April 20, 2006
BIG EAST Conference ChampionshipTampa, Florida • USF Varsity Tennis CourtsFriday, April 21Quarterfinals, Noon (ET) - [1] Notre Dame (15-7, 1-0) vs.[8] Georgetown (6-10, 2-3)Saturday, April 22Semifinals, Noon - [1] Notre Dame vs. [4] St. John's (10-4, 3-0)/[5] South Florida (3-13, 0-2)Sunday, April 23Final, Noon
#16 NOTRE DAME LOOKS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: The top-seeded and 16th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team (15-7, 1-0) will look for its third straight title – and sixth overall – in the BIG EAST Conference Championship this weekend at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The Irish open play in the eight-team event by taking on eighth-seeded Georgetown (6-10, 2-3) on Friday at Noon (ET). A win would send Notre Dame into the semifinals on Saturday at Noon against either fourth-seeded St. John’s (10-4, 3-0) or fifth-seeded South Florida (3-13, 0-2), while the top contenders on the other side of the draw include second-seeded and 31st-ranked Louisville (15-7, 1-1) and third-seeded Marquette (13-8, 4-1). The final will be on Sunday at Noon. Notre Dame has reached the final in all 10 years since becoming a conference member, winning championships in 1996, ’99, 2002, ’04, and `05 while seeing the ’03 title match rained out in progress with no winner declared.
IRISH IN THE BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP: Notre Dame was named the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Conference Men’s Tennis Championship, which will take place Thursday through Saturday at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts in Tampa. With the league’s expansion this year, the field now includes two more teams for a total of eight. The winner receives the BIG EAST’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship, which begins at campus sites on May 12. This marks the second straight year and eighth time in 11 years of competition that the Irish are the top seed. ND has advanced to the final in each of the past 10 years, taking on host Miami in the first eight before meeting Virginia Tech in `04 and Rutgers last year. Notre Dame won championships in 1996, ’99, 2002, ’04, and `05, while the ’03 final was rained out with no winner declared. Junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) is a leading candidate to be the BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player, as he is the highest-ranked singles player in the conference, at 18th. The top-ranked doubles team in the league is Notre Dame’s duo of senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) and junior Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.), which is ranked 25th. The other nationally-ranked BIG EAST singles players are South Florida’s Dirk Britzen (28th), Notre Dame’s Sheeva Parbhu (35th), and Louisville’s Slavko Radman (53rd). In doubles, the Louisville team of Jakob Gustafsson and Jeremy Clark are ranked 43rd, while Keckley and junior Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) are 45th. Two former Irish players have won the tournament MVP award, as Ryan Sachire did so in 1999 and 2000, while Brent D’Amico captured it last season. Head coach Bob Bayliss has been named BIG EAST Coach of the Year five times in the last seven years. He is again a leading candidate for the award in ’05, as the Irish are the highest-ranked squad in the conference.
IRISH CARRY EIGHT-MATCH BIG EAST TOURNAMENT WINNING STREAK: Notre Dame has not lost a match in the BIG EAST Championship since a 4-2 decision vs. Miami in the 2001 final. Since then, the Irish have won eight straight, winning championships in 2002, ’04, and `05 and picking up a pair of victories in ’03 before the title match was rained out. Overall, Notre Dame holds a 21-4 all-time record in the BIG EAST tournament, with all four losses coming against Miami in championship matches. The Irish are 16-0 in early-round action (non-finals), with 13 shutouts.
CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE: Notre Dame has an incredible record of success in conference action, holding a 38-9 (.809) all-time record against conference foes, including a 21-4 (.840) record in the BIG EAST tournament. All nine defeats came against Miami (Fla.), which was a fellow member of the BIG EAST Conference from 1996-2004. Notre Dame has a 92-2 (.979) all-time record against current BIG EAST schools, having lost to Georgetown in 1962 and Louisville in the 2005 NCAA tournament, with both coming before they were league rivals of the Irish. Following 60 years as an independent, the Irish were members of the Midwestern City Conference from 1982-83 to 1985-86, became and independent again for two seasons before competing in the MCC (then the Midwestern Collegiate Conference) again from 1988-89 to 1994-95 and then moving to the BIG EAST Conference beginning in 1995-96. In 21 years of league membership, Notre Dame has been league champs 12 times and won 16 consecutive matches against league foes from 1982-97.
