March 17, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team returns home after playing its last two matches on the road and training for a week in Texas to host a pair of challenging opponents on Saturday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Match 14
WHO: No. 37 Notre Dame (8-5, 1-1 ACC) vs. No. 3 Virginia (14-0, 1-0 ACC)
WHERE: Eck Tennis Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: 2 p.m. ET Saturday
WHO: No. 37 Notre Dame vs. DePaul (9-5)
WHERE: Eck Tennis Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
WHEN: 6 p.m. ET Saturday
RESULTS: | | WatchND
On The Cavaliers
- Virginia is undefeated entering Saturday’s match, including 6-0 against nationally ranked opponents. Earlier this season, the Cavaliers captured the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
- Four Cavaliers are ranked in the national singles listings: No. 9 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (10-1 in duals), No. 59 J.C. Aragone (10-2), No. 60 Collin Altamirano (4-4) and No. 119 Carl Soderlund (6-0). They also boast three ranked doubles pairs: No. 16 Soderlund and Luca Corinteli (4-1 in duals), No. 28 Corinteli and Kwiatkowski and No. 64 Aragone and Corinteli. Kwiatkowski and Alexander Ritschard are 9-0 in dual doubles matches.
- The Irish are 1-12 all-time against the Cavaliers.
On The Blue Demons
- DePaul will play South Dakota State on Friday evening before traveling east to face the Irish. The Blue Demons enter the weekend with a 9-5 mark, but are 3-5 in their last eight matches.
- The Blue Demons are led by Nathan de Veer with an 8-5 record at No. 1 singles, and have three players with six singles wins: Christopher Casati (6-3), Tim Corwin (6-7) and Alex Galoustian (6-3).
- Notre Dame is 27-0 in the all-time series against DePaul, but Saturday will mark the first meeting for the Irish under Callaghan Family Head Men’s Tennis Coach Ryan Sachire.
Last Time Out
The Irish battled with Louisville until the last match in their last outing Saturday, March 11, but fell in a close 4-3 decision on the road. The Cardinals won the doubles point, but the Irish fought to take a brief 3-2 lead before falling in the final two singles matches.
On The Horizon
Senior Josh Hagar is one singles wins away from reaching 70 in his career, while classmate Eddy Covalschi needs three to reach his 60th career singles win. The Irish are three wins away from reaching the 1,200th dual win in program history.
Rankings Rundown
Notre Dame dropped nine spots to No. 37 in the most recent Oracle/ITA Division I Men’s Tennis Rankings.
The Irish also boast two players in the individual rankings. Seniors Josh Hagar and Eddy Covalschi dropped six spots to No. 12 in the most recent Oracle/ITA Division I Men’s Tennis doubles rankings, having gone 17-6 on the season, including 7-3 in dual play this spring. Hagar moved up 11 spots in the singles rankings last week, coming in at No. 33.
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.