Feb. 2, 2005
#25 Notre Dame (6-0) vs. #34 Texas (1-0)
Friday, February 4 • Eck Tennis Pavilion
#25 Notre Dame vs. #9 Duke
Sunday, February 6 • Eck Tennis Pavilion
The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team, now ranked 25th after a 6-0 start to the spring season, is set for another challenging weekend of action, as it plays host to #34 Texas (1-0) on Friday at 4 p.m. (EST) and #9 Duke (2-0) on Sunday at Noon in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Fans and media will be able to follow both matches via und.com, as the website will feature live scoring updates during the match, a feature that will continue for the remainder of the Irish home matches this season.
LIVE SCORING UPDATES AVAILABLE VIA UND.COM: This weekend will mark the debut of live scoring updates on Notre Dame’s official athletic website, www.und.com. All remaining home matches this season will feature live updates, which are available either by clicking the link on the front page of und.com or on the men’s tennis schedule.
LAST TIME ON THE COURTS: Last weekend, Notre Dame claimed its 1,000th all-time victory on Saturday by upsetting #18 North Carolina 5-2 before edging #41 Florida State 4-3 on Sunday. The Irish won the doubles point and three of the four straight-set singles matches against the Tar Heels to register their first win against a top-25 team since 2002. They won at the bottom two spots in doubles, and then senior captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School) and sophomore Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) almost pulled off an upset of the #9 team in college tennis, Geoff Boyd and Brad Pomeroy. Neither team could break serve in the entire match, and the UNC duo eventually won 9-8 (7-5). In singles, the Irish got two-set wins at Nos. 6 and 4 before sophomore Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) won a tight two setter – 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) – against Boyd at No. 3 to clinch the victory. Notre Dame then got a three-set win at No. 2 and appeared to be on the verge of another one at No. 5, but UNC’s Derek Porter fought off two match points and rallied to win the final four games of the match in taking the third set 7-5.
On Sunday, the Irish led 3-2 with the Nos. 3 and 4 matches left on the court. In what turned out to be the decisive match, Notre Dame freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) broke serve three times in the final set for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 triumph against Chris Westerhof at No. 4, clinching the Irish triumph. In the other match, 91st-ranked Jeff Groslimond eventually outlasted 112th-ranked King 6- 7 (1-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Notre Dame won at the top two spots to win the doubles point, with Parbhu and junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) upsetting the 32nd-ranked team of Groslimond and Westerhof 8-4 at No. 2. In singles, the Irish got straight-set victories at Nos. 6 and 2, while UNC won in two sets at Nos. 5 and 1 to set the stage for the final two contests.
SCOUTING TEXAS: The Longhorns, ranked 34th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings, opened their spring slate last weekend with a 5-2 road victory against #33 Southern Methodist. After playing the Irish, Texas will head to #5 Illinois for a Saturday evening contest. The Longhorns returned two starters from last year’s squad that finished 15-12 and 36th in the national rankings after beating Auburn (4-3) in the opening round of the NCAA Championship and then losing at Georgia (4-2). UT finished third in the Big XII Conference (5-2 record) and lost to Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. Gone from that team are Antonio Ruiz, an NCAA singles qualifier who ended 36th in the rankings, and Jose Zarhi, who earned a trip to the NCAA Doubles Championship with Ruiz, and finished ranked 12th. Nonetheless, the Longhorns come to Notre Dame with three players in the national singles rankings, as well as one ranked doubles team. Leading the way is junior Roger Gubser, who is 53rd with a 17-5 record, including a 7-5, 7-5 win against SMU’s Paul McNaughton – who played two seasons at Notre Dame – at No. 2. One of his fall victories was a 6-4, 6-2 decision against Notre Dame rookie Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) in the semifinals of the Midland Invitational. Freshman Travis Helgeson – whose younger brother Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West High School) has signed a national letter of intent to play for Notre Dame next season – is ranked 69th with an 11-3 record, while junior Callum Beale of Australia is 93rd but playing No. 1 for the Longhorns. In doubles, Beale and Helgeson are 45th with a 6-1 record, though they are not playing together any longer. Beale and Gubser, who registered an 8-5 win against Parbhu and senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) en route to winning the Midland Invitational title, are now playing No. 1 for UT. Head coach Michael Center is in his fifth season leading Texas, having compiled a 76-29 (.724) record there and a 235-97 (.708) career mark in 15 years as a head coach (previously at TCU and Kansas).
