April 13, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team will take its final road trip of the regular season this weekend when the Irish hit Tobacco Road to face Duke and North Carolina.
Match 22
WHO: No. 41 Notre Dame (12-9, 3-5 ACC) vs. No. 46 Duke (12-8, 5-4 ACC)
WHERE: Ambler Tennis Center | Durham, N.C.
WHEN: 3 p.m. ET Friday
WATCH: Live Stream
RESULTS: Live Stats
Match 23
WHO: No. 41 Notre Dame vs. No. 13 North Carolina (19-3, 8-2 ACC)
WHERE: Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center | Chapel Hill, N.C.
WHEN: Noon ET Sunday
On The Blue Devils
- Duke enters Friday’s match with a No. 46 ranking and a 12-8 record, but the Blue Devils are 2-2 in their last four matches with losses to Georgia Tech and Virginia.
- The Blue Devils boast three ranked singles players, but two that have seen time since the beginning of the dual season. No. 89 Spencer Furman is 13-7 this spring, while No. 100 Catalin Mateas is 10-7 in duals. No. 34 Nicolas Alvarez has missed the entire dual season with an injury.
- In doubles, Duke is led by No. 61 Nick Stachowiak and Spencer Furman, who are 11-2 in duals, and No. 85 Vincent Lin and Catalin Mateas, who are 4-2.
- Duke owns a 22-10 advantage in the all-time series, but the series is tied 2-2 under Callaghan Family Head Men’s Tennis Coach Ryan Sachire. The Irish defeated the Blue Devils twice last season, 5-2 on March 18 at the Eck Tennis Pavilion and 4-1 in the second round of the ACC Championship on April 21.
On The Tar Heels
- North Carolina comes into the weekend ranked 13th nationally with a 19-3 mark. Their only two ACC losses have come against Virginia and Wake Forest. The Tar Heels will play Boston College on Friday before facing the Irish on Sunday.
- No. 17 Ronnie Schneider (15-4 dual record), No. 40 William Blumberg (16-2), No. 107 Robert Kelly (14-3) pace the Tar Heels in singles. Blaine Boyden (16-2) and Jack Murray (17-4) also boast impressive records.
- In doubles, No. 8 William Blumberg and Robert Kelly are 13-5 at the No. 1 spot for North Carolina.
- The Irish are 9-12 all-time against North Carolina and 1-3 under Sachire.
- Notre Dame pulled off the biggest upset by rank in Intercollegiate Tennis Association history last season when the No. 55 Irish defeated No. 1 North Carolina 5-2 on Senior Night, April 8. It was the first time the Irish had defeated a No. 1 ranked team since 1992.
Last Time Out
The Irish split a pair of matches against the ACC’s Florida schools, defeating Florida State 4-2 on Friday but dropping a close 4-3 decision at Miami 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 rose five spots to No. 19 in the most recent doubles rankings, having gone 20-8 on the season, including 10-5 in dual play this spring. Hagar comes in at No. 59 in this week’s singles rankings.
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.