Jan. 21, 2001

MADISON, Wis.– In their first dual meet of the season, the Wisconsin men’s tennis team (0-1) did not have enough to upset the 33rd-ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (2-0), losing 6-1, Sunday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. After getting swept in the doubles matches, the Wisconsin singles line-up was only able to crack the Irish in one match, dropping their first meet of the season.

Featuring two nationally-ranked singles players and a 38th-ranked doubles team, Notre Dame won the first five singles matches without losing a set. The lone bright spot for the Badgers came at the No. 6 singles spot where freshman Dustin Taylor was able to knock off Notre Dame’s Brian Farrell in a third set tie-breaker. After falling behind in the first set 6-7 (2-7), Taylor fought back and evened the match at one set each, finally winning in a ten-point tie-breaker, 11-9. Wisconsin’s No. 1 seed Danny Westerman took on Casey Smith, who is ranked No. 95, but was outlasted 6-4, 6-4. UW sophomore Dustin Friedman lost to the nation’s 75th-ranked player, Javier Taborga, 6-0, 6-2, at the No. 2 singles position.

The Badgers will try to even their record on Friday, January 26, when they host the University of Northern Illinois at Nielsen. The match is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.

Singles

No. 1 #95 Casey Smith (ND) def. Danny Westerman (UW), 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 #75 Javier Taborga (ND) def. Dustin Friedman (UW), 6-0, 6-2
No. 3 Luis Haddock (ND) def. Scott Rutherford (UW), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Blake Baratz (UW), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 Matt Scott (ND) def. Scott Green (UW), 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 Dustin Taylor (UW) def. Brian Farrell (ND), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 11-9

Doubles

No. 1 #38 Talarico/ Taborga (ND) def. Westerman/ Friedman (UW), 8-4
No. 2 Smith/ Haddock (ND) def. Stefan Reist/ Rutherford (UW), 8-5
No. 3 Farrell/ Andrew Laflin (ND) def. Green/ Jason Gonzaga (UW), 8-5