IRISH-LONGHORNS SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Texas will meet for the first time since 2000 and the 11th time overall, with the Longhorns holding an 8-2 advantage in the all-time series, which has seen seven of 10 prior matches decided by 4-3 scores. UT has won in three of its four visits to Notre Dame, with each of its victories coming in 4-3 affairs. The schools first played in 1992, when the 10th-ranked Irish prevailed 8-1 at home. Notre Dame, then ranked sixth, also prevailed 4-3 in the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championship in 1993 against #10 Texas. Since then, the Longhorns have dominated the series, winning eight straight, beginning with a 4-0 home triumph in 1993. Texas then registered 4-3 wins at Notre Dame in 1994, ’97, and ’99, while winning in Austin by the same score in 1996, ’98, and 2000. The Longhorns also claimed a 5-2 win in the quarterfinals of the 1994 national indoors. The teams also played once in exhibition action, in the fall of the 1995-96 season, when Notre Dame claimed a home victory in yet another 4-3 decision. This is the 10th consecutive match in which both teams are nationally-ranked heading into the contest, but it is the first since 1993 that sees Notre Dame as the higher-ranked squad. Notre Dame holds a 15-11 (.577) victory against current Big XII schools under current head coach Bob Bayliss.
SCOUTING DUKE: The Blue Devils head into this weekend with a 2-0 record and ranked ninth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings. Duke will play at #5 Illinois on Friday evening before heading to Notre Dame. The Blue Devils opened the spring with 7-0 victories against #59 Old Dominion and Charlotte. Last Sunday, Duke was scheduled to play host to #3 Florida, but that contest was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Blue Devils returned eight letterwinners from last year’s team that was 20-8 and was ranked as high as fifth and finished ninth in the national rankings after being upset by Clemson (4-3) in the second round of the NCAA tournament after beating Minnesota (4-0) in the opening round. Duke finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference (6-2 record) and fell to Virginia in the semifinals of the league tournament. Gone from that team is All-American Phillip King, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2004 NCAA Singles Championship and finished 12th in the national singles rankings last year. He also was ranked 50th in doubles with current junior Jonathan Stokke. This season, the Blue Devils have three singles players and two doubles teams currently ranked. Junior Ludovic Walter of France leads the way at sixth in the nation in singles with an 11-2 record, while Stokke is 52nd and junior Stephen Amritraj is 106th. Senior Jason Zimmerman was 74th in the preseason, but he did not play in the fall and was, thus, ineligible for the most recent set of rankings. Sophomore Peter Rodrigues of Portugal was 108th in the preseason, but fell out after the fall. In doubles, Walter and Zimmerman are now 14th after being #2 in the preseason, while Rodrigues and Stokke are 15th. There was one Duke-ND matchup in the fall, as Irish rookie Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) beat Duke freshman Ned Samuelson 6-4, 6-3 in the round of 16 of the Midland Invitational. Head coach Jay Lapidus is in his 15th year leading Duke, having compiled a 306-90 (.773) record.
IRISH-BLUE DEVILS SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Duke will meet for the 12th consecutive season and 18th time overall, with the Blue Devils holding a 13-4 advantage in the all-time series. Duke has won in four of five trips to Notre Dame and sports a 9-4 record against the Irish since they have been guided by head coach Bob Bayliss. The schools first met in 1955, when the Blue Devils claimed a 9-0 home victory. Notre Dame’s first triumph against Duke came in the 1990 H.E.B. Championship in Corpus Christi, Texas, by a 6-3 score. The Irish first played host to the Blue Devils in 1995, when fifth-ranked Duke registered a 7-0 win against #15 ND. Duke has won five of the last six meetings, and the most-recent Irish triumph came in 2002, when #7 Notre Dame edged the 10th-ranked Blue Devils 4-3 in Durham. The last Irish home win against Duke was a 4-3 decision in 1997, when they upset the eighth-ranked Devils. All of the last three Notre Dame wins in the series (1997, ’98, 2002) have been by 4-3 scores. This will be the 12th consecutive meeting where both teams are nationally ranked, but the first since ’02 with both in the top 25. This will be the 11th time in the last 12 meetings that Duke comes in with a higher ranking. It is also the 11th time in the last 12 matches in which the Blue Devils are ranked in the top 10. Notre Dame holds a 34-32 (.515) record against current ACC teams under Bayliss, including a 2-0 mark this season.
