Jan. 26, 2006
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#26 Notre Dame (1-0) vs. #1 Virginia (3-1)Friday, January 27, 3 p.m. (EST) •Country Club of Virginia • Richmond, Virginia
#26 Notre Dame vs. #65 William & Mary (2-0)Sunday, January 29, 10 a.m. (EST) • Eck Tennis Pavilion • Notre Dame, Indiana- Live Scoring Updates: und.com
IRISH TO CHALLENGE #1 VIRGINIA BEFORE SUNDAY MORNING HOME OPENER WITH WILLIAM & MARY: The 26th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team (1-0) heads to Richmond – the hometown of head coach Bob Bayliss – on Friday to take on the top-ranked team in the nation, Virginia (3-1), at 3 p.m. (EST) in the Country Club of Virginia. The Irish will then return home and begin their eight-match home schedule on Sunday by playing host to #68 William & Mary (2-0). A year ago, the Irish played 4-3 contests that came down to the final match remaining with both schools, losing to the Cavaliers and beating the Tribe.
BAYLISS RETURNS TO CHILDHOOD STOMPING GROUNDS: Notre Dame head coach Bob Bayliss returns to the area where he grew up and attended college on Friday, when the Irish play Virginia in Richmond’s Country Club of Virginia. He was born in the west end of Richmond and played both tennis and basketball at Thomas Jefferson High School – which he would lead to the 1968 state title in tennis in his only season as a prep coach. Bayliss enrolled at the University of Richmond – which inducted him into its athletics hall of fame in 2002 – and played both of those sports collegiately before graduating in 1966. He then was an assistant coach at Richmond while a graduate student, earning a master’s degree in English in 1971. He also served as a teaching pro at the same Country Club of Virginia that will host the Irish this week.
VIRGINIA AT A GLANCE: Virginia was listed #1 in the preseason edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, the school’s first time ever occupying the top spot … with several players fighting a bout of food poisoning, the Cavaliers lost 4-3 at #9 Pepperdine in their season opener, but have since rebounded with victories against #20 USC (5-2), #54 Minnesota (5-2), and #33 VCU (4-3) … Notre Dame beat USC 6-1 in a fall exhibition match … UVA returned 12 letterwinners, including all six starters, from last year’s squad that was 27-3, won the regular-season (9-0 record) and tournament titles in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and ended the year ranked #5 … the Cavaliers were the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, beating Richmond, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Washington before losing to eventuall national champion UCLA in the quarterfinals … among the top returnees are senior All-American Doug Stewart, who was ranked sixth in the preseason, but did not play enough in the fall to be listed in the most-recent set of national singles rankings … UVA is the only school to have two players currently in the top 10 in singles, as sophomore Treat Huey is ranked #6 and his classmate, Somdev Devvarman, is 10th … junior Marko Miklo is 46th, and senior Rylan Rizza is 54th … the Cavaliers have four ranked teams in doubles: Rizza and senior Darrin Cohen (who was 45th in the preseason in singles) are 19th; Cohen and Stewart are 25th; Devvarman and Huey are 35th; and sophomores Jarrett Chirico and Eric Riley are 43rd … head coach Brian Boland is in his fifth season at Virginia, having compiled a 59-25 (.702) record … he is in his ninth year overall as a head coach, with a 180-57 (.759) mark, including 2-0 against Notre Dame.
IRISH-CAVALIERS SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and Virginia will meet for only the third time, with both teams holding one victory in the series … the first contest came in the opening round of the 2000 Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic, when #36 Notre Dame prevailed 4-2 over #26 Virginia … last season, the second-ranked Cavaliers prevailed 4-3 over the 24th-ranked Irish in the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond … that match came down to the No. 2 singles contest, where Rylan Rizza outlasted Stephen Bass 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 with the score tied 3-3 … Bass got revenge in the fall in a 7-5, 6-1 decision in the opening round of the second leg of the ITA grand slam, the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships … ND head coach Bob Bayliss holds a 1-5 career record against the Cavs, having been winless in four matches (as head coach at Navy and MIT) against UVA prior to arriving at Notre Dame … he holds a 37-38 career record against current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference … Bayliss is originally from Richmond and played tennis and basketball at its Thomas Jefferson High School and the University of Richmond, which inducted him into its athletics hall of fame in 2002 … Virginia head coach Brian Boland is 2-0 in his career against the Irish, having also beaten ND in 2001 while coaching at Indiana State.
