The Irish defended their home court this weekend, winning 30 of 37 singles matches and seven of 10 doubles matches during the Tom Fallon Invitational at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Four members of the squad earned a spot on the all-tournament team and senior co-captain BlasMoros earned MVP honors. This tournament marked the first time Notre Dame welcomed competition as the home team this season, welcoming Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Alabama and Michigan.
"Playing at home is always nice, because you save the time that you usually spend traveling either resting or somehow getting ready," Moros said. "It's always great playing in front of our home crowd as well."
Friday saw the Irish square off with Northern Illinois in the afternoon and Alabama in the evening.
Underclassmen started the first day on a good foot, with freshman Nicolas Montoya and sophomores Dougie Barnard and Michael Fredericka winning their respective sets against members of the Huskie squad in singles play. Montoya took down JovanZeljkovic in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0, while Barnard and Fredericka beat Max Phillips, 6-3, 6-3, and Simon Formont, 6-4, 6-2, respectively.
In the evening session, Notre Dame dominated Alabama, winning seven of the eight singles matches. Moros closed the night with a close three-set win, finally triumphing over DaniilProskura 7-5, 5-7, 1-0. Freshmen Quentin Monaghan, Alex Lawson and Kenneth Sabacinski, sophomore Wyatt McCoy, junior Ryan Bandy and senior Spencer Talmadge also collected wins.
The Irish approached Saturday with a confidence that helped them continue racking up wins. The squad turned out 12 of 13 singles matches and five of eight doubles matches, improving in the doubles area where they previously struggled. Bandy and McCoy picked up two singles wins each. Additional individual wins came from senior Michael Moore, junior Billy Pecor, Talmadge, Moros, Lawson, Fredericka and Montoya.
On the doubles court, junior Greg Andrews returned from the ITAAll-American Championships in Oklahoma to join Talmadge, taking down Alabama's JarrydBotha and Becker O'Shaughnessey 9-7 and Michigan's Barrett Franks and Alex Buzzi 8-4. Pecor and Lawson also defeated Franks and Buzzi, beating the Wolverines 8-6, while two other Irish pairs knocked off two Alabama squads.
The Irish closed out the tournament Sunday, adding another eight singles victories and two doubles victories for the day. After each adding another win on the singles courts, Moros, Andrews, Talmadge and McCoy received recognition for their efforts throughout the weekend with spots on the nine-person all-tournament team.
Pecor, Monaghan and Moore also contributed singles wins, while the Barnard and Fredericka teamed up against members of the Michigan State team and Andrews and Talmadge took down a pair from Northern Illinois.
"We have all the necessary tools, we just need to be able to call on it during the heat of competition," Moros said.
After this weekend, the Irish showed their ability to perform. They next head to East Lansing, Mich., for the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships beginning Oct. 18.
Contact Megan Finneran at mfinnera@nd.edu