Last season, eighth-ranked Duke registered a 7-0 victory against #49 Notre Dame on Feb. 1 in Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils won all three doubles contests – though the No. 2 match was decided in a tiebreaker – and then registered four straight-set wins in singles. Duke completed the shutout with a match-tiebreaker victory at No. 2 and a three-set triumph at No. 3.
IRISH HEAD COACH: Bob Bayliss is in his 18th year at Notre Dame with a 315-149 (.679) record, while his career mark stands at 597-243 (.711). He is on the verge of becoming just the fourth active NCAA Division I coach to reach 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 in the past 15 years, 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 four coaches in Division I to have led his current team to 13 NCAA tournaments over the last 14 seasons. Bayliss, named national coach of the year in 1980 and ’92, is a four-time ITA Midwest Region coach of the year and 11-time conference coach of the year (including on four occasions in the last seven years in the BIG EAST). In his time at Notre Dame, Bayliss’ teams have won 11 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.
NOTRE DAME BECOMES SIXTH SCHOOL WITH 1,000 VICTORIES: A 5-2 upset of #18 North Carolina last Saturday served as the 1,000th victory in the 83-year history of the Irish varsity program. The Irish became just the sixth Division I program to register 1,000 victories, joining Texas, Georgia, USC, Stanford, and UCLA.
IRISH OFF TO 6-0 START FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1997: Notre Dame opened the spring with victories against Toledo (7-0), Illinois State (6-1), Indiana (5-2), Wisconsin (6-1), #18 North Carolina (5-2), and Florida State (4-3), marking the first 6-0 start for the Irish since the 1996-97 campaign. In that season, Notre Dame won its first six matches before losing 6-1 at #18 Kentucky in a season that saw it climb to 11th before finishing 19-6 and 16th in the national rankings. The last time the Irish won more than six straight to begin a season was 1982-83, when Notre Dame opened 12-0 before losing 5-4 at San Diego State and then going on to finish 23-9.
ITA RANKINGS: After opening the spring with six consecutive victories – including a 5-2 upset of #18 North Carolina – Notre Dame rose nine spots to 25th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Associaion (ITA) national team rankings, released on Feb. 1. The Irish moved ahead of #16 Rice, #18 North Carolina, #26 Arizona, #28 California, #29 Clemson, #30 Mississippi State, #31 Arizona State, #32 Oklahoma State, and #33 SMU to reenter the top 25 for the first time since concluding the 2001-02 campaign at 14th. This set of rankings was determined by coaches’ voting, and the next set will be released Feb. 8.
Sophomores Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) both earned their first career national rankings when the most recent set of ITA singles and doubles listings was released on Jan. 13. Bass, who stands 13-6, debuted at 78th. His first semester was highlighted by his first two career wins against nationally-ranked players (#56 Paul Rose of Purdue and #97 Joey Atas of Ohio State) and a run to the semifinals of the ITA Midwest Championships. King upset #26 Jeff Kader of William & Mary and #50 Chris Martin of Illinois last fall, and he currently boasts an 11-5 record, which has him ranked 113th. He reached the round of 16 in the ITA Midwest Championships, and three of his losses were vs. ranked foes, while another came in a match tiebreaker.
TWO OF THE WINNINGEST TENNIS PROGRAMS IN THE NATION HOOK UP FRIDAY: On Friday, the Eck Tennis Pavilion will play host to a matchup of two of the six winningest tennis programs in the country. Texas’ 1,315 tennis victories are by far the most of any Division I school (Georgia is second with 1,083), while Notre Dame just last weekend became the sixth team to register 1,000 victories (the Irish now stand at 1,001 wins).
UT-ND 4-3? COULD BE: If past patterns hold, there is a good chance that Friday’s match between Notre Dame and Texas could be a 4-3 affair. Each of the last five matches between the schools (1996-2000) ended up the same way, with the Longhorns winning by a 4-3 count. In all, the teams have played 10 times and seven of those contests have been 4-3 matches. Notre Dame won the first of those one-point decisions (in 1993), but UT has been perfect since then. Additionally, the Irish won a 4-3 match in exhibition action during the fall of the 1995-96 season.
