April 8, 2001

DALLAS, Texas — The 16th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team dropped a close 4-3 match at ninth-ranked SMU on Sunday. The Mustangs’ sixth-ranked senior Genius Chidzikwe provided the winning match at No. 1 singles with a 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 victory over Irish junior Casey Smith. SMU won the doubles point and won three of the six singles matches to improve to 15-1 on the season, while the Irish fall to 14-5. Notre Dame returns to action when it plays host to 19th-ranked Indiana State in a 3:30 p.m. match on Tues., April 10.

SMU won the doubles point with 8-6 wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles and an 8-2 victory at No. 3 doubles to take a 1-0 lead heading into singles. The Mustangs top two singles players, both ranked in the top 25 both won, while Notre Dame picked up victories at No. 3 and 4 singles. Freshman Luis Haddock-Morales rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Krystian Pfeiffer at No. 3 singles, and junior Aaron Talarico beat Alexis Rudzinski 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles.

Johan Brunstrom handed Irish sophomore Brian Farrell just his third dual-match loss in 16 matches this season with a 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5 singles. Notre Dame senior Matt Daly won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 6 singles. Three of Notre Dame’s five losses have come by 4-3 scores.

#9 SMU 4, #16 NOTRE DAME 3

Singles

No. 1: #6 Genius Chidzikwe (SMU) def. Casey Smith (ND) 7-6, 6-7, 7-5

No. 2: #24 Jon Wallmark (SMU) def. #99 Javier Taborga (ND) 6-3, 7-6

No. 3: Luis Haddock-Morales (ND) def. Krystian Pfeiffer (SMU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5

No. 4: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Alexis Rudzinski (SMU) 6-2, 6-2

No. 5: Johan Brunstrom (SMU) def. Brian Farrell (ND) 6-4, 6-3

No. 6: Matt Daly (ND) def. Lukasz Senszysyn (SMU) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles

No. 1: #10 Brunstrom/Wallmark (SMU) def. #21 Taborga/Talarico (ND) 8-6

No. 2: Chidzikwe/Mauck (SMU) def. James Malhame/Smith (ND) 8-6

No. 3: Pfeiffer/Senszysyn (SMU) def. Daly/Haddock-Morales (ND) 8-2