Duke Falls at Notre Dame by 5-2 Final

Friday, March 18

South Bend, Ind.

3:30 PM

Duke University

Notre Dame

Duke Falls at Notre Dame by 5-2 Final

3/18/2016 7:17:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 69 Duke men's tennis team suffered a 5-2 setback at No. 51 Notre Dame on Friday inside the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Of the 14 sets played in singles action, seven were determined in a tiebreaker.

The Blue Devils (7-9, 1-3 ACC) trailed 3-2 with the remaining two singles matches in their third sets, but Notre Dame (9-8, 3-2 ACC) claimed both contests for the 5-2 final. It was Duke's first setback to Notre Dame since 2009, and the first time the Blue Devils had lost consecutive ACC matches since April 3 and April 5, 2009.

The Blue Devils dropped the doubles point for the fifth straight match as Notre Dame claimed 6-3 victories on courts two and three. The Fighting Irish tallied the first finish on court two, where the No. 71 team of Grayson Broadus and Quentin Monaghan topped Duke senior Daniel McCall and freshman Jason Lapidus. The two teams were tied at points one through three before the Blue Devils were broken and lost the final three games. McCall and Lapidus fall to 4-4 overall and 0-3 in league matches.

Notre Dame finished the point on court three with Josh Hagar and Nicolas Montoya defeating Duke freshmen Vincent Lin and Catalin Mateas. After a 1-1 tie, the Fighting Irish held and broke to go up 3-1. Duke got a game back with a break, but Notre Dame broke back to regain a two-game cushion at 4-2. The two teams held service games throughout the remainder of the set with ND putting away the match. Lin and Mateas suffered their first doubles setback in a dual match and are 5-3 overall and 4-1 in dual action.

The match on court one between Eddy Covalschi and Alex Lawson versus Duke sophomore Nicolas Alvarez and freshman Ryan Dickerson was halted at 4-4. The contest had been tied at every point.

The lead for the Fighting Irish did not last long as junior TJ Pura won his fifth straight match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Lawson on court four. Pura turned a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 advantage in the first set. Lawson cut the deficit to one game at 4-3, but Pura held on for the set. In the second set, a 3-3 tie was snapped by three consecutive Pura victories to end the match. Pura improves to 11-9 overall, 5-6 in dual matches and 4-0 in ACC action.

Notre Dame retook the lead at 2-1 with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) victory by Broadus against senior Josh Levine on court five. With the first set even at 2-2, Broadus took the final four games. In the second set, Broadus took a 4-1 lead before Levine stormed back and tied the set at 4-4. The two were even at 5-5 and 6-6 before heading to the tiebreaker, where Broadus jumped ahead 6-1 and finished the victory. Levine dips to 11-10 and 1-1 against league foes.

Duke had the answer again and evened the match at 2-2 with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win by Mateas against Hagar on court three. Mateas trailed 3-0 and 5-2 in the opening set before forcing a 5-5 tie. With the set at 6-6, the two went into a tiebreaker, where Mateas led 3-1. Hagar knotted the tiebreaker at 3-3 and then took a 5-4 advantage. Mateas then evened the tiebreaker at 5-5 and 6-6 before capturing the final two points. The second set had Hagar lead 2-0 and 3-1 but Mateas ripped off five consecutive games to earn the victory. Mateas is now 9-7 overall and 1-3 in ACC play.

Minutes later, the Fighting Irish regained the one-point advantage as No. 42 Monaghan defeated No. 20 Alvarez 7-6 (5), 6-3 on court one. Alvarez trailed 4-1 in the first set, but won three straight games to tie the set at 4-4. After a 5-5 tie, Alvarez broke to go up 6-5, but Monaghan broke back and forced a tiebreaker. Monaghan snapped a 2-2 tie and went up 4-2 and 5-3. Alvarez cut the deficit to 5-4 and 6-5, but Monaghan tallied the final point. The second set had Monaghan break a 3-3 deadlock with three consecutive wins for the triumph. Alvarez slips to 11-12 overall and 1-3 versus league competition.

Notre Dame claimed the final two decisions in three sets, winning on courts two and six. The Fighting Irish clinched the match on court two with a 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4), 6-2 decision by Covalschi against Lin. In the opening set, the two were even at every point until going to the tiebreaker. From there, Lin jumped to 3-0, 5-1 and 6-2 leads before capturing the final point. The second set had Lin inch ahead 2-0 before Covalschi evened the set at 2-2 and the two were again tied at every point and moved to the tiebreaker. Lin again took an early advantage in the tiebreaker at 3-1, but Covalschi knotted the score at 3-3 and 4-4 before claiming the final three points. In the final set, Covalschi kept the momentum going with 2-0, 3-1 and 5-2 advantages before finishing the match. Lin falls to 17-13 overall and 2-2 in ACC play.

The final point was a three-set 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6) victory by Kenneth Sabacinski against freshman Adrian Chamdani on court six. The sets could not have been any tighter as the two were even at points one through six in the initial set. In the tiebreaker, Sabacinski turned a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 lead and extended the advantage to 6-3 before finishing off the set. The second set had Chamdani win consecutive games after a 1-1 tie and lead 3-1. Chamdani, playing in his first career ACC match, pushed the lead to 4-2, but Sabacinski evened the match at 4-4. Chamdani captured the final two games to push it to a third set. In the third set, the two were again tied at every point and went to the tiebreaker with Sabacinski pulling off the triumph. Chamdani is now 11-10 overall and 4-3 in dual matches.

Duke wraps up the road weekend Sunday at Boston College. First serve is scheduled for 12 noon.

#51 Notre Dame 5, #69 Duke 2
March 18, 2016 at Notre Dame, Ind. (Eck Tennis Pavilion)

Doubles competition
1. Nicolas Alvarez/Ryan Dickerson (DU) vs. Eddy Covalschi/Alex Lawson (ND) no result
2. #71 Grayson Broadus/Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. Daniel McCall/Jason Lapidus (DU) 6-3
3. Josh Hagar/Nicolas Montoya (ND) def. Vincent Lin/Catalin Mateas (DU) 6-3

Singles competition
1. #42 Quentin Monaghan (ND) def. #20 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
2. Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Vincent Lin (DU) 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-
3. Catalin Mateas (DU) def. Josh Hagar (ND) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
4. TJ Pura (DU) def. Alex Lawson (ND) 6-4, 6-3
5. Grayson Broadus (ND) def. Josh Levine (DU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Adrian Chamdani (DU) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6)

Match Notes:
Duke 7-9, 1-3 ACC; National ranking #69
Notre Dame 9-8, 3-2 ACC; National ranking #51
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,5,3,1,2,6)
T-3:08 A-123

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