TWO OF TOUGHEST IRISH RIVALS INVADE THIS WEEKEND: Of the 20 teams on Notre Dame’s 2005 dual-match slate, only four head into this season holding a winning all-time record against the Irish, and two of those squads will be in the Eck Tennis Pavilion this weekend. Texas holds an 8-2 record against the Irish (including six 4-3 victories), while Duke is 13-4 all-time against Notre Dame. The only other teams on this season’s schedule with winning records against the Irish are Michigan (41-24) and North Carolina (9-7). All four of those schools are playing at Notre Dame this spring.
HIGH AS A KITE: Duke, which is ninth in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings, will be the highest-ranked team to play Notre Dame since the Irish traveled to #1 Illinois on Feb. 26, 2004 (lost 7-0). The Blue Devils will be the highest-ranked team to play in the Eck Tennis Pavilion since #9 Texas A&M beat the Irish 5-2 on Jan. 23, 2004.
TOP-10 FOES vs. ND: Notre Dame will try to snap a seven-match losing streak against top-10 teams this Sunday when it plays host to #9 Duke. The last Irish victory against a team listed among the national top 10 was a 4-3 road victory for #6 Notre Dame against fifth-ranked Illinois on March 7, 2002. Incidentally, that also stands as the last home loss for the Fighting Illini, who have won 35 straight in the Atkins Tennis Center since then. At home, Notre Dame has lost six in a row against top-10 foes, dating back to a 4-3 upset of #8 Duke on Feb. 16, 1997.
BAYLISS THREE AWAY FROM 600TH VICTORY: Notre Dame’s Bob Bayliss, in his 36th year as a collegiate head coach, stands just three wins from the 600th of his illustrious career. His all-time coaching record is 597-243 (.711), which puts him fourth among active NCAA Division I coaches in victories, behind Paul Scarpa of Furman (744 heading into this season), Rich Gugat of Air Force (673), and Ron Smarr of Rice (641). Bayliss is 315-149 (.676) in 18 years at Notre Dame after previously coaching for 15 seasons at Navy (1970-84) and for three at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1985-87).
BUCHANAN FASTEST IRISH PLAYER EVER TO REACH 20 WINS: Junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) defeated David Stone 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 singles on Jan. 29 in helping Notre Dame to a 5-2 upset of #18 North Carolina. That victory improved his season singles record to 20-2 and made him the fastest Notre Dame player ever to win 20 matches in a season. Previously, the quickest any Irish student-athlete registered his 20th singles victory was on Feb. 6, 1999, when third-ranked Ryan Sachire (’01) defeated #25 Daniel Andersson of VCU to win the consolation title in the Rolex National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships to improve to 20-4. The three-time Irish All-American went 37-9 that season. The last time an Irish player won 20 of his first 22 matches was in 2001-02, when Matthew Scott opened 22-2 en route to a 32-5 mark.
IRISH ONLY TEAM WITH FIVE IN TOP 21 IN MIDWEST REGION: After a fall season that saw Notre Dame’s depth showcased at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Championships, the Irish were rewarded when the ITA’s Midwest Region rankings were released on Nov. 30. Notre Dame was the only school to have five players among the top 21 in the region in singles (no other school – including #5 Illinois and #11 Ohio State – had more than three). In fact, only three teams in Division I – also #32 Oklahoma State and #60 Tulsa in the Central Region – placed five among the top 21 in their respective regions. Sophomore Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School), who reached the semis of the ITA Midwest Championships, led the way in a fourth-place tie with Ohio State’s Joey Atas after he was 10-3 in the first semester, with wins against #97 Atas and #56 Paul Rose of Purdue and all of his defeats coming vs. nationally-ranked opponents. Sophomore Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) checked in at 14th after going 7-3 and reaching the round of 16 of the ITA Midwest Championships, and notching upsets of #26 Jeff Kader of William & Mary and #50 Chris Martin of Illinois. Rookie Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.), who reached the semifinals of the Midland Invitational and the A flight of the Crimson Tide Fall Championships, as well as being one of just two freshmen in the round of 16 in the regional tournament, was ranked 18th after going 12-4 and defeating #31 Derrick Spice of Wake Forest. Junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) was 19th following a fall season in which he went 16-2 and reached the round of 16 in the Midwest Championships, while senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) came in 21st with a 6-3 record. D’Amico and junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) were Notre Dame’s only entrant in the doubles listing, coming in at 14th after advancing to the final 16 in the regional championships.
