April 4, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 43 Notre Dame men’s tennis team opened up the first outdoor match of the year at Courtney Tennis Pavilion in fine fashion on Wednesday afternoon with a convincing 7-0 victory over BIG EAST opponent DePaul.
The 7-0 sweep was the eighth of the season for the Irish, including the second in a row. It improves Notre Dame’s all-time record against the Blue Demons to 27-0.
The Irish won the doubles point in just under an hour to take the early 1-0 lead. The No. 1 doubles duo of Casey Watt and Niall Fitzgerald took care of Mathias Hambach and Sven Kasper, 8-4. The No. 3 team of Sam Keeton and Billy Pecor clinched the point with an 8-3 win over Matija Palinic and Adam Reinhart. Sophomore Greg Andrews and Spencer Talmadge gave Notre Dame the sweep with an 8-6 win over Filip Dzanko and Josh Dancu at No. 2 doubles.
Notre Dame opened singles in style as Keeton swept Hambach, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 3 singles in less than 40 minutes. The sweep was the second for a Irish singles competitor this season as Michael Moore bested Toledo’s Ben Brocker at six singles on Jan. 15.
Junior Blas Moros gave the Irish a 3-0 lead with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Dancu at No. 6 singles and Andrews clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kasper at two.
Fitzgerald won 6-4, 6-1, at No. 5 singles over Reinhart and Pecor won 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) at four singles over Palinic to up the score to 6-0.
Watt gave the Irish the sweep with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Dzanko at one singles.
The Irish (15-7, 2-1 BIG EAST) hit the road for Easter, as they travel to Texas for a pair of non-conference matches. Notre Dame first battles SMU in Dallas on Friday in a 1 p.m. (ET) match. The Irish then travel to College Station for a 7 p.m. (ET) match with No. 25 Texas A&M on Monday. Both matches will be available via live stats, with links provided on UND.com.
RESULTS
SINGLES
No. 1 Singles
Casey Watt (ND) d. Filip Dzanko (D), 7-5, 6-2
No. 2 Singles
Greg Andrews (ND) d. Sven Kasper (D), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Singles
Sam Keeton (ND) d. Mathias Hambach (D), 6-0, 6-0
No. 4 Singles
Billy Pecor (ND) d. Matija Palinic (D), 6-2, 7-6
No. 5 Singles
Niall Fitzgerald (ND) d. Adam Reinhart (D), 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Singles
Blas Moros (ND) d. Adam Reinhart (D), 6-4, 4-0
Order of Finish: 3, 6, 2, 5, 4, 1
DOUBLES
No. 1 Doubles
Casey Watt / Niall Fitzgerald (ND) d. Mathias Hambach / Sven Kasper (D), 8-4
No. 2 Doubles
Greg Andrews / Spencer Talmadge (ND) d. Filip Dzanko / Josh Dancu (D), 8-
No. 3 Doubles
Sam Keeton / Bill Pecor (ND) d. Matija Palinic / Adam Reinhart (D), 8-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
–ND–