Jan. 26, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 13 Notre Dame men’s tennis dropped its season opener at No. 8 Virginia Friday night, 6-1. Senior Ryan Keckley was the lone Irish player to come away with a victory. Notre Dame drops to 0-1 on the season, while the Cavaliers improve to 2-0.
Keckley (Sr./South Bend, IN) knocked off Ted Angelinos at No. 5 singles in straight sets, 7-6 (1), 6-2. Keckley improved his record this season to 9-2 overall.
Notre Dame found itself in a hole from the opening serve. The Irish dropped all three of the doubles matches to fall behind 1-0. Keckley and Sheeva Parbhu (Jr./Omaha, NE), ranked #11 in the most recent ITA poll, struggled in their match against #8 Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey. The Virginia duo cruised past the Irish duo, 8-4.
Brett Helgeson (So./Overland Park, KS) and Barry King (Sr./Dublin, Ireland) saw a similar result at No. 2 doubles. Houston Barrick and Dominic Inglot upended Helgeson and King, 8-5. Notre Dame’s No. 3 doubles team of Stephen Bass (Sr./Bronxville, NY) and Andrew Roth (Jr./Houston, TX) were also dealt an 8-5 defeat.
Inglot pushed the Virginia lead to 2-0 with his straight-set victory over Helgeson at No. 3, 6-2, 6-2. Helgeson falls to 8-4 on the season with the third loss in his last four matches.
After Keckley gave Notre Dame a slight glimpse of hope at 2-1, the Cavaliers swept the next four matches in straight sets. #8 Devvarman got past #14 Bass at No. 1 singles, 7-6 (6), 6-1. Bass dropped to 11-7 on the season with the loss.
#10 Huey defeated #30 Parbhu in straight-sets, but it was far from easy at No. 2. Huey survived a tiebreaker in the opening set, 7-6 (2), before pulling out the second set, 7-5. Parbhu fell to 10-7 on the year.
Roth appeared in pretty solid shape to win a point at No. 6 singles for the Irish. He destroyed Marko Miklo in the opening set, 6-0, but dropped the second set in a tie-breaker, 7-6 (6), before Miklo returned the favor with a 6-0 thrashing in the third and final set.
Notre Dame returns to action Saturday afternoon at William & Mary. First-serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
No. 8 Virginia 6, No. 13 Notre Dame 1
Doubles:
1. #7 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. #11 Keckley/Parbhu (ND) 8-4
2. Barrick/Inglot (UVa) def. Helgeson/King (ND), 8-5
3. Angelinos/Singer (UVa) def. Bass/Roth (ND), 8-5
Singles:
1. #8 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. #14 Stephen Bass (ND), 7-6 (6), 6-1
2. #10 Treat Huey (UVa) def. #30 Sheeva Parbhu (ND), 7-6 (2), 7-5
3. Dominic Inglot (UVa) def. Brett Helgeson (ND), 6-2, 6-2
4. Houston Barrick (UVa) def. Barry King (ND), 6-4, 7-5
5. Ryan Keckley (ND) def. Ted Angelinos (UVa), 7-6 (1), 6-2
6. Marko Miklo (UVa) def. Andrew Roth (ND), 0-6, 7-6 (1), 6-0
— ND —