Oct. 15, 1999

The Notre Dame men?s tennis team dropped a 4-3 match to USC on Friday night at the Eck Tennis Pavilion after building a 3-2 lead. The Trojans won three-set matches at No. 2 and 3 singles to complete the comeback. The match was played concurrently on six courts with the Notre Dame-USC women?s tennis match with Nos. 4-6 singles first, then the three doubles matches and the Nos. 1-3 singles to conclude the match. Notre Dame played without second-ranked senior Ryan Sachire, who competed Friday at the ITA All-American Championships in Austin, Texas.

Irish junior Matt Daly used a break of serve at 5-4 in the third set to beat 34th-ranked Patrick Gottesleben 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 1 singles and give Notre Dame a 3-2 lead. The Trojans tied the match when Ryan Moore beat Javier Taborga 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. USC?s 49th-ranked Andrew Park rallied for 0-3 in the third set to beat Casey Smith 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in the deciding match at No. 2 singles.

Aaron Talarico had given the Irish a quick 1-0 lead with his 7-5, 6-1 win over Parker Collins at No. 6 singles. Gregg Hill tied the match for the Trojans with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Mark Overdevest at No. 4 singles. Andrew Laflin held off USC?s 79th-ranked Nicholas Rainey 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to give Notre Dame a 2-1 advantage heading into doubles.

After USC?s Gottesleben and Park beat Trent Miller and Smith 8-6 at No. 2 doubles, the Trojans won a pair of tiebreakers to win the doubles point and tie the match 2-2 heading into the final three singles matches. Collins and Hill rallied from 4-7 at No. 3 doubles and 1-4 down in the tiebreaker to beat James Malhame and Ashok Raju 9-8 (7-5). Moore and Rainey completed the sweep with a 9-8 (12-10) win over Taborga and Talarico.

USC 4, NOTRE DAME 3

Singles

No. 1: Matt Daly (ND) def. #34 Patrick Gottesleben (USC) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

No. 2: #49 Andrew Park (USC) def. Casey Smith (ND) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5

No. 3: Ryan Moore (USC) def. Javier Taborga (ND) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

No. 4: Gregg Hill (USC) def. Mark Overdevest (ND) 7-5, 6-3

No. 5: Andrew Laflin (ND) def. #79 Nicholas Rainey (USC) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1

No. 6: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Parker Collins (USC) 7-5, 6-1

Doubles

No. 1: Moore/Rainey (USC) def. Taborga/Talarico (ND) 9-8 (10)

No. 2: Gottesleben/Park (USC) def. Trent Miller/Smith (ND) 8-6

No. 3: Collins/Hill (USC) def. James Malhame/Ashok Raju (ND) 9-8 (5)