Jan. 30, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) broke serve three times in the third set en route to a come-from-behind triumph that clinched a 4-3 victory for the 34th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team (6-0) against #41 Florida State (3-1) Sunday afternoon in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish, who now stand 6-0 following an upset of #18 North Carolina on Saturday and will next play host to #36 Texas on Friday at 4 p.m. (EST), won the doubles point and prevailed in two of the four straight-set singles matches to go up 3-2 with a pair of three-setters remaining.
The decisive match turned out to be the No. 4 singles contest between Parbhu and FSU junior Chris Westerhof of South Africa, who played No. 2 in last year’s dual match against Notre Dame and beat 2004 graduate Matthew Scott. The Seminole opened the final set with a hold of serve, but he would manage just one more in his next four service games. Parbhu first broke to go up 2-1, but Westerhof struck back immediately with a break of his own to even the score at 2-2. The Irish freshman broke serve again in a hard-fought fifth game, and that would eventually hold up. Westerhof nearly kept the streak of breaks going, though, as Parbhu was down 15-40 on his serve, but he eventually came back to hold and go up 4-2. The Omaha native, who is 17-4 including 5-0 this spring at No. 4, held at love to go up 5-3 and then used a double fault, a passing-shot winner, and a Westerhof forehand error to get three match points. After an ace from the South African, Parbhu blasted a return down the line, and the southpaw dumped a forehand into the net to end the 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 decision. Parbhu rallied from losing the first set for a victory for the first time as a collegian and now holds an 8-1 record in home matches and a 3-1 mark in three-setters. It was his second clinching victory of the spring.
Notre Dame, which claimed the doubles point just 10 times in 23 chances last season, won the doubles point for the fifth time in six contests this spring with wins at the top two positions.
The point came down to the No. 2 match, where Parbhu and junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) posted an 8-4 upset of the 32nd-ranked team of Westerhof and Jeff Groslimond. Neither Notre Dame player had ever previously topped a nationally-ranked doubles team, and the win was the first for any Irish duo against a ranked team since Feb. 28, 2004, when Notre Dame upset a pair of ranked Ohio State teams. Parbhu and Langenkamp are 7-2 on the season, including 4-1 in dual-match play at No. 2. The Irish junior moved to 13-8 this season in doubles, upping his team-leading victory total.
FSU won the quickest match, when Sam Chang and Jonathas Sucupira prevailed 8-2 over Irish sophomores Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) at No. 3.
Senior captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) and sophomore Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.), who had dropped both of their previous two matches in tiebreakers, claimed an 8-6 win against Ytai Abougzir and Mat Cloer at No. 1. That left the match’s initial point up to the No. 2 match.
Florida State evened the match when Brazilian Jonathas Sucupira, who played mostly No. 2 for the Seminoles last season, used a net-cord winner on match point to finally end a 6-1, 7-5 victory over stubborn Irish junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) at No. 5. The FSU sophomore was ranked 55th in the preseason ITA national rankings, but was ineligible for the most recent set after he played professional tournaments instead of competing collegiately in the fall.
Notre Dame edged ahead 2-1 when local product Keckley beat Sam Chang of Taiwan 7-5, 6-4 at No. 6. The Irish sophomore took advantage of a chance to be in the Notre Dame singles lineup that presented itself when an injury suffered late in Saturday’s match precluded sophomore Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) – normally the Irish No. 5 player – from competing on Sunday.
The Seminoles tied the score again when Mat Cloer finished a 6-4, 6-4 win against 78th-ranked Bass at No. 2. Cloer, who provided the clinching win for FSU in its 4-3 win in the Eck Pavilion in 2003, was ranked 15th in the preseason after winning a match in last season’s NCAA Singles Championship, but he also played pro tournaments in the fall and, thus, was not eligible to be ranked in the most recent set.
D’Amico completed a perfect weekend at No. 2 singles – after playing No. 3 previously this spring – by downing Abougzir 6-4, 6-4 to give Notre Dame a 3-2 advantage. The Irish senior is now 11-3 on the season, including 5-0 in dual matches.
The other match still left on the court was a battle at No. 3 between 112th-ranked King and #91 Groslimond. The Irishman served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but the Seminole eventually edged King 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).
Notre Dame last opened with six consecutive victories in 1996-97, when the Irish started 6-0 en route to a 19-6 record and a final national ranking of 16th.
#34 Notre Dame 4, #41 Florida State 3
Singles
No. 1: Mat Cloer (FSU) def. #78 Stephen Bass (ND) 6-4, 6-4
No. 2: Brent D’Amico (ND) def. Ytai Abougzir (FSU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 3: #91 Jeff Groslimond (FSU) def. #112 Barry King (ND) 6-7 (1-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 4: Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Chris Westerhof (FSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 5: Jonathas Sucupira (FSU) def. Patrick Buchanan (ND) 6-1, 7-5
No. 6: Ryan Keckley (ND) def. Sam Chang (FSU) 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1, 2, 4*, 3
Doubles
No. 1: D’Amico/Keckley (ND) def. Abougzir/Cloer (FSU) 8-6
No. 2: *Eric Langenkamp/Parbhu (ND) def. #32 Groslimond/Westerhof (FSU) 8-4
No. 3: Chang/Sucupira (FSU) def. S. Bass/King (ND) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*