NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 2018 ITA Midwest Regional tournament came to an end as two members of the Notre Dame men’s tennis team booked a trip to Surprise, Arizona for the ITA Fall Championships next month. In the final match of the day, Richard Ciamarra and Tristan McCormick defeated Ohio State’s Hunter Tubert and Martin Joyce, 6-3, 6-4, to earn a spot in the national tournament.
Over the course of five days, the Irish hosted 19 teams and 184 student-athletes, splitting time between the Eck Tennis Pavilion on campus, and Lakeland Athletic Club in Niles, Michigan. The teams opened competition with a qualifying draw of 64, looking to earn one of eight spots in the main draw of the tournament. Daniel Rayl of the Irish claimed one of those few spots, defeating his opponents in six straight sets.
Day two of the tournament saw the final round of qualifying singles, as well as three rounds of doubles played in pro-style eight-sets. Six Irish duos competed with four advancing to the second round of the draw. William Howells and Alex Lebedev, Grayson Broadus and Matt Gamble and Ciamarra and McCormick all advanced to the final round of matches on day two of the tournament.
The third day opened with the main draw of singles, in which 10 individuals represented the Irish. Five members of the team made it to the final round of singles for the day, with McCormick and Guillermo Cabrera advancing to the quarterfinal round with 7-6(2), 7-5, and 6-2, 6-2 wins, respectively. The third day also featured Ciamarra and McCormick battling it out with a pair from Michigan for a spot in the semifinals. They dominated the match, advancing on an 8-2 victory.
Day four of competition had three Irish take the court. First up was Cabrera, who fell in a tough match to Zeke Clark of Illinois, 6-1, 7-6(4). McCormick also dropped his singles match, as Ohio State’s James Trotter took the match 6-3, 6-4. The two would later face each other in the doubles semi-finals, where Ciamarra and McCormick came back and won with a pair of 6-4 wins.
The fifth day featured the semi-final and final singles matches. The two semi-final match-ups were played between Ohio State and Illinois, with the Illini reigning victorious in both. With singles wrapping up, the Irish and Buckeyes met in the championship match for doubles.
Ciamarra and McCormick, boasting a 6-3 and 6-4 set wins, clinched a berth in the ITA Fall Nationals in November. They will join teammate, Alex Lebedev, who qualified for a spot in singles earlier this season.
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