Sept. 16, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team opened the 2004-05 season Thursday by taking part in both singles and doubles matches against William & Mary in the Tom Fallon Invitational. The Irish were solid in singles play, winning five matches and losing each of the other three in match tiebreakers. Play continues in Notre Dame’s lone home fall tournament on Friday, beginning at 9 a.m. (EST) at the Courtney Tennis Center.
Among the highlights of the first day was the successful singles debut of freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.), who was victorious 6-3, 6-2 in his first collegiate match, against another rookie, Alexandru Cojanu. He was the lone Irish rookie to see action in the eight singles matches.
Sophomore Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School), one of Notre Dame’s co-MVPs in 2003-04 after compiling a 22-7 record, also began the season with a win, downing sophomore Colin O’Brien of Ireland 6-2, 6-1. Bass opened last season with three consecutive victories before suffering his first defeat, in the Tom Fallon Invitational.
Junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.), who began 2003-04 by winning five consecutive singles matches, began with a 7-5, 6-7, 1-0 (10-3) win over junior Stephen Ward, who played mostly No. 5 for the Tribe last spring. Langenkamp was 20-5 a season ago, including an 11-3 mark in dual matches (8-3 at No. 6).
Another winner was sophomore Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School), who defeated freshman Matthew Rubenstein 7-5, 6-0. Junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) downed another rookie, Peter Szewczyk, 7-5, 6-1.
Irish senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) nearly opened his final collegiate campaign with the biggest upset of his career. After dropping the opening set against #26 Jeff Kader, he rallied to win the second set and then lost a tight match tiebreaker (played instead of a third set) for a 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) defeat. D’Amico, who did not play a match tiebreaker at all last season, took part in one for the first time since March 30, 2003.
Sophomore Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College), who played mostly No. 5 for the Irish in 2004, nearly upset William & Mary’s No. 2 player from last season, Sean Kelleher, but the Tribe senior prevailed in a match tiebreaker, 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5). It was King’s first collegiate match tiebreaker and his Tom Fallon Invitational debut, as he missed the 2003 TFI with an injury.
Another sophomore, Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.), had a similar outcome, losing to freshman Kavi Sud 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6). It was the first career match tiebreaker for the local product, who was unbeaten in three singles matches in last year’s Tom Fallon.
William & Mary, which finished 2004 ranked 44th in the nation and just missed the NCAA tournament, was dominant in doubles, winning all four of the contests. Langenkamp and senior Jimmy Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) had the closest match, losing 9-7 to Rubenstein and O’Brien.
D’Amico and Keckley fell 8-5 to Kelleher and Ward, while Parbhu’s doubles debut was ruined, as he and King lost 8-6 to Kader and Cojanu. Two other Irish rookies – Andrew Roth (Houston, Texas/Tenney School) and Yuichi Uda (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Laurel Springs School [CA]) – lost in their first collegiate match, 8-5 to Szewczyk and Sud.
Friday will feature competition all day at the Courtney Tennis Center, with all five teams (also Drake, Maryland, and Purdue) seeing significant action. The Irish will split their roster into two groups – ND Blue and ND Gold – in an effort to get each player more matches.
The matches were the first varsity men’s action at the reoriented Courtney Tennis Center, which now uses the courts on its east end for varsity action, making it more convenient for the teams headquartered in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The reorientation occurred last winter, in conjunction with the commencement of construction on the neighboring Guglielmino Family Athletics Center, and it featured the construction of a new tournament center tower, while the seating was moved from the west to east end.
The Tom Fallon Invitational is named after legendary former Irish tennis coach Tom Fallon, who compiled a 514-194 (.726) record in 31 years leading the program, winning the 1959 national championship. He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Hall of Fame in 1988. Fallon began the tradition of a fall tennis season, starting the Irish Invitational in 1970. The tournament was renamed in his honor when he retired in 1987 and is being played for the 36th consecutive fall. The TFI features a “hidden dual” format, in which teams play simulated dual matches against each other, but no team scores are recorded. All individual results are counted for ranking purposes.
Tom Fallon Invitational – Thursday, September 16
Singles
#26 Jeff Kader (W&M) d. Brent D’Amico (ND) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9)
Stephen Bass (ND) d. Colin O’Brien (W&M) 6-2, 6-1
Sean Kelleher (W&M) d. Barry King (ND) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
Eric Langenkamp (ND) d. Stephen Ward (W&M) 7-5, 6-7, 1-0 (10-3)
Sheeva Parbhu (ND) d. Alexandru Conjano (W&M) 6-3, 6-2
Kavi Sud (W&M) d. Ryan Keckley (ND) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) d. Matt Rubenstien (W&M) 7-5, 6-0
Patrick Buchanan (ND) d. Peter Szewczyk (W&M) 7-5, 6-1
Doubles
Sean Kelleher/Stephen Ward (W&M) d. Brent D’Amico/Ryan Keckley (ND) 8-5
Matt Rubenstien/Colin O’Brien (W&M) d. Jimmy Bass/Eric Langenkamp (ND) 9-7
Jeff Kader/Alex Cojanu (W&M) d. Barry King/Sheeva Parbhu (ND) 8-6
Peter Szewczyk/Kavi Sud (W&M) d. Andrew Roth/Yuichi Uda (ND) 8-5