Jan. 28, 2005
#34 Notre Dame (4-0) vs. #18 North Carolina (2-0)
Saturday, January 29 • Eck Tennis Pavilion
– Gold Game
#34 Notre Dame vs. #41 Florida State
Sunday, January 30 • Eck Tennis Pavilion
The 34th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team, off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1996-97, will look to become just the sixth Division I school to register 1,000 all-time victories when it plays host to a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference foes this weekend, first welcoming #18 North Carolina (2-0) on Saturday for a 2 p.m. (EST) match before taking on #41 Florida State (3-0) Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The contest with the Tar Heels will be this season’s men’s tennis “Gold Game,” a distinction created by the University’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council to encourage the entire Notre Dame community to attend particular contests deemed the most significant in each sport.
LAST TIME ON THE COURTS: Notre Dame stayed perfect on the season last weekend, registering two victories against Big Ten Conference opponents. The Irish first won 5-2 on Saturday at home against #62 Indiana and then claimed a 6-1 road triumph vs. Wisconsin on Sunday. Notre Dame won two of three in doubles and then registered straight-set victories at each of the bottom four positions in singles to defeat the Hoosiers at home for the first time since 1999. After an Irish win at No. 3 and a Hoosier triumph at No. 2, the doubles point came down to the No. 1 match, where senior captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) and sophomore Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) prevailed 8-5 over Ryan Recht and John Stone to give Notre Dame a 1-0 lead. IU got points at the top two positions in singles, as #61 Jakub Praibis beat 78th-ranked sophomore Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) 6-4, 7-5 at the top spot and Recht upset 112th-ranked sophomore Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) at No. 2. Notre Dame did not lose a set in singles en route beating the Badgers at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The Irish dropped the doubles point in a tiebreaker in the final match on court, but then came back to sweep the singles, including losing two games or fewer in nine of the 12 sets. The doubles came down to a tiebreaker at the No. 1 position, where Alex Kasarov and his brother, Lachezar, prevailed 9-8 (8-6) over D’Amico and Keckley. Notre Dame got a win at No. 2, but Wisconsin was victorious at No. 3 to put the doubles point in the hands of the No. 1 players.
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA: The Tar Heels, ranked 18th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason national rankings, are 2-0 on the young season, having posted 7-0 wins against Davidson and North Carolina A&T in a doubleheader last weekend. This weekend marks a rare road trip for the Tar Heels, who played two of three fall tournaments at home and will have 12 of their first 14 dual matches on their home courts. Carolina heads to #40 Northwestern on Sunday and then will not leave Chapel Hill again until March 13. UNC returned six letterwinners and four of six starters from last year’s squad that was 24-5 and finished 17th in the national rankings after peaking at 13th. The Tar Heels were the No. 11 seed in the NCAA Championship, and they beat South Carolina State in the opening round, but then lost a pair of three-setters in falling 4-3 to #17 Ohio State on their home courts in round two. North Carolina was the regular-season co-champion (along with Virginia) of the Atlantic Coast Conference (7-1 record) before losing to Clemson in the semifinals of the league tournament. Gone from that team is All-American Nick Monroe, who reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship and finished 21st in the national rankings. He and current senior Geoff Boyd ended up 17th in doubles and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament, as well. This season, Boyd and junior Brad Pomeroy are ninth in the national doubles rankings after a fall that saw them go 12-2, win the ITA Mideast Championships, and reach the quarterfinals in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. In singles, junior Raian Luchici, a Romanian who transferred from Georgia prior to last season, is 13-2 and ranked 66th nationally. Head coach Sam Paul is in his 12th season leading the Tar Heels, having compiled a 174-95 (.647) record.
