Friday, May 13, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 13, 2011) – With the score tied at three apiece and only one match remaining, Notre Dame freshman Greg Andrews outlasted ETSU senior Charles Bottoni (Bois Guillaume, France) in the third set to propel the No. 30th-ranked Fighting Irish to a narrow 4-3 victory over the No. 55 Bucs on Friday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament at the Stickney Tennis Center.

After the Bucs took the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead, Notre Dame responded by winning the first two singles matches to take the 2-1 advantage. However, the Bucs won the next two matches to regain the lead at 3-2.

Then, after Notre Dame picked up a victory at the No. 3 position to even the match at 3-3, only the No. 4 position match remained. Bottoni got off to a strong start by easily taking the opening set 6-2, but Andrews responded by taking the second set 6-4, to force a third set. Andrews got out to a quick start in the third set by jumping out to a 3-0 lead, but Bottoni fought his way back to tie it at 3-3. After Andrews won the next game to go up 4-3, both players traded games to make the score 5-4 in favor of Bottoni. However, Andrews battled back and took the next three games to clinch the victory for the Irish.

ETSU jumped out quickly in doubles competition by holding early leads in two of the three matches. The duo of Sander Gille (Kuringen, Belgium) and Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) continued their winning streak by defeating Casey Watt and Stephen Havens, 8-6, at the No. 2 position. Gille and Bandres closed out the season by winning their last 14 doubles matches.