BEWARE THE `CHANAN: Junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.), who played singles in just four dual matches for the Irish last season, has been nearly unbeatable in singles in 2004-05, having compiled a 20-3 record. His lone defeats came against the No. 1 players from Drake and Indiana, as well as last year’s No. 2 player from Florida State. The former, Dalibor Pavic of Australia – who is 7-3 this season – gained a match-tiebreaker victory over Buchanan in September’s Tom Fallon Invitational, 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8). Jakub Praibis of the Czech Republic, ranked 23rd at the time, beat an ailing Buchanan – who had already won five matches in the tournament – in the round of 16 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Championships. Last weekend, Jonathas Sucupira of Florida State, who was playing No. 5 for the Seminoles despite being their No. 2 player in ’04 and having been 55th in the preseason national rankings (but unranked in January due to playing pro tournaments in the fall), used a net-cord winner on match point to finally escape with a 6-1, 7-5 win against Buchanan. The Irish junior’s biggest win of the season was an upset of Northwestern’s No. 1 player, #69 Tommy Hanus, by scores of 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the regional tournament. Buchanan came into the season with a 27-20 career singles record, and he now leads the Irish in career victories with a 47-23 mark. He has won 41 of 47 sets this season, including holding his opponent to one game or fewer on 16 occasions. Buchanan is 13-1 against the Midwest Region, 12-2 indoors, 13-1 on the road, and 20-0 when winning the opening set. This spring, he is 4-1, playing Nos. 5 and 6 for the Irish, and he had an eight-match winning streak snapped by Sucupira (he finished the fall by claiming the C flight title in the Crimson Tide Fall Championships).
SINGLES SUCCESS: Notre Dame players have had considerable singles success this season, combining for a 126-47 (.728) record. Leading the way is junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.), who is 20-3, while freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) is 17-4 and sophomore Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) is 17-6. The team leader in doubles victories is junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.), who is 13-8.
PARBHU TOP ROOKIE IN REGION: Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.), who reached the semifinals of the Midland Invitational and upset #31 Derrick Spice of Wake Forest en route to the same round in the A flight of the Crimson Tide Fall Championships, was the top-ranked freshman in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Region rankings, released Nov. 30. He went 12-4 in his first collegiate semester and was one of just two rookies to reach the final 16 in the ITA Midwest Championships. In fact, only four freshmen were in the top 30 of the regional singles rankings, with Michigan’s Matko Maravic 20th, Mike McCarthy of Indiana at 26th, and Illinois’ Monte Tucker coming in 30th. Parbhu currently stands 17-4 on the season, including 5-0 this spring at No. 4 singles, with one of those victories a straight-set win against McCarthy and another a three-setter against Chris Westerhof to clinch Notre Dame’s 4-3 win against Florida State.
NOTRE DAME WINNING MORE THAN 75% OF SINGLES MATCHES AGAINST THE MIDWEST REGION: This season, Irish players have compiled a 68-21 record in singles against players from the Midwest Region, translating to a .764 winning percentage. Among the team’s leaders is junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.), who is 13-1 against the region (the lone loss coming against #23 Jakub Praibis of Indiana), while sophomore Irackli Akhveldiani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) is 10-2 and freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) is 7-1. Notre Dame is unbeaten in three dual matches against the region this spring, having defeated Toledo (7-0), Indiana (5-2), and Wisconsin (6-1). The Irish have now won six in a row vs. the Midwest Region after going 8-2 against regional foes last season.
IRISH DEPTH SHINES AT ITA MIDWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Notre Dame’s depth was the story in the annual indoor tournament of the top players in the region, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Championships, held Oct. 21-26 in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Irish took up three of the eight qualifying spots into the main draw (more than any other team) to have a total of eight student-athletes among the 64-player singles field. No other school had more than six in this year’s tournament, and no team other than the Irish has qualified more than six in the main draw since the current format was adopted three years ago (Notre Dame also had seven participants in 2003-04). All but one Irish player was victorious in the opening round, giving Notre Dame by far the most players (seven) in the round of 32. The Irish also had four in the final 16 of the singles draw, the most of any school.
Stephen Bass FIRST SOPHOMORE SINCE 1998 TO PLAY No. 1 FOR ND: Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) has played No. 1 singles for the Irish in every dual match this spring, winning three times. He is the first sophomore to play at the top of the Notre Dame singles lineup since three-time All-American Ryan Sachire played No. 1 for the Irish during all of the 1997-98 season, compiling an 18-6 record.
