Milwaukee Classic
UVA Masters
WMU/Vredevelt Invitational
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team opened their fall schedule of competition across the map this weekend. Four participants headed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the annual Milwaukee Classic, four competed in Charlottesville, Virginia at the UVA Masters, while five more stayed more regional, competing at the WMU/Vredevelt Invitational in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Milwaukee Classic began competition on Thursday, September 20, with Grayson Broadus, Guillermo Cabrera, Matt Gamble and William Howells competing in both singles and doubles. Cabrera, Broadus and Howells all advanced to the round of 32, with Broadus making the round of 16 and Howells advancing all the way to the quarterfinals before being knocked out by Kennan Mayo of Illinois.
In the doubles competition, Broadus and Cabrera breezed through the first round, defeating a pair from Marquette, 8-3. They then took on a pair from Virginia Tech, beating them 6-4 before moving on to the quarterfinals where their run came to an end. Howells and Gamble also readily defeated their first opponent in the doubles round of 32, defeating a pair from Cleveland State 8-5. They then topped a duo from Iowa, 6-3, in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals to face Tennessee. They ultimately came just shy of the championship matchup, falling 8-4 in the semifinal round.
“Overall I thought our team fared well this weekend,” Callaghan Family Head Men’s Tennis Coach Ryan Sachire said. “Like with any fall tournament, there were some huge positives and also some aspects that we’d like to do better next time on court. The important thing for all of our guys is that they learn from the matches they played and look to improve moving forward. In general, I was proud of how we competed and am excited to get back to work later this week.”
Richard Ciamarra, Alex Lebedev, Tristan McCormick and Axel Nefve were members of the team that headed east for the UVA Masters. All four advanced past the first round of competition while Lebedev made it to the round of 16. Having a bye through the first round and defeating Ryan Goetz of Virginia (4-6, 6-1, 6-1) in the round of 32, Ciamarra went on to beat Sam Riffice of Florida (2-6, 7-5, 6-4) and Melios Efstathiou of Wake Forest (7-6, 7-5) to advance to the semifinals of the UVA Masters.
Both doubles squads in Lebedev/Nefve and Ciamarra/McCormick advanced to the round of 16 before falling to their respective opponents.
Paul Gota, Nathan Griffin, Daniel Rayl, Johnathan Small and Conor Somers visited the campus of the Western Michigan Broncos for the WMU/Vredevelt Invitational. The first day of competition started with Somers and his doubles partner, Dominik Sochurek of Purdue, dropping a tight set 4-6.
Griffin, Small, Somers and Rayl all recorded at least one singles victory at the tournament. Rayl was named champion of Flight B following his weekend success, winning all three matches he played. He was later named to the All-Tournament Second Team, defeating Kennosuke Nouchi (Western Michigan) 6-0, 6-2, in the final day of competition put him atop his flight.
The Irish are back in action this coming weekend, September 29-30 for the All-American Championships (pre-qualifying).
— ND —