Jan. 23, 2018
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team has swept the initial Atlantic Coast Conference weekly awards of 2018, with junior Alex Lebedev earning ACC Player of the Week honors and Lebedev and freshman William Howells winning ACC Doubles Team of the Week accolades after the Irish started the year 3-0.
Lebedev was key to Notre Dame’s 4-3 win over Kentucky on Sunday, winning 6-1 at No. 2 doubles with Howells to help the Irish win the doubles point and clinching the Irish win with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over 84th-ranked William Bushamuka. The 45th-ranked Lebedev was undefeated on the weekend, winning in straight sets over Brett Forman of Michigan State on Friday and also winning doubles matches against the Spartans and against Cleveland State on Sunday.
Lebedev and Howells let the Irish effort in doubles, competing in all three matches of the weekend and winning each time to help the Irish snare the doubles point and remain undefeated in doubles on the season.
The Irish return to action at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Texas, facing the No. 8 Longhorns at 2 p.m. ET Saturday. They will close the weekend against either Minnesota or Tennessee on Sunday.
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Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame men’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to assisting with football communications and overseeing production of the football Gameday Magazine. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.