Notre Dame junior Brett Helgeson is 22-5 this season and ranked 32nd in the nation, helping the Irish to a 9-4 record and a No. 12 national ranking.

Irish Men's Tennis Closes Tom Fallon Invitational On High Note

Sept. 24, 2006

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s tennis team wrapped up play in its season opening Tom Fallon Invitational by posting a 4-3 record in singles play and a 2-1 mark in doubles competition Sunday.

The Irish posted strong results all weekend, concluding the three-day tournament with a 33-6 overall record — 26-4 in singles and 7-2 in doubles.

Western Michigan opposed the Irish in all ten contests Sunday, determined to rebound after losing all ten previous matches to the Irish this weekend.

Bronco southpaw Brady Crosby upset Irish junior Sheeva Parbhu, ranked 20th nationally, in an epic 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (13-11) match. Crosby converted on his third match point, serving an ace past the Irish veteran. The loss was Parbhu’s first since falling in last season’s NCAA singles quarterfinal. His record stands at 3-1 on the season.

Notre Dame sophomore Brett Helgeson, who defeated Crosby Friday, scored a solid win over Tim Bradshaw 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-7). Helgeson rallied in the match tiebreaker by scoring the match’s final six points to erase a 7-4 deficit. The sophomore posted a perfect 4-0 singles record this weekend, with three of the victories coming in match tiebreakers.

The Irish also got singles victories from Andrew Roth, Irackli Akhvlediani and Barry King. Roth’s straight set victory over Alejandro Staub gave him a perfect 4-0 record this weekend. King’s 6-4, 6-1 win over Alex Birchmeier was also his fourth in three days, while Akhvlediani made quick work of Bryan Norville 6-2, 6-0 to finish a 4-0 weekend.

Ryan Keckley battled from a set down for the Irish to force a match tiebreaker in his match against John Pelton, but the senior could not muster enough for the victory in the tiebreak, falling 10-2.

Doubles play saw another strong result from the Keckley/Parbhu team who defeated Crosby and Pelton 8-3. The win was the Irish duos second in as many days over a Western Michigan team.

The Irish split the other two doubles contests with King and Helgeson posting an 8-2 win over Bradshaw and Staub, while Roth and Santiago Montoya dropped an 8-4 decision to Birchmeier and Bradshaw.

Notre Dame will resume fall action next weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich. at the Michigan Invitational.

Singles
No. 94 Brady Crosby (WMU) d. No. 20 Sheeva Parbhu (ND) 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (13-11)
Brett Helgeson (ND) d. Tim Bradshaw (WMU) 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Barry King (ND) d. Alex Birchmeier (WMU) 6-4, 6-1
John Pelton (WMU) d. Ryan Keckley (ND) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-2)
Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) d. Bryan Norville (WMU) 6-2, 6-0
Andrew Roth (ND) d. Alejandro Staub (WMU) 6-3, 6-3
Sean Corrigan (ND) d. R.K. Bacalla (WMU) 8-6

Doubles
No. 36 Ryan Keckley/Sheeva Parbhu (ND) d. Brady Crosby/John Pelton 8-3
Bryan Norville/Alex Birchmeier (WMU) d. Andrew Roth/Santiago Montoya (ND) 8-4
Barry King/Brett Helgeson (ND) d. Tim Bradshaw/Alejandro Staub (WMU) 8-2

— ND —