March 14, 2010
TALLAHASEE, Fla. – The Fighting Irish men’s tennis team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to knock-off No. 19 Florida State, 4-3, at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
After dropping the doubles point and the first two singles matches, Blas Moros (Boca Raton, Fla./Pine Crest School) got the Irish on the board and Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) quickly cut the Seminole lead to one. David Anderson (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) then tied the match at 3-3 and Samuel Keeton (Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School) earned the decisive win at No. 5 singles to clinch the Irish victory.
With the win, Notre Dame improves to 7-7 on the year, while FSU falls to 8-3 on the year. For the Irish, it marked their best win over a ranked opponent since defeating then ninth-ranked Illinois, 4-3, on March 29, 2009. It also marked Notre Dame’s eighth match this season that has been decided by one point.
At No. 1 doubles, the Irish duo of Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Hill Christian School) and Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) staked the Irish to a 1-0 lead with an 8-6 win over Vahid Mirzadeh and Connor Smith. At third doubles, the Seminole doubles team of Andres Bucaro and Anderson Reed leveled the score with an 8-6 win over Stahl and Anderson. Then, at No. 2 doubles, Jean-Yves Aubone and Clint Bowles edged Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan) and Niall Fitzgerald (Wicklow, Ireland/Blackrock College), 9-7, to give FSU a 1-0 lead.
The Seminoles took a 2-0 lead when Havens fell to 69th-ranked Mirzadeh 6-2, 6-2. Then, at No. 1 singles, 35th-ranked Aubone downed 19th-ranked Watt 6-2, 6-4.
For the second time in as many day, the Irish faced a 3-0 deficit but found a way to tie the match at 3-3. Freshman Moros got the rally started with win over Jordan Kelly-Houston at sixth singles 6-3, 6-3. It was his second win in as many days and gives him six on the season.
Then, 72nd-ranked Stahl defeated 55th-ranked Bowles. After trailing by for most of the first set, Stahl rallied to win the set, 7-5. He then took the second set, 6-4, to earn the win.
At fourth singles, Anderson tied the match with a tough three set win over Smith. Anderson took the first set, 6-4, but dropped the second set, 3-6. With the overall match on the line, Anderson fought back from a 1-2 deficit to record a 6-4 win in the third set and keep the Irish comeback hopes alive.
Keeton then clinched the win with a three-set win at fifth singles over FSU’s Bucaro. Bucaro took the first set, 7-5, before Keeton took a close second set, 6-4. In the third set, Keeton rolled to the victory with a 6-1 win. Not only did he clinch the win for the Irish, but he extended his personal unbeaten streak to 9-0 this season in dual season singles play.
The Irish play next in the 2010 Blue Gray National Classic. Play at the annual event begins on March 18 in Montgomery, Ala. Check back with UND.com for more details about Notre Dame’s first round matchup in the four-day tournament.
Notes
Notre Dame now leads the all-time series with Florida State, 7-2, and has won six of the last seven meetings between the two teams … Notre Dame has faced a ranked opponent in 10 of its 14 matches (the Campbell/ITA rankings slot the top-75 teams) …. the most recent Campbell/ITA rankings were released on Tuesday, March 9 and the Irish moved to 44th … in the individual rankings, Casey Watt is 19th and Daniel Stahl is a career best 72nd … Sam Keeton is 9-0 in 2010 dual season singles play … eight of Notre Dame’s 14 matches have been decided by just one point … Notre Dame is 5-1 on the season when claiming the doubles point.
Notre Dame vs. Florida StateMarch 14, 2010 at Tallahassee, Fla.#44 Notre Dame 4, #19 Florida State 3
Singles1) No. 35 Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) def. No. 19 Casey Watt (ND) 6-2, 6-42) No. 69 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) def. Stephen Havens (ND) 6-2, 6-23) No. 72 Daniel Stahl (ND) def. No. 55 Clint Bowles (FSU) 7-5, 6-44) David Anderson (ND) def. Connor Smith (FSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-45) Sam Keeton (ND) def. Andres Bucaro (FSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-16) Blas Moros (ND) def. Jordan Kelly-Houston (FSU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles1) Watt/Havens (ND) def. Mirzadeh/Smith (FSU) 8-62) Aubone/Bowles (FSU) def. Tyler Davis/Niall Fitzgerald (ND) 9-73) Bucaro/Reed (FSU) def. Stahl/Anderson (ND) 8-6
Match NotesNotre Dame 6-7; National ranking #44Florida State 8-3; National ranking 19Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2, 1, 6, 3, 4, 5*)
–ND–