IRISH-TAR HEELS SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and North Carolina will meet for the first time since 2000 and the 16th time overall, with the Tar Heels holding a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series. North Carolina won the first-ever meeting between the schools, a 9-0 decision in Chapel Hill in 1955, but the schools have split six meetings under current Irish head coach Bob Bayliss and have split the four all-time matches at Notre Dame. After also being shut out in 1956 and ’77, the Irish gained their first-ever win over the Tar Heels in 1989, a 5-4 affair in Chapel Hill. UNC has won four of the last five meetings, including a 4-3 decision in its most recent trip to Notre Dame, in 1997. The last match overall came in 2000 and was a 4-3 Carolina triumph in Chapel Hill. In fact, five of the last eight matches between the schools have been decided by 4-3 scores. The last Irish victory came in 1999 by a 4-0 score in the opening round of the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala. This is the 12th consecutive time that both teams have been nationally ranked at the time of the match, but just the second time ever that the Heels are listed higher (also in 1997).
SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE: The Seminoles, ranked 41st in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason national rankings, head into this weekend with a 3-0 record. Florida State traveled to Hawai’i earlier this month and claimed wins against Hawai’i (7-0) and Oregon (5-2) before returning home and beating Jacksonville (7-0). The Tribe will play at #5 Illinois on Friday evening before heading to Notre Dame. After this weekend, FSU has a four-match homestand, with #3 Florida, #52 South Florida, #16 Rice, and Furman. The Seminoles returned six letterwinners from last year’s squad that was 10-13 and finished 47th in the national rankings after falling 4-3 to #20 Arizona in the opening round of the NCAA Championship to end the year on a seven-match losing streak. Florida State finished seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference (3-5 record) and lost to #10 Virginia in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. The lone nationally-ranked player in singles for the `Noles is junior Jeff Groslimond, who stands 6-2 and earned his first career ranking (91st) earlier this month. He plays No. 3 for FSU, behind senior Mat Cloer and sophomore Ytai Abougzir. Cloer, who won a match in the NCAA Singles Championship last season, was ranked 15th in the preseason, but he played professional tournaments in the fall and was, thus, ineligible for the most recent set of rankings. The same goes for sophomore Jonathas Sucupira of Brazil, who was 55th in the preseason and is playing Nos. 5 and 6 for the Seminoles this spring. Freshman Sam Chang from Taiwan was 123rd in the preseason, but also did not play collegiately in the fall and fell out of the rankings. He also has been playing at Nos. 5 and 6. In doubles, Groslimond and junior Chris Westerhof of South Africa are ranked 32nd after being 10th in the preseason. Head coach Dwayne Hultquist is in his sixth season leading Florida State, having compiled a 64-58 (.525) record.
IRISH-SEMINOLES SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Florida State will meet for the third consecutive season and fourth time overall, with the Irish having won two of the three previous contests. After a 6-3 Seminoles victory in an exhibition contest in Tallahassee in 1964, Notre Dame won the first official meeting between the schools, a 5-1 decision in the opening round of the 1992 H.E.B. Championship in Corpus Christi, Texas. The teams did not meet in a regularly-scheduled match until 2003, when Florida State gained a 4-3 win in the Eck Tennis Pavilion in its first-ever trip to Notre Dame. That match came down to the No. 1 singles match, in which FSU’s Mat Cloer defeated Luis Haddock 7-5, 6-4 to claim the victory. The doubles point came down to the last match on court, No. 2, where Alex Herrera and Romain Jurd prevailed 8-5 against Haddock and Ben Hatten. Last season, 35th-ranked Notre Dame upset #33 Florida State 6-1 on its home courts on April 12, 2004. The Irish won at the bottom two positions in doubles and then took five of six in singles, including straight-set decisions at Nos. 3, 4, and 5. The lone Seminole point came from the No. 2 match, where Chris Westerhof defeated Matthew Scott 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. The Irish won three-setters at Nos. 3 and 1, where Haddock upset 18th-ranked Cloer. This is the third consecutive time that both teams have been ranked among the top 50 heading into the match against each other.
IRISH HEAD COACH: Bob Bayliss is in his 18th year at Notre Dame with a 313-149 (.677) record, while his career mark stands at 595-243 (.710). He is on the verge of becoming just the fourth active NCAA Division I coach to reach 600 career victories. He 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 SEEKS 1,000th VICTORY: A 4-0 start to the dual-match slate has moved Notre Dame’s all-time men’s tennis record to 999-428-4 (.699) in 83 years of varsity competition. This weekend, the Irish are seeking to become just the sixth Division I program to register 1,000 victories, joining Texas (1,314), Georgia (1,081), USC (1,077), Stanford (1,035), and UCLA (1,018). Michigan also is poised to join the club, currently boasting 993 all-time wins.