WILLIAM & MARY AT A GLANCE: William & Mary, ranked 65th, heads into a busy weekend with a 2-0 record, having already beaten Wofford (6-1) and Richmond (6-1) … the Tribe will play at Michigan State on Thursday and at Michigan on Friday before heading to Notre Dame … W&M returned four of seven starters from last year’s squad that was 11-15, finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 3-1 record, but then won the league tournament to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament, falling 4-2 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to end the year 62nd … gone from that team is Jeff Kader, who ended his career ranked 52nd in singles … current senior Stephen Ward is ranked 57th nationally in singles … head coach Peter Daub is in his 13th season at William & Mary, having compiled a 182-142 (.562) record … he is in his 18th year overall as a head coach, with a 390-269 (.592) mark, including 0-4 against Notre Dame.
IRISH-TRIBE SERIES NOTES: Notre Dame and William & Mary will meet for the second straight season and sixth time overall, with the Irish holding a 4-1 edge in the series … the Tribe registered a 7-2 road win in 1978 in the initial meeting, but ND has taken all four subsequent contests, coming in 1997 in Williamsburg (6-1), `99 at home (6-1), 2002 in Minneapolis (5-2), and `05 in the opening round of the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic (4-3) … a year ago, Notre Dame’s Barry King beat fellow Irishman Colin O’Brien 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles in the final match remaining to help the 18th-ranked Irish escape the upset bid of #68 W&M … this will be the fifth consecutive meeting in which Notre Dame holds a higher national ranking, but the third straight that both squads are ranked … ND head coach Bob Bayliss holds a 13-0-1 career record against William & Mary, including 4-0 with the Irish … there are only three schools that Bayliss has defeated more times in his career without suffering a loss: Georgetown (17-0 record), Purdue (15-0), and George Washington (14-0) … the tie – which came during his time at MIT – is the only one in Bayliss’ 36-year head-coaching career … he is 16-4 in his career against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association … Notre Dame has played just seven all-time matches against current CAA squads: five against the Tribe and two vs. VCU … William & Mary head coach Peter Daub is winless in four career matches against the Irish … both teams will once again take part in this year’s Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic, set for March 16-19 at Lagoon Park Tennis Center in Montgomery, Ala.
FRIDAY MATCH TO FEATURE FOUR TOP-15 SINGLES PLAYERS: Friday’s contest will feature two of the three Division I teams that boast multiple players listed among the national top 15 in singles in the latest edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Virginia’s Treat Huey is sixth and Somdev Devvarman is 10th, while Notre Dame junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) is eighth, and sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) is 14th. UVA’s Doug Stewart was sixth in the preseason rankings, but did not play enough during the fall to be listed in the latest edition.
IRISH ONLY DI SQUAD WITH FOUR PLAYERS BOASTING TOP-15 RANKINGS: Notre Dame is the only Division I school to feature four different players that currently boast a national top-15 ranking in singles and/or doubles. Plus, for the first time ever, the Irish have two players among the top 15 nationally in singles, as junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) is #8 and sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) came in 14th in the latest edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which were released on Jan. 10. In addition, the Irish have a top-15 squad in doubles, with senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) – who is also 65th in singles – and junior Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.), a St. Joseph’s High School graduate, at 12th.
