Nov. 6, 2014
ITA CENTRAL – Live Scores, Draws and Updates
FLUSHING, N.Y. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team had a successful first day at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Thursday at the USTA Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.
Sophomore pair Josh Hagar and Eddy Covalschi, who received a bye, overcame a tight first set to defeat Mississippi State’s Julian Cash and Florian Lakat, 7-5, 6-3 in the Round of 16. Hagar and Covalschi traded first-set games with the Bulldogs until it was 5-all, then pulled away with the final two games. The second set proved less strenuous as the Irish went up 5-2 before icing the match and earning a spot in Friday’s quarterfinal.
Senior Billy Pecor and junior partner Alex Lawson – the ITA’s preseason 27th-ranked doubles tandem – endured a four-hour delay due to an opponent’s participation in the singles draw before going on to win two great matches. In their Round of 32 showdown against No. 36 Denis Nguyen and Brian Yeung (Harvard), the Irish and Crimson traded the first two sets before the Irish forced a match-set tiebreaker and triumphed 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3).
In the Round of 16, Pecor and Lawson squared off with South Florida’s No. 12 Roberto Cid and Sasha Gozun. A tightly contested first set resulted in an early tiebreaker, which went back and forth until South Florida took a 6-5 lead. Cid’s sharp backhand on the set point ripped just barely out in the corner, and the Irish grabbed the next two points to claim the set.
The second set was not nearly as nerve-wracking, as Pecor and Lawson ran out to a 5-1 lead and before seizing the 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 win.
Both Irish squads will be back in action in Friday’s quarterfinals. Hagar and Covalschi will face the No. 1 seeded pair of Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz (USC) at 4 p.m. ET, while Lawson and Pecor draw UCLA’s Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redicki at 4:30 p.m. ET. For access to draws, live scores and more information on the 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, visit the official ITA event page. You can also follow along on Twitter, @NDMensTennis , and Facebook.
USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships
Main Doubles Draw
Round of 32
No. 27 Billy Pecor / Alex Lawson def. No. 36 Denis Nguyen / Brian Yeung (Harvard), 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
Eddy Covalschi / Josh Hagar, BYE
Round of 16
Eddy Covalschi / Josh Hagar def. Julian Cash / Floria Lakat (Mississippi State) 7-5, 6-3.
No. 27 Billy Pecor / Alex Lawson def. No. 12 Roberto Cid / Sasha Gozun, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
By Joanne Norell, Media Relations Assistant
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