IRISH FINALLY BREAK THROUGH vs. TOP-25 FOE: Last Saturday, Notre Dame notched a 5-3 home victory against #18 North Carolina to snap a 15-match losing streak against top-25 teams. Prior to that contest, the Irish had not defeated a team ranked among the top 25 since #6 ND beat #5 Illinois 4-3 in Champaign on March 7, 2002.
DOING IT IN DOUBLES: After struggling in doubles over the past two and a half seasons, Notre Dame has had a strong start to the spring campaign in partnered play, winning the doubles point in five of six contests and going 13-5 overall in doubles. Over the last two seasons, the Irish won the doubles point just 20 times in 45 matches (10-12 in ’03, 10-13 in ’04). Notre Dame’s doubles fortunes were even worse last fall, as the Irish posted a 15-18 overall record. But the only team that claimed the doubles point against Notre Dame this spring was Wisconsin, which won in a tiebreaker at No. 1 in the final match on court to go up 1-0 on Jan. 23 before the Irish won all six singles contests.
NO DOUBLES? NO PROBLEM: Notre Dame dropped the doubles point against Wisconsin on Jan. 23, but still rallied for a 6-1 victory. Over the past two seasons, the Irish have made a habit of accomplishing that feat, as they are 7-7 when dropping the doubles point.
IRISH STRONG AGAINST LOWER-RANKED TEAMS: Notre Dame is unbeaten in five matches against lower-ranked teams this spring, continuing its recent success against squads that hold a lower national ranking (or none) at the time of the match. Since April of 2003, the Irish have gone 19-1 against lower-ranked teams, with the lone blemish a 4-3 decision at Virginia Tech on April 4, 2004, when the 50th-ranked Hokies upset #26 Notre Dame.
CLOSING IT OUT: Notre Dame has been particularly proficient in turning first-set victories into match wins this season, as Irish players have combined for a 111-9 (.925) record when claiming the opening set. Leading the way is junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.), who is 20-0 when winning the first set this season and has won 28 straight when taking the opening frame. Meanwhile, sophomore Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) is 10-0 when winning the first set. Also, the Irish are still winning more than one-quarter of the time when they lose the first set, as Notre Dame players have posted a 13-38 (.255) record when dropping the first frame. Bass and senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School) have both come back three times already this season for wins after dropping the first set, while freshman Yuichi Uda (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Laurel Springs H.S. [CA]) has done so twice.
2005 SCHEDULE FEATURES FOUR TOP-11 TEAMS: Notre Dame’s spring schedule will see it take on eight teams that gained bids to last year’s NCAA Championships – including four top-11 seeds – as well as a quartet of squads ranked among the top 11 in this year’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason national rankings. In all, the Irish play 13 teams that were listed in the preseason rankings, including nine in the top 45. Highlighting the slate are matches with #5 Illinois (March 17, home), #9 Duke (Feb. 6, home), #10 Virginia (Feb. 27, away), and #11 Ohio State (Feb. 20, away).
HOME IS WHERE THE MATCHES ARE: The Eck Tennis Pavilion will be busy during the early portion of the season, as 10 of Notre Dame’s first 11 matches will be at home. Following the Feb. 18 tilt with Northwestern, the Irish will then have just three home matches the remainder of the season.
D’AMICO, CHIMERAKIS SERVE AS IRISH CAPTAINS: Seniors Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) and Nick Chimerakis (North Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School) were elected captains of this year’s Notre Dame team. D’Amico, also a tri-captain as a junior, is just the fifth two-year captain in the last 25 years for the Irish, while Chimerakis has made the journey from earning a spot on the team in walk-on tryouts in 2002-03 to assuming a leadership role.
CHANGE – NOTHING STAYS THE SAME: A number of changes have been made to Notre Dame’s schedule since it was originally released last fall. The most notable are four date changes. The home match with Texas has been moved up two days from Feb. 6 to Friday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m., while the home contest against Duke has been swapped with it, moving from Feb. 4 to Sunday, Feb. 6 at Noon (EST). Also, Notre Dame’s match at Virginia has been moved one day to Sunday, Feb. 27 at Noon (EST) and the road contest with Ohio State has been moved from Feb. 20 to April 13 at Noon (EST). In addition, there have been some time changes, as home matches with North Carolina (Jan. 29, 2 p.m.), Florida State (Jan. 30, 1:30 p.m.), and Indianapolis (Feb. 13, 5:30 p.m.) have had their start times adjusted.
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.