ALL-TIME RECORDS AGAINST CURRENT BIG EAST TEAMS: See below Notre Dame’s all-time record against the current members of the BIG EAST Conference. School Matches Record vs. BIG EAST Tournament Last Connecticut 1 1-0 1-0 1997 (BET)-W, 4-0 DePaul 25 25-0 0-0 1998-W, 5-1 Georgetown 6 5-1 2-0 2000 (BET)-W, 5-0 Louisville 6 5-1 0-0 2006-W, 5-2 Marquette 45 45-0 0-0 2005-W, 7-0 Rutgers 6 6-0 6-0 2005 (BET)-W, 4-0 St. John’s 4 4-0 3-0 2005 (BET)-W, 4-1 South Florida 1 1-0 0-0 1982-W, 5-2 Villanova 0 0-0 0-0 — Totals 94 92-2 12-0
IRISH-HOYAS SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Georgetown will meet for the first time since 2000 and the seventh time overall, with the Irish holding a 5-1 edge in the series … the Hoyas are one of just two current BIG EAST Conference squads to have ever defeated Notre Dame … Georgetown took a 5-4 decision in 1962 in the Cherry Blossom Tournament in Washington, D.C. … Notre Dame has won all three meetings since then, as well as an 8-1 exhibition decision on the road in 1970 … the schools first played in 1958, with the Irish prevailing 8-1 in the title match of the Cherry Blossom Tournament in Washington … ND won by a 5-4 score on the road in `61 … the teams have met twice in the BIG EAST tournament quarterfinals, with the Irish winning 4-0 in 1998 and 5-0 in 2000 … Irish head coach Bob Bayliss holds a 17-0 career mark against Georgetown (2-0 at ND) … no team has faced Bayliss more times without winning (Purdue is next, at 16).
IRISH-RED STORM SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and St. John’s could meet for the fifth time overall, including in the BIG EAST semifinals for the second straight year … the Irish have won every meeting … last year’s was the closest, a 4-1 decision … ND won 4-0 in the semis in 2000 and then took a 4-0 win in the `03 quarters … the lone regular-season match was a 6-0 affair at Notre Dame in 2004.
IRISH-BULLS SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and South Florida could meet for just the second time ever … the Irish prevailed 5-2 in Tampa in 1982 in the only other match.
ND 16th IN FILA COLLEGIATE TENNIS RANKINGS: After beating Louisville last week, Notre Dame moved up one spot to 16th in the latest Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on Tuesday. The Irish started the season 26th and have been as low as 31st (Feb. 14) and as high as 15th (March 21) this spring. Notre Dame has been listed in each of the last 256 sets of ITA national rankings, dating back to March 2, 1990. In all, 18 of Notre Dame’s 24 regular-season opponents are listed among the 75 teams in this week’s rankings, with nine of them in the top 20: #3 Duke (L, 4-3), #4 Texas (L, 1-6), #5 Illinois (L, 7-0), #7 Ohio State (W, 5-2), #9 Virginia (L, 4-3), #11 North Carolina (L, 4-3), #12 VCU (L, 4-2), #17 Texas A&M (L, 1-5), and #19 Florida State (W, 4-3).
ALL OF ND’S LOSSES TO TEAMS CURRENTLYIN TOP 20: All seven of Notre Dame’s defeats have come against teams ranked among the top 20 in the latest edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings. The first three Irish losses were 4-3 affairs on the road against Virginia (now ranked 9th after being #1 at the time), North Carolina (now 11th), and Duke (3rd). Since then Notre Dame, has lost to Illinois (5th), VCU (12th), Texas (4th), and Texas A&M (17th).
IRISH IN INDIVIDUAL ITA RANKINGS: Two singles players and two Irish doubles teams were listed in the latest individual national rankings, released April 4. Junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) leads the way at 18th in singles, with sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) at 35th. In doubles, junior Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) is ranked with two different partners, appearing at 25th with senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) and 45th with junior Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College).
