April 7, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. –The 33rd-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team won the doubles point and won the first five singles matches for a 6-1 win over visiting Ball State on Wednesday at the Courtney Tennis Center. Second-ranked Irish junior Ryan Sachire clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Juan Fernandez at No. 1 singles. Notre Dame improves to 13-7 on the season and will close out the regular season at home against 43rd-ranked Michigan on Wed., April 15.

The Irish claimed the doubles point to start the match with wins at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles. The freshman team of Casey Smith and Aaron Talarico beat Ryan Baxter and Nick Vizzone 8-1 at No. 3 doubles. The 47th-ranked duo of Brian Patterson and Sachire used a break of serve in the final game to beat Rafael Domenech and Fernandez 8-6 at No. 1 doubles to clinch the point. Ball State’s Jason Pressel and Andrew Seni won the final five games of the set to beat Trent Miller and Javier Taborga 9-7 at No. 2 doubles.

Notre Dame used three straight-sets singles win to clinch their 11th straight win over Ball State. Taborga beat Domenech 6-0, 6-2 at No. 6 singles, while Smith won 6-1, 6-2 over Vizzone at No. 5 singles. Sachire then sealed the win with his 33rd singles win of the season.

Patterson won his 11th consecutive match by beating Baxter 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Freshman Andrew Laflin won the final point for the Irish with his 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over Pressel at No. 4 singles. Seni saved a pair of match points in the second set tiebreaker to rally for a 5-7, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (1) win over Matt Daly at No. 3 singles. After Daly and Seni split the first two sets, they played a tiebreaker to determine the three-set winner.

#33 NOTRE DAME 6, BALL STATE 1

Singles

No. 1: #2 Ryan Sachire (ND) def. Juan Fernandez (BSU)         6-2, 6-1No. 2: Brian Patterson (ND) def. Ryan Baxter (BSU)            6-4, 6-2No. 3: Andrew Seni (BSU) def. Matt Daly (ND)         5-7, 7-6(8),7-6(1)No. 4: Andrew Laflin (ND) def. Jason Pressel (BSU)       6-2, 3-6, 6-1No. 5: Casey Smith (ND) def. Nick Vizzone (BSU)               6-1, 6-2No. 6: Javier Taborga (ND) def. Rafael Domenech (BSU)         6-0, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1: #47 Patterson/Sachire (ND) def. Domenech/Fernandez (BSU)No. 2: Pressel/Seni (BSU) def. Trent Miller/Javier Taborga (ND)    9-7No. 3: Smith/Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Baxter/Vizzone (BSU)         8-1