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Bob Bayliss Inducted Into University of Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame

Feb. 13, 2002

RICHMOND, Va. – Notre Dame head men’s tennis coach Bob Bayliss was one of six individuals inducted into the University of Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame Sunday afternoon in the Jepson Alumni Center. Bayliss, who earned a bachelor’s degree in 1966 and a master’s degree in 1971 from the university, played No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles as a senior on the Spider tennis team.

“It was a tremendous thrill for me to go back to my alma mater and be honored in such a manner with a number of other great athletes, particularly Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA, who was a freshman when I was a senior,” said Bayliss. “I am humbled and thrilled to be in the Richmond Hall of Fame. I look forward to going back to reunions and staying active with my alma mater.”

Bayliss is in his 33rd year as a collegiate coach and has guided Notre Dame to a 268-124 (.684) record since he began coaching the Irish in the fall of 1987. His teams have made appearances in each of the last 11 NCAA championships, the longest current streak of any Notre Dame team. In his career, Bayliss owns a 550-218 mark. His .716 winning percentage ranks as the fourth-highest among active collegiate coaches and seventh on the all-time NCAA list. Prior to coaching the Irish, Bayliss spent three years at MIT (1985-87) and 15 at Navy (1970-84).

Just three years after arriving at Notre Dame, Bayliss led Notre Dame to its first national ranking in school history in 1990. One year later, he led his team to a berth in the NCAA championships for the first time in the program’s history. The following season, Bayliss’ Irish finished 23-4 and advanced to the 1992 national title match before falling to Stanford. Notre Dame’s march to the championship match as the No. 10 seed still makes the Irish the lowest seed and only non-Sun Belt school to reach the NCAA final since the team format was adopted in 1977. The Irish reached the national quarterfinals again in 1993. In 14 years at Notre Dame, Bayliss has coached his players to 14 All-America honors.

Bayliss was named Intercollegiate Tennis Association national coach of the year in 1992 and has won regional coach-of-the-year honors 14 times, including last season. He has been named conference coach of the year six times in his career and has helped Notre Dame capture two BIG EAST titles since joining the conference in 1996, as well as seven consecutive Midwestern Collegiate Conference titles from 1989-95.

This season, Bayliss and the Irish are 7-3 and ranked seventh nationally. Notre Dame notched two victories over top-10 opponents (#10 Duke & #7 Pepperdine) and qualified for the National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 1996.