IRISH OFF TO 4-0 START FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1997: Notre Dame opened the spring with victories against Toledo (7-0), Illinois State (6-1), Indiana (5-2), and Wisconsin (6-1), marking the first 4-0 start for the Irish since the 1996-97 campaign. In that season, Notre Dame won its first six matches and was ranked as high as 11th before finishing 19-6 and 16th in the national rankings.
ITA RANKINGS: With six monogram winners and five starters back from last year’s team, Notre Dame was listed 34th in the first set of Intercollegiate Tennis Associaion (ITA) national team rankings, released on Jan. 13. The Irish, who finished 33rd at the end of last season, were represented in the preseason ITA rankings for the 14th consecutive season, but it was the second-lowest preseason listing ever for Notre Dame (49th last season). This set of rankings was determined by coaches’ voting, and the next set will be released Feb. 1.
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 13-4 with all of his defeats coming against ranked foes, 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 a 10-4 record, which has him ranked 113th. He reached the round of 16 in the ITA Midwest Championships, and two of his losses were vs. ranked foes, while another came in a match tiebreaker.
BAYLISS NEARING 600TH VICTORY: Notre Dame’s Bob Bayliss, in his 36th year as a collegiate head coach, stands just five wins from the 600th of his illustrious career. His all-time coaching record is 595-243 (.710), 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 313-149 (.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).
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 19-2 record. His lone defeats came against the No. 1 players from Drake and Indiana. The former, Dalibor Pavic of Australia – who is 7-2 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. 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 46-22 mark. He has won 39 of 43 sets this season, including holding his opponent to one game or fewer on 16 occasions. Buchanan is 13-1 against the Midwest Region, 11-1 indoors, 13-1 on the road, and 19-0 when winning the opening set. This spring, he is 3-0, playing Nos. 5 and 6 for the Irish, to extend his current winning streak to seven matches (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 119-42 (.739) record. Leading the way is junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.), who is 19-2, while sophomore Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) is 17-5. Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) leads the rookies with a 15-4 mark, while sophomore Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) is 13-4. The team leader in doubles victories is junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.), who is 11-8.
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 15-4 on the season, including 3-0 this spring at No. 4 singles, with one of those victories a straight-set win against McCarthy.
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 the first four dual matches 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.
LOOKING FOR THE UPSET: Saturday’s match against #18 North Carolina gives Notre Dame an opportunity to notch an upset of a top-25 team for the first time since March 7, 2002, when the sixth-ranked Irish edged #5 Illinois 4-3 in Champaign (incidentally, that still stands as the most-recent home loss for the Illini, who have won 34 in a row in the Atkins Tennis Center since then). Since then, Notre Dame has lost 15 consecutive matches against top-25 opponents. The Irish nearly pulled off an upset of #12 Ohio State last February, but they lost the final two matches on court in three sets to be edged 4-3 in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Notre Dame won four of its first six matches with top-25 teams in 2001-02 before losing three straight to finish the season. The Irish then went winless in six contests against the top 25 in 2002-03 and in six more last season.
NO DOUBLES? NO PROBLEM: Notre Dame dropped the doubles point against Wisconsin on Sunday, 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 has started this spring with four consecutive victories against lower-ranked teams, 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 18-1 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 106-7 (.938) record when claiming the opening set. Leading the way is junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.), who is 19-0 when winning the first set this season and has won 27 straight when taking the opening frame. Sophomores Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) are both 10-0 when winning the first set. Also, the Irish are still winning nearly one-quarter of the time when they lose the first set, as Notre Dame players have posted an 11-35 (.239) record when dropping the first frame. Bass has come back three times already this season for wins after dropping the first set, while senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School) and freshman Yuichi Uda (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Laurel Springs H.S. [CA]) have 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 three 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). 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.