ND 26TH IN FILA COLLEGIATE TENNIS RANKINGS: The Irish are 26th in the first set of Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which were released on Jan. 10. Notre Dame was one of the biggest movers in the poll – which will be determined by coaches voting until the ITA’s computer takes over the listing on March 7 – as no other team in the preseason top 35 rose as many spots from last year’s final rankings. It is the 15th consecutive season that the Irish are listed in the preseason ITA rankings, but the highest ND has appeared in them since beginning the 2001-02 campaign at #7. It is also the 11th time in the last 15 years that Notre Dame will begin in the national top 30. The 11-spot rise for the Irish from last year’s final rankings is the largest such jump in program history. Twice before Notre Dame had moved up nine spots in the preseason rankings (from 31st to 22nd in 1999-2000; from 16th to seventh in 2001-02). The Irish and newcomer Louisville (ranked 32nd) give the BIG EAST Conference multiple nationally-ranked squads for the first time since the final poll of 2003-04 (ND 33rd, Virginia Tech 48th, Miami 49th). The last time two BIG EAST schools were ranked among the top 35 was March 26, 2004 (ND 26th, Miami 30th). In all, 16 of Notre Dame’s 19 regular-season opponents were listed in the preseason rankings, with seven ranking in the top 25: #1 Virginia, #4 Illinois, #8 Duke, #11 Florida State, #13 Texas A&M, #18 Ohio State, and #22 Texas.
BASS, PARBHU MAKE ND ONE OF THREE TEAMS WITH TWO PLAYERS AMONG TOP 15 NATIONALLY IN SINGLES: Notre Dame is one of just three schools – along with #1 Virginia and #3 Georgia – that have multiple players ranked among the national top 15 in singles. Junior Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) is #8 and sophomore Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) came in 14th in the latest edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which were released on Jan. 10. It is the first time two Irish players have been in the national top 15 at the same time. Senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) is 65th, putting ND in an elite group of just four teams – along with Virginia, #4 Illinois, and #6 Mississippi – to have three in the top 65. Bass is the highest-ranked Irish singles player since Ryan Sachire entered his final collegiate season (1999-2000) ranked #2. The current junior is only the third ND student-athlete – along with Sachire and five-time All-American David DiLucia (’92) – to be ranked among the national top 10 in the ITA singles rankings.
KECKLEY/LANGENKAMP HIGHEST-RANKED ND TEAM SINCE 2001-02: Senior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) and junior Ryan Keckley (South Bend,Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) – listed 12th in the latest edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings – comprise the highest-ranked Notre Dame doubles team since Javier Taborga and Casey Smith concluded their careers in 2001-02 ranked eighth. The current players continue a long tradition of highly-ranked Irish doubles teams, as they are the eighth different pair under head coach Bob Bayliss to be ranked 12th in the nation or higher. Langenkamp has joined an elite group of just 12 Irish players who have been ranked among the national top 65 in both singles and doubles. He earned his second career ranking in doubles, after being 60th for a brief time last spring. Keckley has now been nationally-ranked with three different partners, matching the Irish record held by Andy Zurcher (’94) and Luis Haddock (’04). Keckley is one of just five ND players to earn top-15 rankings with two different partners. In the spring of 2003-04, he and Haddock peaked at 14th, which had been the South Bend native’s career-best ranking.
IRISH HEAD COACH: Bob Bayliss is in his 19th year at Notre Dame with a 328-157 (.676) record, while his 36-year career mark stands at 619-260-1 (.704). 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.
