Feb. 2, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 30 Notre Dame men’s tennis team returns home to the Eck Tennis Pavilion as it welcomes in No. 5 Duke and IUPUI on Super Bowl Sunday.
The doubleheader is coupled with a 9 a.m. Notre Dame women’s tennis match against Tennessee to give fans a full day of action at the Eck. Fans that make it for the women’s match will receive a free McDonald’s breakfast while supplies last. For the Duke match free Notre Dame pom poms will be provided.
Notre Dame (3-2) is coming off an impressive 4-0 win over No. 31 Memphis last Sunday in Norman, Okla., at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Irish put together a complete match against the Tigers after suffering two heartbreaking 4-3 losses to top-40 opponents in the previous two contests. For his efforts in clinching the match against Memphis, freshman Quentin Monaghan was named the BIG EAST’s Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, giving the Irish the first two weekly awards of the young season. Junior Greg Andrews was honored in week one after the Irish earned 7-0 wins over Marquette and Western Illinois.
Similar to last year, the doubles point has been vitally important for the Irish as they are 3-0 when winning the point and 0-2 when they lose it.
Turning in perfect singles marks thus far are the bookends in the lineup, No. 1 Greg Andrews (4-0) and No. 6 Ryan Bandy (3-0). Monaghan has also impressed at No. 3 singles (4-1), while Blas Moros is 2-1 at two.
Duke enters the match with a 5-1 mark, but looking to salvage its Midwestern swing after losing 4-3 at No. 25 Illinois Friday night. The Blue Devils boast six ranked singles players and three doubles duos.
Highlighting the group are three top-25 student-athletes – No. 11 Henrique Cunha, No. 14 Michael Redlicki and No. 23 Fred Saba. Also ranked are No. 38 Raphael Hemmeler, No. 46 Chris Mengel and No. T-123 Jason Tahir.
In doubles Cunha and Hemmeler make up the No. 1 doubles combo in the country. Also ranked are Mengel and Saba (No. 37) and Redlicki and Tahir (No. 39).
The Jaguars (0-7) have gotten off to a rough start this season and are coming off a 6-1 loss to No. 33 Indiana.
Fans can follow both matches through the live stats links on UND.com.
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