December 8, 1998

PRINCETON, N.J. The Notre Dame mens tennis team has been ranked 24th in the country heading into the 1999 dual-match season, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association which released the rankings on Tuesday. The Irish, who finished 20-10 a year ago, will play 12 matches against ranked teams and will welcome seven ranked teams to Notre Dame, including fifth-ranked Illinois, seventh-ranked Texas and 10th-ranked Duke. Notre Dame opens the season by playing host to DePaul, Miami (Ohio) and William & Mary in the adidas Quad Meet on Sat., Jan. 23.

Individually for 12th-year head coach Bob Bayliss and his mens team, junior Ryan Sachire is ranked third in the country in mens singles, the highest ranking for a Notre Dame tennis player since David DiLucia finished the 1992 regular season as the top-ranked player in the country. Entering the fall ranked eighth, Sachire went 12-3 and advanced to the final of the ITA All-American championship, the second leg of the ITA collegiate grand slam.

Five of Sachires 12 wins came against players now in the top 50 and two in the top 10. All three losses came to players currently ranked in the top 13, including a loss to top-ranked James Blake of Harvard in the ITA All-American championship match.

Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings – Men’s Team
(As determined by the ITA National Ranking Committee)


Release: Dec. 8, 1998 (Fall)This Last School TotalRank Year 1. 1. Stanford (9) 600 2. 3. Georgia 588 3. 4. Mississippi State (1) 576 4. 6. Mississippi 566 T5. 10. Illinois * 563 T5. 7. UCLA 563 7. 5. Texas * 562 8. 9. Pepperdine 535 9. 15. South Carolina 534T10. 21. SMU 523T10. 14. Duke * 523 12. 19. Tennessee 509 13. 16. Florida 507 14. 13. Texas A&M 491 15. 8. USC 490 16. 18. Harvard 477 17. 27. Arizona State 463 18. 17. Washington 460T19. 28. Baylor 452T19. 2. LSU 452 21. 22. Alabama 439 22. 30. Fresno State 432 23. 33. Minnesota * 428 24. 26. Notre Dame 416 25. 11. California 415
* indicates Notre Dame opponents
Other Notre Dame opponents 26. 25. Kentucky 400 33. 51. Purdue 341 37. 32. Northwestern 311 43. 20. Boise State 260 53. 31. Miami (Fla.) 175 54. 68. Michigan State 161 59. 55. Michigan 132 63. 59. Wisconsin 110

Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings – Men’s Singles
(As determined by the ITA National Ranking Committee)


Release: Dec. 8, 1998 (Fall)This Last Name School Yr. Hometown Avg.Rank Rank 1. 4. James Blake Harvard So. Fairfield, Conn. 12.502. 15. Brian Vahaly Virginia So. Atlanta, Ga. 12.113. 8. Ryan Sachire Notre Dame Jr. Canfield, Ohio 11.484. 65. Mark Loughrin Wisconsin Sr. Greendale, Wis. 10.205. 6. Ryan Wolters Stanford Sr. San Jose, Calif. 10.106. 17. Esteban Carril TCU So. Gijon, Spain 10.087. 62. Jack Brasington Texas Sr. Miami, Fla. 10.008. 21. Robert Kendrick Washington So. Fresno, Calif. 9.879. NR Luis Uribe Kansas Sr. Queretaro, Mexico 9.8210. 97. Peter Handoyo Tennessee Fr. Surabaya, Indonesia 9.6611. 7. Hisham Hemeda Georgia Sr. Cairo, Egypt 9.1112. 20. Guillaume Legat South Carolina So. Saint Lo, France 8.9713. 37. Oliver Freelove Illinois Sr. Bromley, England 8.8214. 22. Tom Chicoine Minnesota Sr. Neenah, Wis. 8.4615. 68 Efe Ustundag Rice Sr. Istanbul, Turkey 8.1416. 5. Francisco Rodriguez Alabama Jr. Asuncion, Paraguay 7.72T17. 29. Ignacio Hirigoyen SMU Sr. Bahla Bianca, Argentina 7.67T17. 95. KJ Hippensteel Stanford Fr. Roanoke, Va. 7.6719. 30. Alex Kim Stanford So. Potomac, Md. 7.6120. 72. Marco Baron Mississippi St. So. Nanetes, France 7.22T21. NR Kelly Gullet Pepperdine Sr. Whittier, Calif. 7.00T21. 51. Alex Waske San Diego State Jr. Frankfurt, Germany 7.0023. 80. Adam Marchetti Virginia Tech So. Williamsburg, W.V. 6.9424. 49. Myles Clouston Wake Forest Sr. Durban, South Africa 6.9225. 3. Daniel Andersson VCU Jr. Stockholm, Sweden 6.85