STREAKS: The following streaks are active heading into this weekend:
– Notre Dame has lost five consecutive matches against the nation’s #1-ranked team. [only win: 5/18/92 vs. USC in NCAA semifinals, 5-1]
– Notre Dame has lost five consecutive matches against top-five teams. [last win: 3/7/02 at #5 Illinois, 4-3]
– Notre Dame has lost 10 consecutive matches against top-10 teams. [last win: 3/7/02 at #5 Illinois, 4-3]
– Notre Dame has lost 14 consecutive matches against top-15 teams. [last win: 3/7/02 at #5 Illinois, 4-3]
– Notre Dame has won 21 consecutive matches against teams ranked outside the national top 55. [last loss: 3/15/03, vs. #68 Boise State in Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic, 0-4]
– Notre Dame has won 13 consecutive home matches against teams ranked outside the national top 50. [last loss: 1/24/03 vs. Indiana, 3-4]
– Sheeva Parbhu has won eight consecutive singles matches in dual-match competition [last loss: 3/17/05 vs. Illinois’ Monte Tucker 6-2, 7-5]
– Stephen Bass has won 14 in a row against lower-ranked players in singles [last loss: 1/30/05 vs. Florida State’s Mat Cloer 6-4, 6-4]
– Eric Langenkamp has won five consecutive tiebreakers in singles [last loss: 9/16/04 vs. William & Mary’s Stephen Ward, second set]
– Sheeva Parbhu has won 18 in a row when winning the opening set (39-2 career record) [last loss: 3/11/05 vs. Boise State’s Ikaika Jobe]
– Stephen Bass is 12-0 this season when winning the opening set (46-2 career record) [last loss: 5/14/05 vs. Louisville’s Damar Johnson 1-6, 6-4, 6-3]
– 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]
– Stephen Bass has won seven consecutive singles matches at home [last loss: 3/17/05 vs. Illinois’ Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-4]
– Sheeva Parbhu has won seven consecutive singles matches at home [last loss: 3/17/05 vs. Illinois’ Monte Tucker 6-2, 7-5]
– Patrick Buchanan has won six consecutive singles matches at home [last loss: 3/17/05 vs. Illinois’ Ruben Gonzales 6-2, 5-7, 6-4]
– 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]
– Andrew Roth has won seven consecutive doubles matches at home [only career loss: 9/16/04 with Yuichi Uda, vs. William & Mary’s Sud/Szewczyk 8-5]
– Sheeva Parbhu has won 15 consecutive singles matches against players from the Midwest Region (not including his own teammates) [last loss: 3/17/05 vs. Illinois’ Monte Tucker 6-2, 7-5]
– Stephen Bass is 10-0 this season in singles against players from the Midwest Region [last loss: 5/14/05 vs. Louisville’s Damar Johnson 1-6, 6-4, 6-3]
– Stephen Bass is 10-0 in singles in his career at the Courtney Tennis Center.
– Sheeva Parbhu has won 11 consecutive singles matches outdoors [last loss: 3/11/05 vs. Boise State’s Ikaika Jobe]
– Patrick Buchanan has won six consecutive singles matches outdoors [last loss: 4/3/05 vs. SMU’s Henrik Soderberg 6-3, 6-3]
IRISH AGAINST #1: Notre Dame will be seeking a historic victory on Friday against #1 Virginia. The Irish have knocked off the nation’s top-ranked squad just once: a 5-1 win against USC in the semifinals of the 1992 NCAA Championship in Athens, Ga. This will be just the third time since 1990 that ND has taken on the national #1 in a non-tournament match. See pdf for the details of the eight previous times Notre Dame has faced the top-ranked team in college tennis (since 1990).
TOP WINS UNDER BAYLISS: See pdf for a list of Notre Dame’s 19 victories against top-10 teams during the tenure of head coach Bob Bayliss, ordered by opponent ranking.
MOST WINS BY BAYLISS WITHOUT LOSING: See pdf for the list of schools Notre Dame head coach Bob Bayliss owns the most career victories against without having been defeated.
START ME UP: Notre Dame is 1-0 for the third straight year and eighth time in the last 10 seasons and now holds a 58-26 (.690) all-time mark in season openers. The Irish will look to go to 2-0 for the fourth time in the last six seasons (also 2000-01, `01-02, and `04-05). Last year, Notre Dame began 3-0 for the first time since 1998-99. The Irish have won eight of their last 10 home openers, including a 7-0 win against Toledo last spring. ND holds a 57-24-1 (.701) all-time mark in home openers (the 1924 season featured no home matches).
