June 28, 2007
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Notre Dame men’s tennis standout and recent graduate Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y.) was one of eight collegiate players that will represent the United States at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 13-29. The Pan American Games is the world’s second largest multi-sport event following the Olympic Games.
The tennis competition will be held on the clay courts of the Marapendi Club.
Joining Bass on the U.S. team is Todd Paul of Wake Forest, Travis Helgeson of Georgia (brother of Irish sophomore Brett Helgeson) and Luke Shields of Boise State. The team will be coached by USTA National Coach Kent Kinnear.
The women’s team is comprised of NCAA champion Audra Cohen of Miami, Megan Falcon of LSU, Natalie Frazier of Georgia and Kristi Miller of Georgia Tech and will be coached by North Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas.
Bass, who was named an ITA All-American this past season, ended the year ranked 10th in the country. The ITA Senior Player of the Year for the Midwest Region was the 17th different Irish men’s tennis player to be tabbed an All-American. In 2007, Bass went 36-11, was named the BIG EAST Performer of the Year and spent most of the year ranked among the top 10 in the country. He finished his career sixth on the all-time victory list with a 109-46 record.
Bass was recently awarded the 2007 Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s John Van Nostrand Memorial Award, given to an outstanding senior men’s player who plans to pursue a professional tennis career upon graduation. A three-time All-Big East selection, Bass rose to No. 11 in the USTA Boys’ 18s and reached the final of the 2003 USTA Boys’ 18s National Clay Court Championships and won the Florida Gator Bowl and the ITF Canadian Open in 2003. He is currently ranked No. 1158 in the world and reached the semifinals of the USTA Futures in Vero Beach, Fla., last month on clay.
Since the inception of the Pan American Games in 1951, the United States has won 20 gold medals in the tennis competition and 41 medals in total.
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