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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

Notre Dame finds success hosting Bobby Bayliss Invitational

Notre Dame hosted the Bobby Bayliss Invitational at Eck Tennis Pavilion this past weekend.

The Irish dominated the singles competition throughout the tournament. Senior Brendon Kempin, sophomore Guillermo Cabrera, freshman Richard Ciamarra, junior Nathan Griffin, junior Grayson Broadus, sophomore Matt Gamble, freshman William Howells and freshman Tristan McCormick all recorded singles victories Friday. The team also record doubles points courtesy of wins from junior Daniel Rayl and Griffin and Ciamarra and Gamble.

On Saturday, the Irish were powered by singles victories from senior Drew Dawson, sophomores Conor Somers, Broadus, Ciamarra, Gamble, Howells, Rayl, McCormick and Griffin.

On Sunday, the Irish again dominated play, winning five of the seven singles matches they played along with winning four of the six doubles matches they played. Broadus, Cabrera, Ciamarra, Gamble, Howells, Kempin, Griffin, Rayl and McCormick each recorded singles wins, along with doubles wins from freshman Paul Gota/Cabrera, Broadus/McCormick, Ciamarra/Gamble and Dawson/Somers.

Irish sophomore Matt Gamble hits a forehand during Notre Dame's 7-0 win over Boston College on Feb. 11 at Eck Tennis Pavilion.
Irish sophomore Matt Gamble hits a forehand during Notre Dame's 7-0 win over Boston College on Feb. 11 at Eck Tennis Pavilion.


Matt Gamble was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Notre Dame head coach Ryan Sachire liked his team’s overall performance over the weekend.

“It was a great weekend in general, particularly on Sunday,” Sachire said. “Our guys did a really awesome job of how they competed and ultimately it affected how they played as well. Our results were really good, but I think the thing that I was most happy with was just how their attitudes were super positive and they embraced being in very challenging situations because they embrace adversity and did a great job of battling through some tough situations and were ultimately successful, so it was a really good day.”

Sachire said he loved how all his players performed but singled out the performances of junior Alex Lebedev — who was playing at the All-America Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma — and of Matt Gamble, Grayson Broadus and William Howells, who were undefeated on the weekend.

“Alex Lebedev was in Tulsa for the All-America Championships,” Sachire said. “It is maybe the second biggest tournament of the year nationally, so all of the best college players were there and he finished in the top 16 there and had two really significant wins. So he had a really great weekend down in Tulsa.

“At our tournament here, Matt Gamble, Grayson Broadus and William Howells all won each of their matches and all were undefeated on the weekend, so, I think from a results perspective, you have to single out those four guys probably. It was really hard to differentiate between any of them but beyond that, I was really excited about our whole group and how we competed [Sunday] especially, but throughout the whole weekend too and I think the identity our program had this weekend was really positive.”

The Irish will be back in action next week when they will compete in the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, starting Oct. 19.

Sachire said his team will look to improve its doubles play leading up to the tournament.

“We’re getting ready for the regional championships, so all of the schools in the Midwest will be competing in about 10 days from now at the University of Michigan,” Sachire said. “I think we need to play more doubles and work on our doubles. We haven’t played a ton of doubles this year and there are some things that we can certainly do better there. Beyond that, there is really nothing that sticks out in terms of a collective thing that we need to work on. It comes down to each individual guy’s game, but I think doubles will be a big focus once we start preparing for regionals and then trying to help each guy improve one or two things between now and 10 days from now when we are back at it again.”

Sachire said the strong opponents his team has played against during the fall season will prepare them for tough competition down the road.

“I think if you look big picture, you’re looking at the spring season and we play one of the toughest schedules in the country and there are no easy matches when we get to the springtime,” Sachire said. “So I think just being ready for that level of competition match in and match out. I think it is really important to know and understand the level of play that you’re going to be playing at and competing against and by playing events like this with strong competition, you are just much more prepared for it when you see it down the road.”