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-EVER 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.
ND STRONG AGAINST TEAMS OUTSIDE TOP 50: Notre Dame will try to continue its success against teams not ranked among the national top 50. The Irish also are 23-1 in their last 24 matches (dating back to 4/9/03) against non-top-50 teams (regardless of the location of the match). The lone defeat was a 4-3 result against #55 Boise State (which ended the season 31st) in the quarterfinals of last year’s Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic. Notre Dame also has won 21 straight against teams ranked lower than 55th (or unranked), dating back to a 4-0 defeat against #68 Boise State in the 2003 Blue-Gray. The Irish have a 13-match home winning streak against teams ranked outside the national top 50, dating back to a 4-3 loss against unranked Indiana on Jan. 24, 2003.
NO DOUBLES? NO PROBLEM: Losing the doubles point has not necessarily translated into a loss for Notre Dame, as the Irish are 11-13 over the past two seasons when dropping the match’s initial point. Notre Dame was 5-6 last year, having come back to win after losing the doubles against Wisconsin (6-1), Northwestern (5-2), Michigan State (4-3), Rice (4-3), and Michigan (5-2).
ND TO FACE THREE TOP-10 TEAMS IN SEASON’S FIRST THREE WEEKS: The Irish will get an early indication of where they stack up among the nation’s elite, as they will use the first three weeks of the spring to take on a trio of teams ranked among the top eight in the first edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, administered by the ITA. Notre Dame will face #1 Virginia on Friday in Richmond and will then play at #8 Duke on Feb. 5 and at #4 Illinois on Feb. 7.
BRING ON THE BEST … ACTUALLY, WE’LL COME TO YOU: Notre Dame will face seven teams ranked among the national top 25 in the first edition of the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, with all but one of those matches coming on the road. The Irish will challenge #1 Virginia in Richmond on Jan. 27 and then play true road matches against #4 Illinois (Feb. 7), #8 Duke (Feb. 5), #11 Florida State (March 14), #13 Texas A&M (March 26), and #22 Texas (March 25). Ohio State, ranked 18th, will visit the Eck Tennis Pavilion on Feb. 24. All 11 of Notre Dame’s scheduled road matches during the regular season will be against teams that were in the preseason rankings, as the Irish also have road dates with #31 North Carolina (Feb. 4), #48 Michigan (Feb. 18), #51 Northwestern (Jan. 21), #60 Indiana (March 7), and #68 Ball State (April 9).
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).
MEN’S TENNIS “GOLD GAME” SET FOR FEB. 24 vs. #18 OHIO STATE: Notre Dame’s matchup with #18 Ohio State on Friday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. (EST) has been designated as this season’s men’s tennis “Gold Game,” a distinction created by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council to encourage the entire Notre Dame community to attend particular contests. The match will feature two of the top three teams in the ITA’s Midwest Region, according to the national rankings. OSU – ranked 12th at the time – snapped a six-match losing streak at ND in its last visit, using a trio of three-set victories to rally for a 4-3 win over the 43rd-ranked Irish, who were without their top singles player.
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.
CHANGES TO THE ITA RANKINGS: The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) recently announced some changes to its national rankings for the 2005-06 season: (1) It will use one set of points for wins and also a tighter set of points, with less gaps. This set of points will be the same set that has been used for the season’s first computer rankings in the past; (2) There will be bonus points awarded for road wins; (3) The rankings that are run at the time of NCAA Championship selections will be run twice and the second run of the rankings will be the published ranking; (4) There will be expanded, unpublished rankings (and values for opponents): 76-125 for team, 126-175 for singles, and 61-90 for doubles; (5) The first computer rankings (for team) will take place 2 weeks earlier on March 8; (6) The singles and doubles rankings from Fall results will go back to being a computer ranking; it had been done by committee vote the past three years.
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.