Jan. 10, 2007
The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team was ranked No. 13 in the first Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings of the 2007 season, announced the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on Monday. In addition to a No. 13 team ranking, senior Stephen Bass and junior Sheeva Parbhu were ranked #14 and #30 respectively in the singles poll, while senior Ryan Keckley and Parbhu were #11 in doubles.
“We feel that we have a good combination of depth, talent and experience,” said Irish head coach Bob Bayliss. “We are very pleased to begin the season ranked this high and hope to live up to such praise.”
It is the 16th consecutive season that Notre Dame was listed in the preseason ITA rankings and highest for the Irish since opening the 2002 campaign at No. 7. It is also the 12th time in the last 16 seasons that Notre Dame will begin a season in the national top 30.
The Irish and Louisville (ranked No. 29) – who met in the BIG EAST finals last year – give the conference multiple nationally ranked squads.
In all, 12 of Notre Dame’s 18 regular-season opponents – not including the teams the Irish will face in the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic, which traditionally provides several ranked tests for ND – were listed in the preseason rankings, with six ranking in the top 20: No. 3 Ohio State (which Notre Dame plays on Mar. 30 in Columbus), No. 5 Illinois (Apr. 1, Eck Tennis Pavilion), No. 7 Duke (Feb. 4, Eck Tennis Pavilion), No. 8 Virginia (Jan. 26, away), No. 15 Florida State (Feb. 2, Eck Tennis Pavilion) and No. 18 Washington (March 5, Eck Tennis Pavilion).
The Irish are third among teams from the ITA’s Midwest Region, behind the Buckeyes and Illini.
Notre Dame will open their dual-match season on Jan. 27 at Virginia. The Irish start their home schedule on Feb. 2 against Florida State (4:00 p.m.) in the Eck Tennis Pavilion.
— ND —