March 5, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. – The eighth-ranked Notre Dame men¹s tennis team extended its winning streak to five matches and ran their season record to 11-2 with a 6-1 win over No. 15 Washington Monday afternoon inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish have now won 17 home matches in a row, a streak that dates back to March of 2005.
Notre Dame captured the doubles point, then used suburb singles play to propel them to their first ever win over the Huskies in three all-time matches. The Irish won 11 of 13 singles sets to win in dominating fashion.
Junior Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, NE) rebounded from a doubles loss by making quick work of Husky southpaw Daniel Chu 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2. Parbhu dictated play from the start and did not allow the crafty Chu to establish any momentum. He won the last four games of each set and was the first off the court for Notre Dame. Parbhu improved his season mark to 19-9 and 9-3 in dual matches. He also moved into 13th place on the all-time singles victory list with 84 career wins.
Veteran Barry King (Dublin, Ireland) put the Irish on the verge of victory with a decisive 6-3, 6-2 win over Derek Drabble at No. 5. The Irish senior won the match¹s final five games to rebound from a 2-1 second set deficit. The win pushes King¹s record to 21-6 (10-2 dual).
Stephen Bass (Bronxville, NY) closed out the Huskies by defeating Alex Slovic 6-1, 6-4. Slovic was slowed in the first set after a rolled ankle in the second game brought out the trainer. He rebounded in the second, however, owning a 3-2 edge before Bass took control. The senior won four of the last five games to gain the final margin and improve his season mark to 22-8 and 11-2 this spring.
Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, KS) at No. 3 and Ryan Keckley (South Bend, IN) at No.4 recorded victories within a minute of each other to push the Irish advantage to 6-0. Helgeson was victorious over Andy Kuharszky 6-3, 7-5. The Irish sophomore had a chance to close the match at 5-4 in the second before he was broken by the Washington junior. Helgeson fought back, breaking Kuharszky at 5-5 and cashing in on his second chance to close out the match on his serve. Helgeson¹s record stands at 18-5 (10-2 dual). Keckley fought off Patrik Fischer 6-3, 7-5. Up 4-3 in the second, Keckley seemed to be on his way to victory before Fischer earned a break and hold to gain a 5-4 edge. The Irish senior gutted out the last three games, however, taking them all to win the match. Keckley moves to 17-3 overall,10-1 in spring duals.
Mike Ricks notched the only point for the Huskies with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Andrew Roth (Houston, TX). Roth quickly won the first set before the Washington senior battled his way through the final two sets and used his consistency to upend the Irish veteran and prevent the shutout. Roth drops to 14-10 in singles on the year and 6-5 in dual play.
Helgeson and King got Notre Dame off to a strong start in doubles, winning easily at the No. 2 position over Fischer and Ricks. The teams held serve the first five games before the Irish earned a key break to take a 4-2 edge. An easy hold by King put the Irish ahead for good, and they cruised for an 8-4 victory. Helgeson and King are now 17-7 on the campaign and 9-3 in the spring dual season.
After splitting the first two games with the Husky duo of Drabble and Kuharszky at No. 3, Bass and Roth asserted themselves, taking the next five games to grab a 6-1 edge. The Huskies responded by winning three of the next four games to cut the lead to 7-5 before Bass came through with a clutch hold to clinch the doubles point for the Irish. The Irish duo ran their record to 10-4 on the season and 7-3 in dual play.
The No. 1 team of Keckley and Parbhu saw their record drop to 6-7 in dual meets and 20-8 overall following an 8-4 loss at the hands of Washington¹s Chu and Slovic. The Huskies and Irish held serve each of the first seven games before a Husky break of Ryan Keckley gave Washington a 5-3 lead. Another Washington break at 7-4 sealed the match and closed doubles play.
The Irish will be off the rest of the week before a trip during spring break week to Montgomery, Alabama to compete in the Blue Gray Tennis Classic. Notre Dame finished second in the tournament last season.
#8 NOTRE DAME 6, #15 WASHINGTON 1
Singles
No. 1: #11 Stephen Bass (ND) def. #84 Alex Slovic (W) 6-1, 6-4
No. 2: #27 Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Daniel Chu (W) 6-1, 6-1
No. 3: #94 Brett Helgeson (ND) def. Andy Kuharszky (W) 6-3, 7-5
No. 4: Ryan Keckley (ND) def. Patrik Fischer (W) 6-3, 7-5
No. 5: Barry King (ND) def. Derek Drabble (W) 6-3, 6-2
No. 6: Mike Ricks (W) def. Andrew Roth (ND) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 5, 1*, 3, 4, 6
Doubles
No. 1: Chu/Slovic (W) def. Keckley/Parbhu (ND) 8-4
No. 2: King/Helgeson (ND) def. Fischer/Ricks (W) 8-5
No. 3: Bass/Roth (ND) def. Drabble/Kuharszky (W) 8-5
Order of finish: 2, 3*, 1
* denotes clinching point