Sept. 17, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team will begin its fall season this weekend with half of the squad competing in the Illinois Invitational at the Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago, Ill. and the other nine players travelling to West Lafayette, Ind. for the Purdue Fall Invitational, both competing in three-day tournaments.
The fall tennis season gets underway for the University of Notre Dame on Friday, Sept. 17 and veteran head coach Bobby Bayliss will split his team. He will send part of the Irish squad to the Illinois Invitational at the Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago, Ill. on Friday while the rest of the team will head to West Lafayette, Ind. for the Purdue Fall Invitational on the same day. Both of the tournaments are three-day events and will wrap up on Sunday, Sept. 19.
Expected to compete at the Illinois Invitational are seniors Stephen Havens (Hill Christian, Cincinnati, Ohio), Daniel Stahl (Walt Whitman, Bethesda, Md.), team captain, Tyler Davis (Father Ryan, Nashville, Tenn.), and Matt Johnson (Portage Central, Portage, Mich.), juniors Casey Watt (Pine-Richland, Gibsonia, Pa.) and Samuel Keeton (Pembroke Hill, Kansas City, Mo.) and sophomore Blas Moros (Pine Crest, Boca Raton, Fla.). Billy Pecor (Chaparral, Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Greg Andrews (Gull Lake, Richland, Mich.) will make their collegiate tennis debut under Bayliss.
Leading the Irish at the contest will be Watt and Havens who stand at No. 39 in the ITA preseason rankings in doubles. Watt is also ranked in singles competition at No. 37 along with Stahl at No. 69 and Moros at No. 112.
Doubles competition will be in the morning, followed by singles action. The tournament provides a unique opportunity for athletes to compete on clay courts.
The Purdue University Invitational at the Schwartz Tennis Center this weekend will play host to the rest of the squad. Expected to play for the Irish are seniors David Anderson (Sandwich, Sandwich, Mass.), Bryan Kelly (Mounds Park Academy, North Oaks, Minn.) and Sean Tan (Lakewood, Lakewood, Calif.), juniors Daven Brodess (Lake Travis, Austin, Texas) and Niall Fitzgerald (Blackrock College, Wicklow, Ireland), sophomores Michael Moore (Glenbrook South, Glenview, Ill.) and Spencer Talmadge (Junipero Serra, Hillsborough, Calif.). Associate head coach Ryan Sachire will watch as Ryan Bandy (St. Xavier, Cincinnati, Ohio) and Matt Dooley (New Braunfels, New Braunfels, Texas) make their tennis debut as members of the Irish squad.
The tournament will include three flights of singles and two flights of doubles. Draw sheets and flight brackets for the event are available at www.purduesports.com.
Results and recaps on all men’s tennis action this weekend will be available at www.und.com.
–ND–