Oct. 17, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Stephen Havens (Cincinnati, Ohio), Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West), and Daniel Stahl (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) will all take part in the main draw of the ITA Midwest Regionals at the Ohio State University Tennis Center. Main draw singles play begins Saturday at 8:00 a.m.
Stahl is coming off a dominant performance at the Tom Fallon Invitational in which he recorded a 7-0 record, 4-0 in singles, and was named to the 2008 All-Tournament team. Havens also played at the Tom Fallon, recording two singles victories and three doubles triumphs.
Helgeson did not participate in the Tom Fallon as he was taking part in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the event, Helegeson became the first Notre Dame men’s tennis player to advance to the round of 16 since 2000. To get to the round of 16, Helgeson first defeated Richard Wire of Stanford. Helgeson, #25 in the preseason ITA rankings, dropped the first set, 5-7, but battled back to win a close second set, 7-5, followed by a third set win, 6-1, over Wire. In his second match of day one, Helgeson defeated 12th seeded Nate Schnugg of Georgia. Helgeson dropped the first set of the match, 4-6, before winning two straight, 7-5, 6-4, to advance to the round-of-16.
For the Midwest Regionals, updated brackets, and live updates for Sunday and Monday’s matches, will be available on OhioStateBuckeyes.com. To access the results, click on the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Tournament link at the bottom of the men’s tennis page.
The Irish are no strangers to success at the ITA Midwest regionals under Bob Bayliss. Since 1990, Notre Dame has had four singles champions, most recently Stephen Bass in 2005. Andy Zurcher (1993), Will Forsyth (1992) and David DiLucia (1990) also won the event for the Irish. In addition, Notre Dame has had five runners-up at the event and four No. 1 seeds. In doubles action, four Notre Dame duos have won the Regionals, including the tandem of Sheeva Parbhu and Ryan Keckley in 2006.
After the Midwest Regionals, the Irish their fall season at the ITA National Indoors and the William & Mary Invitational. Both events will be played on November 6-9. The ITA National Indoors will be played at the Boyd Tinsley Courts in Charlottesville, Virginia, while the W&M Invitational will be play at the McCormack-Nagelson Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Virginia.