IRISH HEAD COACH: Bob Bayliss is in his 19th year at Notre Dame with a 342-164 (.676) record, while his 36-year career mark stands at 633-267-1 (.703). He is one of just six active NCAA Division I coaches to boast 600+ career victories. Bayliss has had just one losing season in his career and has seen his teams finish in the top 20 nine times, advancing to the NCAA round of 16 on five occasions, highlighted by a quarterfinal appearance in 1993 and a national runner-up finish in ’92. He also is one of just three coaches in Division I to have led his current team to 14 NCAA tournaments over the last 15 seasons. Bayliss, named national coach of the year in 1980 and ’92, is a four-time ITA Midwest Region coach of the year and 12-time conference coach of the year (five times in the last eight years in the BIG EAST, including 2004 and `05). In his time at Notre Dame, Bayliss’ teams have won 12 conference titles, while his players have earned All-America honors 17 times, won eight national ITA awards, and earned 16 invitations to the NCAA Singles Championship and 11 to the NCAA doubles tournament.
IRISH BOAST TWO AMONG NATION’S TOP 35 IN SINGLES: In the latest set of Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, released on April 4, Irish junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) is 18th nationally in singles, while sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) is 35th. Notre Dame is one of only five Division I schools (along with Georgia, Illinois, Pepperdine, and Stanford) to have multiple players among the top 35 in the listing.
ALL SIX IRISH STARTERS IN SINGLES HAVE BEEN NATIONALLY-RANKED: All six of Notre Dame’s regular starters in singles have been listed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s national singles rankings this season. Junior Stephen Bass and sophomore Sheeva Parbhu are still in the rankings, at 18th and 35th, respectively. Those two peaked on Jan. 10 at eighth and 14th, respectively. Freshman Brett Helgeson has been ranked in three of the five sets of rankings, but fell out this week after being as high as 60th (on Feb. 22). Junior Ryan Keckley – who is ranked with two different partners in doubles – earned his first career singles ranking (115th) on March 21, but also is unranked this week. Junior Barry King moved into the listing on March 7 at 106th, but has since fallen out, while senior Eric Langenkamp was in the first two sets of national rankings, peaking at 65th on Jan. 10.
KECKLEY EARNS TOP-20 RANKING WITH FOURTH DIFFERENT PARTNER: Notre Dame junior Ryan Keckley (South Bend,Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) – the 2002 Indiana state singles champion and a graduate of St. Joseph’s High School in South Bend – is the only Notre Dame player ever to be listed in the ITA national doubles rankings with four different partners, having earned a top-20 listing with each. He is currently listed 45th with classmate Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) – after being 20th on March 7 – as well as 25th with senior senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.), after that squad was 12th to start the spring. Keckley – who earned a national ranking in singles for the first time on March 21 (115th) – was first listed 18th with Luis Haddock following the fall of the 2003-04 season and then switched partners and peaked at 14th with Brent D’Amico later that spring.
