Senior Nicolas Montoya notched his third straight ITA Summer Circuit Regional doubles title as Notre Dame hosted the event, which wrapped Tuesday.

Lawson Claims Dual Crowns On ITA Summer Circuit

July 21, 2015

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Kicking off his senior campaign in a University of Notre Dame uniform, men’s tennis standout Alex Lawson left no holds barred competing in the ITA Summer Circuit Regional, which wrapped Tuesday, at the Courtney Tennis Center.

Lawson captured both singles and doubles championships over the four-day event, joining recently graduated Greg Andrews (’14) in sweeping the Summer Circuit regional field, with Andrews doing so in 2013.

In an expanded field that help up to 128 singles participants, Lawson breezed through the first two rounds with matching 6-0, 6-0 wins over Austin Hendrick (Cornerstone) and Patrick Downs (Ball State). Lawson also made quick work of Michael Treis (Western Michigan), 6-0, 6-2, and Michael Dube (Michigan State), 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinal.

Lawson faced his first real challenge of the tournament against incoming freshman teammate Alex Lebedev. The pair traded sets before Lawson dispatched the blue-chip Irish recruit 7-6, 2-6, 10-6 to continue his run. Lebedev was impressive in notching four straight-set victories before falling to his future teammate.

Lawson notched another three-set win over Matthew Hamilton (WMU), 6-4, 6-7, 12-10, but downed Iowa’s Dominic Patrick 6-4, 6-2 for the title.

Classmate Nicolas Montoya also enjoyed an impressive weekend, advancing to the semifinals of the singles draw, while joining Lawson for the doubles title. Montoya cruised through the first two rounds of singles play before rallying from a one-set deficit to defeat Indiana’s Elliott Yee 6-7, 7-0, 10-8. It was two more wins in the Round of 16 (def. Connor Johnston, 2-6,6-4,10-3) and the quarterfinal (def. Josh Silverstein (Iowa), 6-3, 6-2) before falling to Patrick 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the semifinal match.

With a first-round bye in the doubles draw, Lawson and Montoya advanced quickly through the Rounds of 32 and 16, then notched a walkover win in the quarterfinal. The pair met sophomore teammates Brendon Kempin and Drew Dawson in the semifinal round, but the older duo secured an 8-3 victory to make the final. There, they met Iowa’s Silverstein and Patrick and prevailed 8-6.

The win gave Montoya his third straight Summer Circuit regional doubles championship. He had previously won the titles with Andrews (2013) and Billy Pecor (2014).

The Irish men had eight total representatives on the weekend, with all eight notching at least two singles victories. Six Irish players (Lawson, Montoya, Lebedev, Kempin, junior Eddy Covalschi and senior Kenneth Sabacinski) advanced to the round of 16, while Kempin joined Lawson, Montoya and Lebedev in the quarterfinals.

The next event on the summer slate is the USTA/ITA National Summer Championships, held at Indiana University from August 8-11.

For all things Irish men’s tennis, follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter and like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.

ITA Summer Circuit Regional
Notre Dame, Indiana
July 18-21
MEN’S DRAWS
SINGLES
Round of 128
Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Gunnar Peery (Aquinas), 6-0, 7-6
Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Jack Friend (Tufts), 6-1, 6-0
Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Marty Pochop (Marian), 5-6, 6-1, 10-3
Brendon Kempin (ND) def. Sam Kreps (Hope), 6-1, 6-0
Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Chance Conley (UDM), 6-1, 6-0
Drew Dawson (ND) def. Nick Lang (NKU), 6-2, 6-0
Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Alan Sweet (UW), 7-5, 6-3
Alex Lawson (ND) def. Austin Hendrick (Cons), 6-0, 6-0
Round of 64
Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Patrick O’Connor (BSU), 6-2, 6-2
Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Conner Andersen (BSU), 6-0, 6-1
Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Michael Sellitto (IU), 6-1, 6-1
Brendon Kempin (ND) def. Nils Hallestrand (Iowa), 7-5, 6-2
Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Colin Rigney (BSU), 6-1, 6-3
Drew Dawson (ND) def. Kiril Kirkov (CMU), 6-1, 6-0
Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Lucas Waak (Valpo), 6-3, 6-3
Alex Lawson (ND) def. Patrick Downs (BSU), 6-0, 6-0
Round of 32
Josh Silverstein (Iowa) def. Nathan Griffin (ND), 6-0, 2-6, 10-5
Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Elliott Yee (IU), 6-7, 6-0, 10-8
Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Andrew Cahn (WMU), 6-3, 7-5
Brendon Kempin (ND) def. Ben Vandixhorn (NU), 2-6, 6-3, 10-8
Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Davis Crocker (UM), 6-4, 5-7, 11-9
Eddie Grabill (Dart) def. Drew Dawson (ND), 6-4, 6-2
Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Johnathon Benedetto (CWU), 6-1, 7-6
Alex Lawson (ND) def. Michael Treis (WMU), 6-0, 6-2
Round of 16
Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Connor Johnston (H.S.), 2-6,6-4,10-3
Dominic Patrick (Iowa) def. Eddy Covalschi (ND), 7-6, 4-6, 10-2
Brendon Kempin (ND) def. John Zordani (UW), 3-6, 7-5, 10-5
Alp Horoz (NU) def. Kenneth Sabacinski (ND), 7-5, 6-3
Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Fedor Baev (NU), 6-3, 6-4
Alex Lawson (ND) def. Michael Dube (MSU), 6-2, 6-4
Quarterfinal
Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Josh Silverstein (Iowa), 6-3, 6-2
Dominic Patric (Iowa) def. Brendon Kempin (ND), 6-1, 6-3
Alex Lawson (ND) def. Alex Lebedev (ND), 7-6, 2-6, 10-6
Semifinal
Dominic Patrick (Iowa) def. Nicolas Montoya (ND), 3-6, 7-5, 10-8
Alex Lawson (ND) def. Matthew Hamilton (WMU), 6-4, 6-7, 12-10
Championship
Alex Lawson (ND) def. Dominic Patrick (Iowa), 6-4, 6-2
DOUBLES
Round of 64
Alex Lawson / Nicolas Montoya (ND), bye
Brendon Kempin / Drew Dawson (ND), bye
Kenneth Sabacinski / Alex Lebedev (ND), bye
Eddy Covalschi / Nathan Griffin (ND), bye
Round of 32
Alex Lawson / Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. P. McAuley / C. Schoolcraft, 8-4
Brendon Kempin / Drew Dawson (ND) def. Treis / Jaworski, 8-0
Kenneth Sabacinski / Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Shammas / Jessen, 8-1
Eddy Covalschi / Nathan Griffin (ND) def. Rakic / Dube, 8-3
Round of 16
Alex Lawson / Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. D Zakhodin / A Komorov, 8-2
Brendon Kempin / Drew Dawson (ND) def. Garstecki / Fedewa, 8-2
Kenneth Sabacinski / Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Frauenheim / Schaechterle, 8-4
Fliegner / Grabill def. Eddy Covalschi / Nathan Griffin (ND), 8-6
Quarterfinal
Alex Lawson / Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Crocker / Johnston, W/O
Brendon Kempin / Drew Dawson (ND) def. Hallestrand / Jacoby, 8-6
Silverstein / Patrick def. Kenneth Sabacinski / Alex Lebedev (ND), W/O
Semifinal
Alex Lawson / Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Brendon Kempin / Drew Dawson (ND), 8-3
Championship
Alex Lawson / Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Silverstein / Patrick, 8-6

Joanne Norell, Athletics Communications Assistant

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