Stephen Havens earned BIG EAST Player of the Week honors.

Stephen Havens Named BIG EAST Player Of The Week

March 10, 2010

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Fighting Irish men’s tennis player Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio/ Hill Christian School) has earned BIG EAST men’s tennis Player of the Week honors it was announced by the conference on Wednesday afternoon. It marks Havens’ first career BIG EAST Player of the Week honor.

Havens earned the accolade on the strength of his performance against then 12th-ranked Illinois on March 2. Though the Irish came up on the wrong side of a 5-2 decision, Havens won his doubles and singles matches versus the Fighting Illini. In doubles action, he teamed with last week’s co-BIG EAST Player of the week honoree Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) at No. 1 doubles. The Irish duo knocked off 49th-ranked Marek Czerwinski and Stephen Hoh, 8-4. Then in singles action, Havens lined up in his customary No. 2 position and made quick work of Johnny Hamui. The Notre Dame junior recorded a 6-0, 6-1 win for his fifth victory of the 2010 Dual season.

It was also revealed by the BIG EAST conference that Watt earned co-Player of the Week honors on March 2 for his performance two weeks ago in which he guided the Irish to wins over Michigan State, Wisconsin and Toledo. In those matches, Watt recorded a 3-0 singles mark (at No. 1 singles) and a 2-0 doubles record. Against Wisconsin, Watt defeated seventh-ranked Moritz Baumann in a tough three set match, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. It marked Watt’s career best win in terms of defeating a highly ranked opponent (previous high was defeating a 13th-ranked opponent in fall of 2009). Watt also claimed the match-clinching win versus Michigan State. He split the honor with Louisville junior Austen Childs.

Havens, Watt and the Irish return to the courts this weekend with matches at BIG EAST rival South Florida and 19th-ranked Florida State. On Friday, March 12 Notre Dame will play the Bulls at noon in Tampa, Fla. Two days later, the Irish will face the 19th-ranked Seminoles at noon on Sunday, March 14 in Tallahassee, Fla. The Notre Dame-Florida State match will have live stats that can be accessed via Notre Dame’s schedule page. A complete recap of both contests will be posted on und.com following each match.

–ND–