May 3, 2001

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The 13th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team will travel to Harvard to take on host and 45th-ranked Cirmson in the NCAA first round on Sat., May 12. The winner of that match will play the winner of 18th-ranked Washington and Hofstra on Sun., May 13. The Irish earned an at-large selection into the NCAA championships with a 16-6 record and are making their 11th consecutive appearance in the event. The 19th-ranked Irish doubles team of juniors Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico earned third second straight bid into the 32-team NCAA doubles championship.

Harvard enters its match against Notre Dame with a 14-8 record and earned an automatic bid into the tournament by virtue of its winning the Ivy league. The Irish and Crimson will meet in the NCAA first round for the second time in three years after Harvard beat Notre Dame 4-2 in the 1999 first round in a match played at Indiana State.

The match will mark a homecoming for Irish senior Matt Daly, a native of Wellesley, Mass. Daly, who attended high school at Roxbury Latin, has compiled a 7-1 record at No. 6 singles after missing the fall season with shoulder surgery. He also has played at No. 3 doubles. Irish head coach Bob Bayliss, now in his 14th year at Notre Dame, coached at MIT for three years from 1985-87 before coming to Notre Dame.