Jan. 25, 2018
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team will look to extend its season-opening win streak as the Irish head to Austin, Texas, to take part in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the University of Texas.
Match 4
WHAT: ITA Kick-Off Weekend (First Round)
WHO: Notre Dame (3-0) vs. No. 8 Texas (3-0)
WHERE: Texas Tennis Center | Austin, Texas
WHEN: 2 p.m. ET Saturday
Event Page
Match 5
WHAT: ITA Kick-Off Weekend (Second Round)
WHO: Notre Dame vs. Tennessee or Minnesota
WHERE: Texas Tennis Center | Austin, Texas
WHEN: 2 p.m. ET Sunday
Event Page
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
For the fifth straight year, the Irish will take part in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. They will travel to Austin, Texas, to take on No. 8 Texas (3-0) in a non-conference matchup in the first round. On the other side of the pod is Tennessee (7-0) and Minnesota (0-1), both of which were NCAA tournament participants last season. The winner of the four-team tournament will receive an invitation to compete at the ITA National Indoor Team Championship, hosted by the University of Washington from February 16-19 at the Seattle Tennis Club.
On The Longhorns
The eighth-ranked Longhorns have opened the season with three straight wins, all sweeps over USTA (7-0), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (4-0) and SMU (4-0). Texas is led in the rankings by No. 27 Harrison Scott, who is 1-0 at No. 1 singles, No. 37 Leonardo Telles, and No. 52 John Mee, who is 1-0 at No. 5 singles. Texas also has the No. 5 doubles team in Rodrigo Banzer and Telles, and the No. 23 Yuya Ito and Scott, who are 2-0 at No. 2 doubles.
Last Time Out
The Irish swept to a 3-0 start in their first weekend of competition, defeating Michigan State 6-1, Kentucky 4-3 and Cleveland State 5-2. The 3-0 weekend marked the best start for the Irish since 2014. Freshman Richard Ciamarraled the Irish with a 3-0 dual singles record, while juniors Grayson Broadusand Alex Lebedevimproved to 2-0 on the season. The doubles duo of Ciamarra and sophomore Matt Gambleimproved to 2-0 on the season, while freshman William Howellsand Lebedev stretched their record to 3-0.
ACC Honors Sweep
Junior Alex Lebedev was named the ACC Player of the Week after the first week of conference honors, while Lebedev and freshman William Howells earned Doubles Team of the Week accolades as well.
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.
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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.