Sophomore Dougie Barnard and the rest of the Irish participated in mass at the famed Dublin castle.

Irish Earn Valuable Experience In Exhibition Loss In Ireland

Sept. 1, 2012

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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s tennis team took away several positives after falling in the friendly to members of Ireland’s Davis Cup team and pros, 9-3, at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday afternoon.

“Today was a great day for our program,” said head coach Bobby Bayliss. “Our guys got to go toe-to-toe with some of the best players Ireland has to offer in one of the most beautiful tennis facilities in the country. The team feels blessed to have had this opportunity and we now look forward to touring Dublin and watching the Irish and Midshipman play at Aviva Stadium on Saturday.”

Despite the outcome, the Irish did not go down willingly. Senior Blas Moros played with great endurance and attack by forcing a third-set superset against James Cluskey (ranked 213 on the ATP Tour), falling at the second flight, 4-6, 6-4 (10-4).

Sophomore Wyatt McCoy nearly forced a superset himself against former Irish captain, Niall Fitzgerald, at the fifth spot in singles, dropping a 6-2, 7-6 decision.

“It was great having all of my former teammates over to Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club,” the 2012 team captain said. “It was difficult with limited sleep and on a foreign surface (artificial grass), but they handled it in stride. They represented themselves and Notre Dame excellently, as always. I could not be prouder to be a Domer, and I hope to see them here again soon. Go Irish!”

Junior Greg Andrews bowed out at the No. 1 singles spot to an experienced, 2011 US Open qualifier, Conor Niland, 6-3, 6-0.

Junior Billy Pecor dropped his third singles match to ’06 Notre Dame graduate Barry King, 6-3, 6-4.

Freshmen Quentin Monaghan (No. 4 singles) and Alex Lawson (No.6 singles) both fell, 6-4, 6-2.

In other action, senior Michael Moore and sophomore Michael Fredericka both came away victorious. Moore just edged out his foe Cal Crawford 6-4, 3-6, 11-9. Fredericka was awarded from his end-of-the -match effort with a victory over Graham King 6-3, 7-6.

On the doubles side Andrews got his revenge with the help of senior teammate Spencer Talmadge, winning over Niland/Cluskey 6-7, 6-3, 10-8 at the top flight.

Sophomore Dougie Barnard and freshman Nicolas Montoya showed great poise in playing to a third set, but lost 6-4, 3-6 (10-7) in their battle against Crawford/G. King in the fourth flight.

McCoy paired up with Lawson at No. 2 doubles and played admirably against Fitzgerald/B King, falling 6-4, 6-3.

Junior Matt Dooley and freshman Kenneth Sabacinski concluded action for doubles respectfully falling to Glancy and Farron Mahon, 7-5, 6-3.

The Irish return to action on Friday, Sept. 14th by splitting play at the Illini Invitational (Olympia Fields, Ill.) and the Western Michigan Invitational (Kalamazoo, Mich.).

Follow @ndmenstennis on Twitter for in-match results and on Facebook (@facebook.com/ndmenstennis) for trip photos.

–ND–