March 9, 2018
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team will look to protect its home court in a doubleheader Saturday, returning to Atlantic Coast Conference play against Louisville before taking on DePaul in the nightcap at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Match 15
WHO: No. 19 Notre Dame (8-6, 1-0 ACC) vs. Louisville (9-3, 1-0 ACC)
WHERE: Eck Tennis Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: Noon ET Saturday
Match 16
WHO: No. 19 Notre Dame vs. DePaul (11-5)
WHERE: Eck Tennis Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: 5 p.m. ET Saturday
Last Time Out
The Irish traveled to Urbana, Illinois, to take on the sixth-ranked Illini for a rescheduled mid-week match, falling 4-1 despite playing four three-set singles matches and pulling within striking distance after losing the doubles point. Senior Brendon Kempin and freshman Tristan McCormick won at No. 1 doubles and McCormick put the Irish on the board with a three-set win at No. 5 singles.
On The Cardinals
Louisville enters Saturday’s match with a 9-3 record and have won six straight matches. The Irish and Cardinals share three mutual opponents, each winning against Northwestern and Toledo and falling to Duke. Louisville’s Parker Wynn is ranked 90th in the most recent national singles rankings, while Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and Wynn are ranked 22nd in the doubles rankings. Wynn is the reigning ACC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, while the duo were named the Doubles Team of the Week after Louisville defeated Virginia 6-1 last week.
The Irish own a 12-11 series edge against the Cardinals, including 1-3 under Callaghan Family Head Men’s Tennis Coach Ryan Sachire. In their last meeting, Louisville defeated Notre Dame 4-3 in a last-match-on decision at last season’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.
On The Blue Demons
DePaul will face Illinois-Chicago on Friday before its match-up with the Irish, taking an 11-5 record into the weekend. The Blue Demons and Irish share a mutual opponent in Cleveland State, with Notre Dame winning 5-2 and DePaul falling 6-1. DePaul’s Alex Galoustian is the reigning BIG EAST Athlete of the Week after helping the team rally from an 0-3 deficit to defeat Louisiana Lafayette in the H-E-B Tournament of Champions.
The Irish are 28-0 in the all-time series against DePaul, and 1-0 under Sachire.
Rankings Rundown
The Irish came in at No. 19 in this week’s Oracle/ITA Division I Men’s National Team Rankings, up two spots since last week’s poll release. The USTA Collegiate Rankings have not yet been released this week.
Junior Alex Lebedev moved up two spots, as well, to No. 33 in singles. Senior-freshman duo of Brendon Kempin and Tristan McCormick rank at No. 55 in doubles this week after debuting at No. 28 two weeks ago.
Freshmen Figuring In
The Irish have seen three of their four freshmen earn starting spots so far this season, with Tristan McCormick and Richard Ciamarra playing regularly in both singles and doubles and William Howells seeing regular time in the doubles lineup. Ciamarra leads the team with a 10-3 dual singles record, while also posting a 7-4 mark in doubles with sophomore partner Matt Gamble. McCormick is 6-7 in singles and 4-6 at No. 1 doubles, ranking at No. 55 with senior partner Brendon Kempin. Howells and junior partner Alex Lebedev are 3-3 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.