STREAKS: The following streaks are active heading into this weekend: – Notre Dame has won 10 consecutive home matches. [last loss: 3/17/05 vs. #3 Illinois, 6-1] – Notre Dame has won 24 consecutive matches when winning at No. 1 singles. [last loss: 4/4/04 at Virginia Tech, lost 4-3; Luis Haddock def. Andreas Laulund 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1] – Stephen Bass has won 15 consecutive singles matches at home [last loss: 3/17/05 vs. Illinois’ Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-4] – Stephen Bass is 11-0 in singles in his career at the Courtney Tennis Center. – Sheeva Parbhu has won 14 consecutive singles matches at home [last loss: 3/17/05 vs. Illinois’ Monte Tucker 6-2, 7-5] – Ryan Keckley has won five consecutive three-set matches with the dual-match outcome still undetermined [last loss: 4/3/05 vs. SMU’s David Kuczer 4-6, 6-4, 6-2] – Yuichi Uda has won six consecutive close sets (6-4, 7-5, or 7-6) [last loss: 10/15/04 vs. Wisconsin’s Brian Ko, 6-4 in third set] – Yuichi Uda has won six consecutive singles matches at home [only career loss: 9/17/04 vs. Purdue’s Scott Warner 6-4, 7-5]
MOST WINS BY BAYLISS WITHOUT LOSING: See below the list of schools Notre Dame head coach Bob Bayliss owns the most career victories against without having been defeated. School Bayliss Record vs. Georgetown 17-0 Purdue 15-0 George Washington 14-0 William & Mary 14-0-1 East Stroudsberg 11-0 Bloomsburg State 9-0 Washington & Lee 8-0 Salisbury State 7-0 Rutgers 6-0 Clark 5-0 Howard 5-0 Johns Hopkins 5-0 Marquette 5-0
IRISH ONLY TEAM TO HAVE BEATEN OHIO STATE: After three close calls earlier this spring, Notre Dame finally broke through with a big victory, beating then-#11 Ohio State 5-2 on Feb. 24 in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. That is the only defeat this season for the 18-1 Buckeyes, who rose to an all-time high of #4 in the national rankings and are now seventh. The match snapped a 17-match losing streak for ND against top-15 squads, and OSU was the highest-ranked team to fall victim to the Irish since Notre Dame won 4-3 at #5 Illinois on March 7, 2002. It marked the third time that a team ranked among the nation’s top 11 lost at Notre Dame – the first since #8 Duke lost 4-3 to the 29th-ranked Irish in the Eck Tennis Pavilion on Feb. 16, 1997. This victory also was just the third time that ND beat a top-11 team without being listed in the top 20 itself.
ND GOES UNDEFEATED AT HOME FOR FIRST TIME IN 32 YEARS: Notre Dame won all eight of its home matches this spring and also beat USC in the fall, with none of those contests even being decided by a 4-3 score. The last time the Irish went unbeaten in the spring at home was during the 1991-92 season – which saw Notre Dame advance all the way to the title match of the NCAAs. But USC got an exhibition win at ND in the fall of that campaign, so the last squad to truly go an entire season without tasting a home defeat was the ’73-74 unit that was 11-0 at home and 18-2 overall.
ROCKING THE REGION: Irish competitors have combined to win 77% of their singles matches against other players from the ITA’s Midwest Region, which includes most of the Big Ten Conference and other area squads. Notre Dame players have a 87-26 singles record vs. regional foes and are 8-1 in dual matches this spring against that group, having lost only to #3 Illinois. No ND student-athlete has lost more than three times against the region this season, and Irish junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) – who became the first ND player since 1993 to win the singles title in the ITA Midwest Championships in October – leads the way with an 18-1 mark (the lone defeat coming against Illinois’ Kevin Anderson). Sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) is 16-2 against regional opponents, while freshman Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West H.S.) is 12-4. Notre Dame also excelled in singles against the region a year ago, combining for a 104-37 (.738) mark in 2004-05.
CLINCHING PARBHU: Sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) has delivered the decisive blow to opponents on five occasions, all against Big Ten Conference opponents: vs. Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan State, #11 Ohio State, and Indiana. He is just one shy of the Irish record for most match-clinching wins in a season since the statistic debuted in 1999. Andrew Laflin posted six clinching wins in 1999-2000, while Javier Taborga had six in 2001-02.
IRISH GO 7-1 vs. THE BIG TEN: Notre Dame played eight matches against members of the Big Ten Conference this spring, winning all but a road contest against #3 Illinois. The Irish upset #11 Ohio State by a 5-2 score and also beat Michigan 5-2. Notre Dame won 7-0 against Michigan State and 6-1 vs. Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
KECKLEY/KING KNOCK OFF NATION’S #1-RANKED DOUBLES TEAM: Notre Dame juniors Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) and Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) posted an 8-4 victory over the #1-ranked team in college tennis, North Carolina’s Raian Luchi of Romania and Brad Pomeroy, on Feb. 4 at the No. 1 position. It was the first time an Irish doubles team had knocked off the nation’s top-ranked squad since Feb. 18, 1993, when Chuck Coleman and Will Forsyth prevailed 8-3 against Anders Eriksson and Trey Phillips of Texas at No. 1 in the opening round of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Louisville, Ky. Notre Dame, ranked sixth at the time, went on to win the match 4-3 against the 10th-ranked Longhorns. This season’s win marked the first time King had upset a nationally-ranked team in doubles during his collegiate career, while Keckley – who is currently ranked 12th nationally with senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) – has five to his credit.
