Men hand No. 25 Notre Dame their first loss of the season
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 34th-ranked University of Texas men's tennis team handed No. 25 Notre Dame their first loss of the season as the Longhorns upset the Irish 4-3 at Eck Tennis Pavilion on Friday, Feb. 4. With the score tied 3-3 headed into the final singles match, it was the tough play of junior Callum Beale (Adelaide, Australia) that proved to be the deciding factor as he needed three sets to win the point and clinch the victory for Texas.
"I knew coming into this match that the doubles and all six singles points would be competitive," head coach Michael Center said. "Wining the doubles point built some momentum headed into singles, but then we found ourselves down by three. Like our last match against SMU, the players kept competing and just hung in there. In the end, we ended up on top."
The Longhorns (2-0) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after posting victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Beale and junior Roger Gubser (Laredo, Texas) won the first doubles match 8-5 over Brent D'Amico and Ryan Keckley at the top of the lineup. Notre Dame answered with a win at No. 2 doubles, but the duo of sophomore Hubert Chodkiewicz (Corpus Christi, Texas) and freshman Travis Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan.) used an 8-5 advantage over Stephen Bass and Barry King to clinch the point for Texas heading into singles.
In singles, the Irish scored their first point of the match when Patrick Buchanan defeated freshman Luis Diaz Barriga (Cordoba, Mexico) 6-4, 6-1 at the bottom of the lineup. Texas soon found itself down 3-1 as Notre Dame continued to make a run by posting victories at the third and fourth singles spots. Gubser was defeated by King 7-6, 6-2 and Chodkiewicz lost to Sheeva Parbhu 7-5, 6-4.
Notre Dame seemed to have control of the match, but Texas' remaining three singles players battled back and won the final three points. Helgeson posted a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Bass at No. 2 singles, while freshman Milan Mihailovic (Nis, Serbia) needed three sets to defeat Irackli Akhvlediani 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 5 spot.
With the score tied and one match remaining, the stage was set for a showdown at the top of the lineup. In the end, Beale posted a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 victory over D'Amico which clinched the match for the Longhorns.
The Texas men's tennis team continues its weekend road trip when it travels to Champaign, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 5 to face the fifth-ranked Illini at 6 p.m.
No. 34 Texas 4, No. 25 Notre Dame 3
Singles (Order of Finish: 6, 3, 4, 2, 5, 1*)
1. Callum Beale (UT) def. Brent D'Amico (ND) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
2. Travis Helgeson (UT) def. Stephen Bass (ND) 7-5, 6-4
3. Barry King (ND) def. Roger Gubser (UT) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
4. Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Hubert Chodkiewicz (UT) 7-5, 6-4
5. Milan Mihailovic (UT) def. Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. Patrick Buchanan (ND) def. Luis Diaz Barriga (UT) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 3*, 2)
1. Beale/Gubser (UT) def. D'Amico/Keckley (ND) 8-5
2. Eric Langenkamp/Parbhu (ND) def. Diaz Barriga/Garrett Snyder (UT) 9-8 (7-2)
3. Chodkiewicz/Helgeson (UT) def. S. Bass/King (ND) 8-5
