Dec. 9, 1999

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Notre Dame men?s tennis will enter the 2000 dual-match season ranked 22nd in the country, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association fall rankings. The Irish finished the 1999 season ranked 31st with a 17-8 record. Notre Dame opens its season on Jan. 21, against 26th-ranked Washington at the Ice Volleys at Minnesota. The 2000 Irish schedule will feature at least 13 ranked teams, including matches at fourth-ranked Duke and 10th-ranked Illinois.

Senior two-time All-American Ryan Sachire and junior Matt Daly both enter the dual-match season with singles rankings. Sachire is ranked 14th after reaching the semifinals of both the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships and the ITA Midwest Region Singles Championships. He finished the fall season with an 11-4 record. Daly earned his first-ever national ranking at 65th with a 5-2 record and a win over 30th-ranked Patrick Gottesleben of USC. The Irish doubles team of sophomore Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico went 6-3 in the fall to enter the rankings at 48th. Of their three losses, two came against ranked teams, including a 9-8 (10-8) loss to USC?s seventh-ranked Ryan Moore and Nic Rainey.

Notre Dame leads all regional schools with the five of the 30 players ranked among ITA Region IV singles players. In addition to second-ranked Sachire and 17th-ranked Daly, Taborga stands 13th on the strength of his quarterfinal finish at the ITA Midwest Region Singles Championships. Sophomores Casey Smith (17th) and Andrew Laflin (26th) round out the five Irish players with regional singles rankings. Senior Trent Miller and Sachire are 12th in the regional doubles rankings, while Taborga and Talarico are 13th.