March 3, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 24th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team is set to host a pair of weekend matches on Friday. The Irish will take on No. 18 Texas A&M at 6:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday and No. 60 Northwestern at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will be played at the Eck Tennis Pavilion in Notre Dame, Ind.
SCOUTING THE IRISH:
Notre Dame is currently 8-6 on the season. The Irish most recently traveled to Montgomery, Ala., for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic where they defeated No. 69 Penn State, 4-0, before falling to No. 21 Pepperdine, 4-0, in the semifinals and No. 17 Texas Tech in the third-place match, 4-0. The Irish moved from No. 26 to No. 24 in this week’s Campbell/ITA Tennis Rankings. Junior Casey Watt is now ranked 64th (previously 77th) and senior Stephen Havens returned to the rankings (124th).
SCOUTING THE AGGIES:
Texas A&M currently carries an 8-3 record heading into the match against Notre Dame. The Aggies are now ranked 18th in the Campbell/ITA Tennis Rankings after previously being ranked 14th (Feb. 22). Most recently, Texas A&M swept Texas Christian University 7-0, before downing LSU and the University of Texas-Arlington by identical 6-1 scores. Austin Krajicek is ranked No. 38, Jeff Dadamo is No. 55 and Alexis Klegou is No. 80 in the singles ranks. Dadamo and Krajicek are the third-ranked doubles team and Alberto Bautista and Colin Hoover are No. 45.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. TEXAS A&M:
Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M 3-4
Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M under Bayliss 3-4
Bayliss vs. Texas A&M 3-4
First Meeting (1991) ND, 5-4
Most Recent Meeting (2010) A&M, 6-1
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS:
Northwestern enters the weekend with an 8-3 record. The Wildcats moved from No. 67 (Feb. 22) to No. 60 (March 1) in the Campbell/ITA Tennis Rankings after defeating Western Michigan, 4-3. The Wildcats are on a three-match winning streak, downing Northern Illinois, 6-1 and Western Illinois, 7-0 in a doubleheader on Sat. Feb. 19 prior to their win versus Western Michigan. Joshua Graves and Spencer Wolf are a force at No. 1 doubles as the duo carry an 8-1 dual record.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. NORTHWESTERN:
Notre Dame vs. Northwestern 42-36-1
Notre Dame vs. Northwestern under Bayliss 17-4
Bayliss vs. Northwestern 17-4
First Meeting (1927) ND, 4-3
Most Recent Meeting (2010) ND, 5-2
Complete results and a recap will be posted to und.com following each match. Live results of each match are available through the men’s tennis schedule or follow the men’s tennis team on twitter at ndmenstennis.
–ND–