HELGESON POSTS HIGHEST-RANKED ND SINGLES WIN SINCE 2000: Freshman Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West H.S.) knocked off Virginia sophomore Treat Huey 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles in dual-match action on Jan. 27. Huey was ranked #6 in the national singles rankings, making him the highest-ranked player to fall victim to a Notre Dame student-athlete since Javier Taborga beat then-#3 K.J. Hippensteel of Stanford on Oct. 12, 2000, in the second round of the ITA All-American Championships.
BASS, PARBHU EXCEL IN NATIONAL INDOORS: Junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) combined to make Notre Dame one of only two schools (along with Stanford) to have multiple players among the final 16 in the season’s second grand slam, the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. Bass knocked off the tournament’s No. 6 seed to become just the second Notre Dame player (along with Ryan Sachire in 2000) ever to reach the quarterfinals of the event. Just six schools – Duke, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Stanford, and Virginia – qualified two players for the 32-player singles draw (none had more than two). This season marked the fourth time – all since 1992 – that Notre Dame has had multiple players in the men’s singles draw of the National Indoor Championships, but the first since 1995. This was the first time that both reached the round of 16.
BASS, PARBHU COMBINE FOR FIRST ALL-IRISH SINGLES FINAL IN ITA MIDWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) prevailed against his teammate, sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) in the first-ever all-Irish singles final of the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Championships. No ND player had reached the singles final of that event – which features the top talent in the ITA’s Midwest Region – since 1996 (Ryan Sachire), and Bass became the first Irish victor since Andy Zurcher did so in 1993. Bass came away with a 7-5, 6-2 victory in the championship match to snap Parbhu’s 17-match winning streak and join an elite club of just four Notre Dame players who have won that singles title. Notre Dame was the only school to have two players in the quarterfinals, and that duo kept winning. Bass – a semifinalist in 2004 – is the fifth Irish player to reach the semifinals of the ITA Midwest Championships multiple times.
TERRIFIC TRIO: The 2005-06 campaign marks the first time ever that Notre Dame had three different players compete in singles action in grand slams in the fall semester. Senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) participated in the singles main draw of the season’s first grand slam, the Polo Ralph Lauren ITA All-American Championships, while junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) played in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.
IRISH BOAST FOUR AMONG TOP 25 SINGLES PLAYERS IN MIDWEST REGION: Notre Dame joined Ohio State as the only schools with four or more singles players listed among the top 25 in the ITA’s Midwest Region rankings, released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) in December. Junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) led the way at #2, while sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) was fifth, freshman Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West H.S.) was 13th, and senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) was 22nd. Junior Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) would have been ranked, but was listed as having insufficient data since he did not play collegiately during the fall. Bass is the highest-ranked Irish player in the regional singles rankings since Ryan Sachire finished his career in 1999-2000 at #1, which concluded a decade-long span in which ND boasted the region’s top singles player in every season but one. In an almost-unbelievable turn, Langenkamp and junior Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) were listed just 13th in the regional doubles rankings determined by a committee of head coaches, despite having wins over the teams ranked #2 and #5 in the region and coming in 12th in the national rankings (determined by the ITA’s computer formula).
LANGENKAMP WINS ITA SUMMER NATIONALS: Senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) claimed the singles title in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Summer Championships, presented by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) last month at Indiana University. Among the highlights of his run were wins against Steven Peretz (who played Nos. 4-6 for Michigan last spring), Ryan Preston (Nos. 4-5 for Vanderbilt in ’05), top-seeded Paul Rose (Purdue’s No. 1 player who is ranked 54th in the preseason ITA listing), Will Gray (Nos. 3-6 for Tulsa in ’05), and Eric Hechtman (Nos. 2-3 for Miami in `05). The championship earned Langenkamp – who combined with sophomore Yuichi Uda (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Laurel Springs School [CA]) to make Notre Dame the only school with two players among the final 16 in the singles draw – wild-card entry into the main draw of the first grand slam of the 2005-06 collegiate season, the Polo Ralph Lauren ITA All-American Championships. It was the first time an Irish player ever won a title in the tournament.
