen Havens/Casey Watt (ND) def. Andrew Bruhn/Tim Walsh (GU) 8-52. Tyler Davis/Niall Fitzgerald (ND) def. Will Lowell/David Tillem (GU) 8-53. David Anderson/Daniel Stahl (ND) vs. Charlie Caris/Anthony Tan (GU) 6-6, DNF
Match NotesNotre Dame 14-11; National ranking #38Georgetown 10-12Order of finish: Doubles (1,2, DNF); Singles (6,1,4,DNF, DNF, DNF)
–ND–