Jan. 15, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 34th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team (2-0) completed a sweep of a season-opening doubleheader with a 6-1 victory over Illinois State (0-1) Saturday afternoon in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Irish, who lost just one set and one match tiebreaker in two team matches on the day, shut out Toledo 7-0 in the morning tilt. Notre Dame, 2-0 for the seventh time in the last 11 years, will return to action next Saturday against #62 Indiana (0-0) at 11 a.m. (EST).
The singles were played first, and Notre Dame registered straight-set victories at each of the top five positions, surrendering three games or fewer in nine of 10 sets. Sophomore Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School), ranked 77th in the nation in singles, was done quickly with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph against Venezuelan Guillermo Gomez. Bass, the first sophomore to play No. 1 singles for the Irish since three-time All-American Ryan Sachire in 1998, improved to 12-3 on the season.
Senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]), who did not play singles in the Toledo match, finished next, claiming a 6-3, 6-3 win against Luka Marenkovic at No. 3. He is 7-3 in 2004-05.
Sophomore Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College), ranked 113th, was off the court next, downing Djordje Uskokovic of Yugoslavia 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 to move to 9-3 on the season.
Freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.), making his singles dual-match debut, clinched the Notre Dame victory by downing Omar Beich 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4. The rookie is 13-4 in his first collegiate campaign.
After playing in just one dual match last season, sophomore Irackli Akhvlediani (Vienna, Austria/Vienna International School) grabbed his second dual win in a day by defeating Frenchman Alban Renard 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5. The native of the former Soviet republic of Georgia now stands 15-5 this season.
Notre Dame was poised to sweep the singles matches, with sophomore Ryan Keckley (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph’s H.S.) up a set and two service breaks in his match at No. 6 against Alfredo Lagarda. But the Mexican fought back, breaking the South Bend native twice to force and eventually win a tiebreaker. A match tiebreaker was played in place of the third set, and Lagarda saved a match point en route to pulling off a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (11-9) victory. Three of Keckley’s four defeats this season have come in match tiebreakers.
Following a dismal fall of doubles, the Irish appeared to be on the way to improving that aspect of their game. On Saturday, they won all six matches after going 15-18 in the first semester. Finishing first was the team of D’Amico and Keckley, who made short work of Gomez and Uskokovic at No. 1, registering an 8-1 win. Bass and King then clinched the doubles point by beating Lagarda and Renard 8-4 at No. 3. It was the first win for the duo in six career dual matches together. Parbhu and junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) completed the sweep with an 8-5 win at No. 2 against Marenkovic and Ben Pettinari of France.
Notre Dame has won eight of nine all-time meetings with the Redbirds including all eight at home. The Irish also improved to 57-14 (.803) all-time against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference, including 15-3 (.833) under current head coach Bob Bayliss.
The wins improved Notre Dame’s all-time record to 997-428-4 (.699) in 83 years of varsity competition. The Irish are just three victories shy of becoming the sixth Division I program to register 1,000.
#34 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6, Illinois State Redbirds 1
Singles (played first)
No. 1: #77 Stephen Bass (ND) def. Guillermo Gomez (ISU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 2: #113 Barry King (ND) def. Djordje Uskokovic (ISU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 3: Brent D’Amico (ND) def. Luka Marenkovic (ISU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 4: *Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Oscar Beich (ISU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 5: Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) def. Alban Renard (ISU) 7-5, 6-2
No. 6: Alfredo Lagarda (ISU) def. Ryan Keckley (ND) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (11-9)
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2, 4*, 5, 6
Doubles
No. 1: D’Amico/Keckley (ND) def. Gomez/Uskokovic (ISU) 8-1
No. 2: Eric Langenkamp/Parbhu (ND) def. Marenkovic/Ben Pettinari (ISU) 8-5
No. 3: *S. Bass/King (ND) def. Lagarda/Renard (ISU) 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3*, 2
* – indicates clinching victory