Feb. 1, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 22nd-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis won the doubles point and swept the singles to beat 56th-ranked Michigan State 7-0 on Tuesday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish improve to 2-2 with the win, while the Spartans fall to 1-2. Notre Dame returns to action when senior All-American Ryan Sachire competes at the Rolex National Indoor Championships this weekend in Dallas in the third leg of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association grand slam.
Sophomores Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico clinched the doubles point with an 8-3 win over Mark Findling and Ken Kigongo at No. 1 doubles. Sachire and Ashok Raju claimed Notre Dame’s first doubles win with an 8-2 victory over Jason Chen and Ivica Primorac at No. 2 doubles. Michigan State’s Goran and Robert Topalo beat sophomores James Malhame and Casey Smith 8-3 at No. 3 doubles.
Talarico gave the Irish a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Goran Topalo at No. 4 singles. Sachire then beat Kigongo 6-3, 6-1 to for a 3-0 lead. Sophomore Andrew Laflin clinched the win with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Jimmy McGuire at No. 5 singles. After freshman Brian Farrell won his dual-match debut 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles over Todd Townsend, Smith used a break of serve at 5-5 in the second set for a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 2 singles over Primorac. Taborga closed out the match by rallying for a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over Robert Topalo at No. 3 singles after Topalo served for the match at 5-4 and then saved a match point at 5-6 to force a tiebreaker.
#22 NOTRE DAME 7, #56 MICHIGAN STATE 0
Singles
No. 1: #14 Ryan Sachire (ND) def. Ken Kigongo (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
No. 2: Casey Smith (ND) def. Ivica Primorac (MSU) 6-3, 7-5
No. 3: Javier Taborga (ND) def. Robert Topalo (MSU) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
No. 4: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Goran Topalo (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 5: Andrew Laflin (ND) def. Jimmy McGuire (MSU) 6-0, 6-1
No. 6: Brian Farrell (ND) def. Todd Townsend (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1: #48 Taborga/Talarico (ND) def. Mark Findling/Kigongo 8-3
No. 2: Ashok Raju/Sachire (ND) def. Jason Chen/Primorac (MSU) 8-2
No. 3: Topalo/Topalo (MSU) def. James Malhame/Smith (ND) 8-3