BUCHANAN SERVES AS SOLE TEAM CAPTAIN: Senior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) was voted team captain for the 2005-06 season. Following three straight years in which Notre Dame had multiple team captains – the only such span in the history of the program – the Irish have now returned to their tradition of having a single team captain. In 84 years of varsity tennis, Notre Dame has had just one team captain in all but 10 seasons, with the most-recent solo captain being Casey Smith in 2001-02. He concluded a 32-year stretch in which all but two seasons saw Notre Dame have exactly one captain.
DOEBLER PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH: Todd Doebler was promoted to associate head coach of the Irish men’s tennis team, it was announced in January. Now in his fourth year on the coaching staff at Notre Dame, he is the first associate head coach in the history of the program, as well as one of just five currently in the Irish athletic department.
IRISH INK SEAN CORRIGAN FOR NEXT SEASON: Long Island’s Sean Corrigan (Lido Beach, N.Y./Long Beach H.S.), who was ranked among the top 25 in the nation in both singles and doubles at the end of 2004, signed a national letter of intent during the early period to enroll at the University of Notre Dame next fall and join its men’s tennis team. Corrigan, a senior at Long Beach High School, finished 2004 ranked 24th in the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) boys’ 16-and-under national rankings in singles, as well as 22nd in doubles (first in the Eastern Section). In prep action, he went undefeated at No. 1 singles last spring for Long Beach.
DAVID DiLUCIA NOW PERSONAL COACH FOR LINDSAY DAVENPORT: A five-time All-American during his four-year career at Notre Dame (1988-92), David DiLucia, left his job with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) in December 2005 to become the personal coach of the world’s #1 women’s player, Lindsay Davenport. DiLucia was ranked #1 in both singles and doubles during his collegiate career and then went on to play in the singles main draw in all four professional grand slams before retiring in 2002. During his pro career, DiLucia earned wins over players such as Gustavo Kuerten, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Mark Philippoussis, and David Wheaton.
BAYLISS HONORED BY NAVAL ACADEMY: Notre Dame head coach Bob Bayliss was recognized recently by the United States Naval Academy, where he was the head tennis coach for 15 years, as well as the school’s head squash coach for four seasons. Navy named one of its varsity tennis courts in his honor and also dedicated a plaque in its squash facility on the occasion of the return to campus by Bayliss, who posted a 19-0 record against Army during his tenure in Annapolis. The long-time Irish mentor visited the Naval Academy during the weekend of Nov. 5, which also featured the football team’s homecoming game, a 49-21 win over Tulane. Though the tennis court had been dedicated previously – when Bayliss was unable to attend – there was a small ceremony held to show it to him. The weekend also featured the squash team’s annual alumni match, the Bowen Cup, and the dedication of a new plaque honoring Bayliss’ service to that team.
BAYLISS AT WIMBLEDON: Notre Dame head coach Bob Bayliss headed to London, England, last June to participate in a High Performance Continuing Education Program, which was organized by the USA Tennis Coaching Education Department and held in conjunction with The Championships Wimbledon. A total of 15 American coaches who work primarily with junior players took part, with the intent of continuing to work toward the program’s ultimate goal of developing world-class American champions. Bayliss was selected to participate in the continuing education program out of a pool of applicants of coaches who work with talented and highly-ranked junior players.
KEEPING UP WITH NOTRE DAME TENNIS: For the fastest results of Notre Dame tennis matches, call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #8. The hotline provides schedule and results information for varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the game recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. The hotline is the first medium updated with the results of each Notre Dame tennis match. In addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting Bo Rottenborn at Rottenborn.2@nd.edu, who also can provide any information about the Irish tennis program.