April 20, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team will close out the regular season at home this weekend, welcoming Clemson and No. 1 Wake Forest to the Courtney Tennis Center.
Match 24
WHO: Notre Dame (12-11, 3-7 ACC) vs. Clemson (8-14, 1-9 ACC)
WHERE: Courtney Tennis Center | Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: 3:30 p.m. ET Friday
RESULTS:
Match 25
WHO: Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Wake Forest (22-1, 9-0 ACC)
WHERE: Courtney Tennis Center | Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: Noon ET Sunday
RESULTS:
On The Tigers
- Clemson enters Friday’s match in the midst of a 12-match losing streak. All of the Tigers’ losses in that span have come by three points or more. They have not won since defeating Miami 4-3 on Feb. 19.
- Daffra Sanon and Sam Edwards are ranked No. 29 in the most recent Oracle/ITA doubles rankings. The pair is 6-5, including 4-4 at the No. 1 position.
- The Irish are 3-1 in the all-time series against the Tigers, with all four matches coming under Callaghan Family Head Men’s Tennis Coach Ryan Sachire.
On The Demon Deacons
- Wake Forest has been ranked within the top 3 all season and has occupied the No. 1 spot in the national rankings for the past six weeks. The team’s only loss came in a 4-3 decision to Ohio State on Feb. 19.
- Four Wake Forest regulars are ranked in singles, led by No. 3 Petros Chrysocos, who is 17-4 in dual singles. No. 15 Skander Mansouri (14-6), No. 45 Borna Gojo (18-2) and No. 69 Christian Seraphim (14-7) round out the ranked singles contingent for the Demon Deacons.
- The Demon Deacons also boast the No. 1 ranked doubles pairing in Mansouri and Seraphim, who are 16-5 at No. 1 doubles.
- Notre Dame is 5-2 in the all-time series against Wake Forest, including 2-2 under Sachire.
- Against No. 1 teams, Notre Dame is 2-13, but picked up its most recent win over a top-ranked team last season when the Irish defeated No. 1 North Carolina 5-2 on April 8, 2016.
Senior Send-Off
The Irish will honor its seniors, Eddy Covalschi and Josh Hagar, in a short ceremony following Friday’s match against Clemson. The duo have been four-year starters for the Irish and have experienced significant success in doubles throughout their career. As sophomores, Covalschi and Hagar won the USTA Midwest Regional Doubles Championship, and they qualified for the USTA/ITA Indoor Intercollegiate Doubles Championship in 2014 and 2016. They have ranked as high as No. 6 as a doubles pair, having combined as partners for most of the last three seasons. Hagar was additionally honored as an All-ACC Third Team pick following the 2015-16 season, and was also named to the All-ACC Academic Team.
Last Time Out
The Irish dropped a close 4-3 decision to Duke last Friday before falling to No. 13 North Carolina 6-1 on Sunday.
Rankings Rundown
The Irish also boast two players in the most recent Oracle/ITA Division I Men’s Tennis Rankings. Seniors Josh Hagar and Eddy Covalschi are ranked No. 37 in the most recent doubles rankings, having gone 20-10 on the season, including 10-7 in dual play this spring. Hagar comes in at No. 67 in this week’s singles rankings.
A Weather Note
Each match is scheduled to be played outdoors at the Courtney Tennis Center. The matches will be played outdoors unless inclement weather prevents it. According to Intercollegiate Tennis Association rules: “Matches shall be played outdoors unless the projected weather forecast for a minimum of:
- two hours out of a three-hour time period in Division I
- two hours out of a four-hour time period for all other divisions
from the start of the match, according to www.weather.com is:
a. A high of less than 50°; or
b. Sustained winds (not including wind gusts) of more than 20 miles per hour.
c. If the outdoor conditions have changed by the end of the doubles play, it is understood that both coaches and the Referee may agree to move the match indoors. If play is suspended at any other point during the match due to weather, play must resume outdoors within one hour of the delay. If this is not possible, matches must be moved indoors.
As of Thursday morning, the forecast for Friday is a high of 48° with a 10 percent chance of rain, while Sunday calls for a high of 63° with sun. Be sure to follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter for the most updated information on the location of each match.
Keeping Up With The Irish
All indoor home matches will be streamed live on WatchND. Live scoring will be available for all home tennis matches at UND.com, with links for each match available on the men’s tennis schedule page. Live match updates will also be shared on the team’s Twitter account, @NDMensTennis.
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For the latest on all things Irish men’s tennis, follow @NDMensTennis on Twitter and like Notre Dame Men’s Tennis on Facebook.
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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 women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.