March 1, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 24th-ranked Notre Dame mens tennis team lost the doubles point to Indiana but won four singles match for a 4-2 win over the visiting Hoosiers at the Eck Tennis Pavilion on Monday. The Irish were victorious at Nos. 1-4 singles to claim their fourth straight win and improve to 8-4. Indiana saw its five-match winning streak end and is 7-3.

Notre Dame All-American and second-ranked Ryan Sachire won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1 singles over Ian Arons for the first Irish point. Milan Rakvica put Indiana ahead 2-1 with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 win at No. 5 singles over Irish freshman Casey Smith.

Straight-set wins by Matt Daly and Andrew Laflin put Notre Dame ahead 3-2. Daly beat George McGill 6-2, 7-5 at No. 3 singles, while Laflin improved to 10-0 in 1999 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Paul Jacobson at No. 4 singles.

Notre Dame senior Brian Patterson then clinched the win with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Gabriel Montilla at No. 2 singles. Notre Dames Andrew Warford and Indianas Rahman Smiley split a pair of tiebreakers before their match was abandoned at No. 6 singles with the outcome already decided.

The Hoosiers jumped ahead 1-0 with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles. Jacobson and Rakvica beat Matt Horsley and Trent Miller 8-6 at No. 2, while Jordan and Arons beat Warford and Aaron Talarico 8-4 at No. 3 doubles. Sachire and Patterson beat Montilla and Smiley at No. 1 doubles.

Notre Dame returns to the court on Wed., March 3, when the Irish travel to Michigan State for a 3:00 p.m. match.

#24 Notre Dame 4, Indiana 2

Singles

No. 1: #2 Ryan Sachire (ND) def. Ian Arons (IU)           6-4, 6-1No. 2: Brian Patterson (ND) def. Gabriel Montilla (IU)    6-4, 3-6, 6-4No. 3: Matt Daly (ND) def. George McGill (IU)             6-2, 7-5No. 4: Andrew Laflin (ND) def. Paul Jacobson (IU)         6-3, 6-4No. 5: Milan Rakvica (IU) def. Casey Smith (ND)           7-6 (4), 6-1No. 6:  Andy Warford (ND) vs. Rahman Smiley (IU)     abd, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5)

Doubles

No. 1: Patterson/Sachire (ND) def. #47 Montilla/Smiley (IU) 8-5No. 2: Jacobson/Rakvica (IU) def. Trent Miller/Warford (ND) 8-6No. 3: Arons/Jordan (IU) def. Aaron Talarico/Warford (ND)   8-4