Men's Tennis Scores 7-4 Win at Notre Dame

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 2 Virginia men’s tennis team remained undefeated on the season with a 7-4 victory at No. 30 Notre Dame Sunday. The Cavaliers (3-0) won their 63rd consecutive regular season match, while handing the Fighting Irish (1-1) their first loss of the year.

The match used an alternative scoring method agreed upon by both teams. The match consisted of 10 singles matches, each worth one point, and five doubles matches for one double point, for a total of 11 points.

Play began with the No. 7-10 singles matches where the Fighting Irish jumped out to a 3-1 lead. Philippe Oudshoorn (Apeldoorn, The Netherlands) defeated Tyler Davis 7-5, 6-3 at No. 7 singles, but Notre Dame posted wins at No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10 to take the early lead.

The Cavaliers cut the Notre Dame lead to 3-2 by winning the doubles point. The No. 17 ranked duo of Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) won at No. 3 doubles, Steven Eelkman Rooda (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) and Oudshoorn won at No. 4 doubles and the team of Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) clinched the point with a tiebreaker win at No. 1 doubles.

Virginia jumped out to a strong start to the No. 1-6 singles, winning five of the six first sets. Shabaz tied the match at 3-3 with his 6-4, 6-2 win over Stephen Havens at No. 2 singles. Singh, ranked No. 12, gave the Cavaliers a 4-3 lead with his 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 18 Casey Watt at the No. 1 position. Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) added a 6-2, 6-4 win over Niall Fitzgerald at No. 3 singles. Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) clinched the win with his 6-2, 6-4 win over Blas Moros at No. 5. Singer added a 6-4, 6-4 win over Michael Moore at No. 6 singles to make the score 7-3, before Notre Dame’s Daniel Stahl won at No. 4 over Courtney in a third-set tiebreaker in the final match on the courts.

“This match is really going to help our team,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “Early on, we just couldn’t match the depth of this Notre Dame team. They just have a tremendous amount of depth. Overall I really liked our effort and I know we will grow from this match. I appreciate Coach Bobby Bayliss playing an alternative format, as this will help both of our teams in May.”

The Cavaliers will have two weeks off before traveling to Kentucky on Feb. 6 for a doubleheader against Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky.

No. 2 Virginia 7, No. 30 Notre Dame 4

Doubles:
1. Michael Shabaz/Sanam Singh (UVa) def. Tyler Davis/Casey Watt (ND) 9-8 (7-3)
2. Niall Fitzgerald/Stephen Havens (ND) def. Jarmere Jenkins/Houston Barrick (UVa) 8-3
3. #17 Lee Singer/Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Samuel Keeton/Daniel Stahl (ND) 8-4
4. Steven Eelkman Rooda/Philippe Oudshoorn (UVa) def. Sean Tan/Spencer Talmadge (ND) 8-5
5. David Anderson/Blas Moros (ND) def. Julen Uriguen/Santiago Villegas (UVa) 8-7 (7-3)

Singles:
1. #12 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. #18 Casey Watt (ND) 6-2, 6-2
2. #3 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. #93 Stephen Havens (ND) 6-4, 6-2
3. #16 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) def. Niall Fitzgerald (ND) 6-2, 6-4
4. #95 Daniel Stahl (ND) def. #31 Drew Courtney (UVa) 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5)
5. #58 Houston Barrick (UVa) def. #74 Blas Moros (ND) 6-2, 6-4
6. #28 Lee Singer (UVa) def. Michael Moore (ND) 6-4, 6-4
7. Philippe Oudshoorn (UVa) def. Tyler Davis (ND) 7-5, 6-3
8. David Anderson (ND) def. #80 Steven Eelkman Rooda (UVa) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
9. Samuel Keeton (ND) def. Santiago Villegas (UVa) 7-5, 6-3
10. Matt Johnson (ND) def. Julen Uriguen (UVa) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3

Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3,2,4,1,5
Singles: 7,8,9,10,2,1,3,5,6,4