May 12, 2011
2011 NCAA Championship
Stickney Tennis Center – Columbus, Ohio
First Round – May 13
Match 1 – 10:00 a.m. (ET)
Notre Dame (17-11) vs. East Tennessee State (17-6)
Match 2 – 1:00 p.m.
Ohio State (30-2) vs. Ball State (15-14)
Second Round – May 14
Match 3 – 1:00 p.m.
Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner
NCAA Championship Preview
The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team has earned an at-large bid into the 64-team 2011 NCAA Championship field, it was announced by the NCAA men’s tennis selection committee May 3. The Irish are set to face East Tennessee State Friday at 10:00 a.m. (ET) in Columbus, Ohio. Under the direction of head coach Bobby Bayliss, the Irish have earned 20 of the last 21 NCAA team championship draws.
Ohio State is serving as the host site and will play Ball State in the other first round match. The winners will then face each other the following day for the right to advance to the NCAA Championship round of 16.
For the 12th consecutive year, the NCAA men’s tennis championship features a field of 64 teams, consisting of 31 automatic-qualifying conference champions and 33 at-large selections. The first and second rounds will take place on May 13-15 at 16 campus sites. The winner of the second-round matches at each site will advance to Palo Alto, Calif., as Stanford University will play host to the final four rounds of the team tournament as well as the national championship draws for singles and doubles play from May 19-24.
Irish And Bucs At The NCAA Finals
The Notre Dame and East Tennessee State matchup is a familiar one as the two teams faced each other in an identical situation during the 2007-08 season. It was during the first round of the NCAA tournament and in Columbus, Ohio. The then 30th-ranked Irish dropped to then 41st-ranked and Atlantic Sun champion East Tennessee State Buccaneers in a 4-2 decision.
After dropping the doubles point, Lisandro Picardo defeated then freshman Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) dropped to Lisandro Picardo in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 at fourth singles. Andrew Roth was then downed 6-1, 6-2 to Predrag Burmazovic at third singles to move the score to 3-0 in favor of the Bucs. Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) kept the match going as the then freshman defeated Daniel Isaza, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 6 position. The 44th-ranked Brett Helgeson defeated No. 57 Enrique Olivares in a three-set match, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Sebastion Serrano clinched the match for East Tennessee State as the No. 2 singles player defeated Sheeva Parbhu, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4.
Notre Dame has reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Championships on seven occasions, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 1992 and a 1993 quarterfinal result. The Irish lost in the opening round in 2004, ’05, ’08 and ’09, but reached the round of 16 in 2006 and ’07.
Following The Irish In Columbus
There will be daily recaps posted to und.com, in addition to live results that can be followed through und.com. There also will be a tournament central page (http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=205148682&KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=17300&DB_LANG=&IN_SUBSCRIBER_CONTENT=).
Tournament Veterans
The Irish have been selected to 20 of the last 21 NCAA Tournaments, which makes them one of just 10 schools to have accomplished that feat. They are joined in that category by Duke, Florida, Georgia, Pepperdine, Stanford, Texas, TCU, UCLA and USC. Head coach Bobby Bayliss is only one of two Division I coaches to have led his team to at least 20 NCAA bids I the past 21 years.
Buccaneer Bits
The Bucs enter the match against the Irish with a 17-6 record and Notre Dame and East Tennessee have face three common opponents this season. On January 23, the Bucs dropped 7-0 to (then) No. 13 Louisville. The Irish have faced the Cardinals twice this season. First on April 23, where the Irish fell 5-2, followed by being defeated in the BIG EAST Championship match, 4-2. ETSU dropped 7-0 to Virginia on January 29, while the Irish fell 9-1 January 23. The final identical matchup is with Georgetown, where the Bucs defeated the Hoyas 7-0 and the Irish downed Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament, 4-0.
Record Breakdown
Below is a detailed breakdown of Notre Dame’s 2011 record when ââ’¬¦
Team:
Playing at home 10-4
Playing on the road 4-6
Playing at a neutral site 3-2
Playing a nationally ranked opponent 11-11
By Position:
Winning @ #1 singles 14-15
Winning @ #2 singles 13-14
Winning @ #3 singles 19-8
Winning @ #4 singles 16-9
Winning @ #5 singles 16-9
Winning @ #6 singles 20-5
Individual Singles Record:
Casey Watt 11-14
Stephen Havens 10-13
Daniel Stahl 18-7
Greg Andrews 15-10
Samuel Keeton 7-3
Blas Moros 15-4
Niall Fitzgerald 6-4
All-BIG EAST Selections
Notre Dame men’s tennis players seniors Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy), Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman), junior Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and freshman Greg Andrews (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake) were named to the 2011 All-BIG EAST team, while Andrews was also named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, it was announced by the league Wednesday afternoon. Havens, a senior, earns his second BIG EAST honor, while this season marks Stahl’s third honor in his career. Watt is on pace to be a four-time All-BIG EAST selection as the junior received the honor for the third consecutive season. Andrews was name to the All-BIG EAST team, in addition to being selected as the Freshman of the Year. The 2011 Men’s tennis All-BIG EAST team includes 13 student-athletes, while St. John’s Eric Rebhuhn was named the conference Coach of the Year and Austen Childs of Louisville and Lucas Jovita of USF were named the co-BIG EAST Players of the Year. The all-BIG EAST selections are based on the complete season, as opposed to exclusively the tournament.
Watt, Havens, Stahl and Andrews have played the top four spots in the Irish lineup, leading the team to a 17-11 dual season record and a final ITA/Campbell ranking of No. 30. The Irish also finished runner-up to the Louisville Cardinals in the recent BIG EAST Championship, which was held in Notre Dame, Ind.
Watt received the honor after concluding the dual season, including the BIG EAST Championship with a record of 10-13 at first singles. The junior began the season teamed up with Andrews at third doubles where the tandem has a record of 10-3. Watt later moved to second doubles with Havens for a 6-4 record. In singles play, Havens posted an 8-11 record at No. 2 and also played at No. 1 doubles with Tyler Davis (Nashville, Tenn./Father Ryan) and the pair was ranked as high as No. 28 during the season
Stahl has spent much of the season at third singles and has a 16-6 record at third singles, and at one point during the season he had an eight-match winning streak, before Simon Childs of Louisville snapped the streak with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on April 23. Andrews has a 12-8 record at fourth singles and a 15-10 record overall, and hasn’t lost a singles match since falling to Matt Allare of Ohio State on April 13.
BIG EAST Players of the Year
Austen Childs, Sr., Louisville
Lucas Jovita, Sr., USF
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Greg Andrews, Fr., Notre Dame
BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Eric Rebhuhn, St. John’s
All-BIG EAST Team
George Chanturia, Jr., DePaul
Austen Childs, Sr., Louisville
Simon Childs, Sr., Louisville
Viktor Maksimcuk, Sr., Louisville
Greg Andrews, Fr., Notre Dame
Stephen Havens, Sr., Notre Dame
Daniel Stahl, Sr., Notre Dame
Casey Watt, Jr., Notre Dame
Milo Hauk, Jr., St. John’s
Mike Lampa, So., St. John’s
Wael Kilani, Jr., USF
Lucas Jovita, Sr., USF
Frederico Sabogal, Fr., USF
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