Notre Dame men's tennis player Casey Watt (Gibsonia, Pa./ Pine-Richland) will begin NCAA singles championship play at 1:30 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday, May 26 at the University of Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. Watt, who earned one of 48 at-large bids to the 64-player field, is making his first career appearance at the event.



Watt will face UCLA senior Haythem Abid in first round action. The match will mark Watt and Abid's first meeting in collegiate play. Abid enters Wednesday's match ranked 51st in the most recent Campbell/ITA rankings, and carries a 2009-10 overall singles record of 7-7 and a 5-6 mark in dual season singles play. Most recently, Abid was downed by Virginia's Sanam Singh at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, in NCAA team championship quarterfinal action.



Watt, currently 53rd in the ITA/Campbell singles rankings, amassed a 20-19 overall record in the 2009-10 season and a 9-17 mark when lining up at No. 1 singles in dual season play. Six of his nine wins came against ranked opponents. The sophomore was also named to the All-BIG EAST team for the second consecutive season.