March 7, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 24th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team is set to play host to No. 4 Illinois Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. (ET) at the Eck Tennis Pavilion in Notre Dame, Ind. The match was previously stated to begin at 6:00 p.m.
Notre Dame and Illinois last clashed on Jan. 29 during the ITA Kickoff Weekend but lost in a hard-fought 4-1 battle in Champaign, Ill. The Irish came out to an early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point at the second and third positions.
In the first meeting with the Illini, Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) was downed by KU Singh in a three-set match at No. 2 singles. The senior came out with an early lead, handling Singh 6-2, followed by consecutive losses (7-5, 6-1) to conclude the match and even out the score (1-1).
Samuel Keeton (Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill) was defeated by Roy Kalmanovich in a three-set match (6-2, 4-6, 3-6) at No. 5 singles, while Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) battled Dennis Nevolo at No. 1 singles. The pair split the first two sets before Nevolo downed Watt, 6-3, in the final set.
Greg Andrews (Richland, Mich./Gull Lake) defeated No. 121 Abe Souza in the first set at No. 4 singles, but dropped the final two sets, 3-6 and 7-6 (7-4). Souza’s victory clinched the match for the Illini, making the final score 4-1.
SCOUTING THE IRISH
– Notre Dame is currently 9-7 on the season – The Irish most recently split wins over the weekend – Friday (March 4) Notre Dame fell to No. 18 Texas A&M before rebounding to down No. 60 Northwestern – The Irish remain No. 24 in the Campbell/ITA Tennis Rankings with the latest rankings set to be released Tuesday (March 8) – Senior Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) had a perfect 2-0 weekend as the third singles competitor downed Texas A&M’s 80th-ranked Alexis Klegou in straight sets, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 and Northwestern’s Andrew McCarthy in consecutive 6-4 sets.
SCOUTING THE ILLINI
-Illinois currently carries a 9-4 record heading into the match against Notre Dame – The Illini rank fourth in the Campbell/ITA Tennis Rankings – Most recently, Illinois defeated No. 73 Iowa, 4-3 – Dennis Nevolo is ranked No. 50 in the Campbell/ITA National Singles Rankings, Johnny Hamui is No. 62 and Abe Souza is No. 65 – Hamui is currently on a four-match winning streak – In the doubles rankings, Nevolo and Souza are No. 32 and Johnny Hamui and Abe Souza are No. 60.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. ILLINOIS
Notre Dame vs. Illinois 22-21
Notre Dame vs. Illinois under Bayliss 13-13
Bayliss vs. Illinois 14-13
First Meeting (1933) Illinois, 7-0
Most Recent Meeting (2011) Illinois, 4-1
Complete results and a recap will be posted to und.com following each match. Live results of each match are available at und.com and fans can follow the team on Twitter (@NDmenstennis).
–ND–