Sept. 15, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The fall season begins in earnest this weekend for the University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team, which will send representatives to both the Napa Valley Classic (Napa Valley, California) and Harvard’s Chowder Fest (Cambridge, Massachusetts) to kick off the tournament slate.
WHAT: Napa Valley Classic
WHERE: Meadowood Napa Valley Resort | Napa Valley, Calif.
WHEN: Sept. 15-17, 2017
WHO: Alex Lebedev, Matt Gamble, Guillermo Cabrera, Tristan McCormick
WHAT: Harvard Chowder Fest
WHERE: Murr Center Tennis Courts | Cambridge, Mass.
WHEN: Sept. 15-17, 2017
WHO: Brendon Kempin, Grayson Broadus, Drew Dawson, Conor Somers, Daniel Rayl, Johnathan Small, Richard Ciamarra, William Howells
Napa Valley Classic
Junior Alex Lebedev, sophomores Matt Gamble and Guillermo Cabrera and freshman Tristan McCormick enter the field of 24 collegiate players and eight USTA juniors who will compete at the Meadowood Napa Valley Resort this weekend. On the line is a singles title and a wild card entry into an upcoming USTA tournament. Lebedev and Gamble led the team last season with 23 singles wins apiece, while Cabrera posted 22 victories. McCormick was a five-star recruit entering Notre Dame according to the Tennis Recruiting Network finishing at No. 31 in the national recruiting rankings.
Harvard Chowder Fest
Most of the rest of the Irish squad heads to Harvard this weekend, joining Buffalo, Wisconsin and the Crimson at the 29th annual event.
Poll Position
The Oracle/ITA preseason rankings were released this week, with senior Brendon Kempin and junior Grayson Broadus ranked No. 38 in the doubles rankings and junior Alex Lebedev coming in at No. 104 in singles.
Meet The Freshmen
The Irish welcomed four freshman at the start of the fall semester: Richard Ciamarra, Paul Gota, William Howells and Tristan McCormick. The quartet made up the No. 7 recruiting class in the country, according to the Tennis Recruiting Network, with Ciamarra and Howells rated as blue-chip prospects, McCormick as a five-star pick-up and Gota as a four-star talent.
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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, women’s tennis and fencing programs, in addition to 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.