Jan. 14, 2005
The 2005 dual-match season begins on Saturday for the 34th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team. The Irish will begin the spring season by playing host to Toledo at 9 a.m. (EST) and Illinois State at 2 p.m., with both contests to be played in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Notre Dame, which used an outstanding fall campaign to place five among the top 21 players in the ITA Midwest Region rankings, returns six monogram winners and five starters from last year’s squad that was 15-9, won the BIG EAST title, and earned a 13th trip in 14 years to the NCAA tournament before finishing 33rd.
ITA RANKINGS: Notre Dame enters the 2005 season 34th among the 75 teams ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) after finishing 2004 ranked 33rd. It is the 14th consecutive season in which the Irish have been represented in the preseason ITA rankings, but it represents the second-lowest preseason listing ever for Notre Dame (49th last season).
Sophomores Stephen Bass (Bronxville, N.Y./Iona Preparatory School) and Barry King (Dublin, Ireland/Gonzaga College) both earned their first career national rankings when the most recent set of ITA singles and doubles listings was released this week. Bass, who was 10-3 in the fall with all of his defeats coming against ranked foes, debuted at 77th. His first semester was highlighted by his first two career wins against nationally-ranked players (#56 Paul Rose of Purdue and #97 Joey Atas of Ohio State) and a run to the semifinals of the ITA Midwest Championships. King upset #26 Jeff Kader of William & Mary and #50 Chris Martin of Illinois last fall en route to a 7-3 record, which has him ranked 113th. He reached the round of 16 in the ITA Midwest Championships, and two of his losses were vs. ranked foes, while the other came in a match tiebreaker.
Notre Dame was well represented in the ITA Midwest Region rankings, released in December. The Irish were the only squad to place five players among the top 21 in singles. Leading the way was Bass at tied for fourth, while King was 14th. Freshman Sheeva Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North H.S.) came in 18th, while junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) was 19th, and senior co-captain Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) was 21st. In doubles, D’Amico and junior Eric Langenkamp (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale H.S.) were ranked 14th.
IRISH vs. ROCKETS: Toledo, which opens its dual-match slate on Saturday, returns all seven starters from last year’s squad that was 10-12 and finished fifth (1-4 record) in the Mid-American Conference before losing in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. Head coach Al Wermer is in his ninth season leading the Rockets, having compiled a 78-111 (.407) record at UT and a 105-134 (.439) career mark in 12 years as a head coach. Notre Dame and Toledo will meet for the first time since 1989, when the Irish claimed a 7-0 victory on their home courts. Notre Dame holds a 20-2 advantage in the all-time series, which began in 1958 with a 9-0 Irish triumph at home. Toledo’s wins came in 1968 and ’69, with the most recent one an 8-1 affair at Notre Dame. The Irish have won 15 of 17 meetings at home and come into today with a 10-match winning streak overall against the Rockets. This will be the third time Notre Dame has opened its season against Toledo (9-0 win in 1959; 8-1 loss in 1969), as well as the third time its first home match has been with the Rockets (9-0 win in 1960; 8-1 loss in 1969). The Irish hold a 132-15 (.898) all-time record against current MAC teams, including a 33-5 (.868) mark under current head coach Bob Bayliss.
In the fall, Notre Dame junior Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) – who was No. 8 for the Irish last season before an outstanding fall that saw him go 16-2 and notch his first career nationally-ranked win – met Toledo senior Freddy Gomez in the second round of qualifying at the ITA Midwest Championships, winning 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 en route to earning a spot in the main draw and eventually reaching the round of 16. Gomez played Nos. 1 and 2 for the Rockets last year, going 10-11 in dual action.
IRISH vs. REDBIRDS: Illinois State, which begins its spring schedule this weekend, returns seven letterwinners and six starters from last year’s squad that was 8-13 and tied for fourth (4-4 record) in the Missouri Valley Conference before losing in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. Head coach Greg Kennett is in his sixth season leading the Redbirds, having compiled a 72-55 (.567) mark. In seven years overall as a head coach, he has a 107-64 (.626) record. Notre Dame and Illinois State will meet for the second year in a row and ninth time overall. The Irish have won all but one of the previous meetings. The squads first began playing in the Irish Fall Invitational in 1976, when Notre Dame gained an exhibition victory. In all, the teams met four times in exhibition play in that event (’76, ’79, ’84, ’85), with both sides winning twice. The first official meeting came in the fall of 1981, when Notre Dame registered a 5-1 home victory. The Irish have won all seven matches on their home courts vs. the Redbirds, with the lone ISU triumph a 6-3 decision in Normal in 1988, the first year under current Irish head coach Bob Bayliss. After a 13-year hiatus, the series was restarted last spring, with Notre Dame registering a 6-1 win over Illinois State on Jan. 25 in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Redbirds won first sets in three singles matches (played first), but the Irish came back to win all six unpartnered tilts. Illinois State then won at the bottom two spots to salvage the doubles point and avoid a shutout. The Irish hold a 56-14 (.800) record against current Valley teams, including a 14-3 (.824) mark under Bayliss.
START ME UP: Notre Dame has won seven of its last nine season-opening matches and has compiled a 12-5 record in home openers under current head coach Bob Bayliss. The Irish had won seven consecutive home openers prior to a 4-3 loss to Indiana in ’03 and a 5-2 defeat against #9 Texas A&M last season. Notre Dame won 6-1 at Indiana to open last year’s dual-match slate. In its 82-year history, the Irish hold a 56-26 (.683) record in season openers and a 56-24-1 (.698) mark in home openers (the 1924 season featured no home matches), but Notre Dame is just 10-7 in season openers under Bayliss.
IRISH CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Notre Dame begins 2005 with an all-time record of 995-428-4 (.699) in 82 years of varsity men’s tennis. The Irish are on the verge of becoming just the sixth Division I program to register 1,000 victories, joining Texas (1,314), Georgia (1,081), USC (1,077), Stanford (1,035), and UCLA (1,018). Michigan also is poised to join the club, entering the spring with 992 all-time wins.
HOME IS WHERE THE MATCHES ARE: The Eck Tennis Pavilion will be busy during the early portion of the season, as 10 of Notre Dame’s first 11 matches will be at home. Following the Feb. 18 tilt with Northwestern, the Irish will then have just three home matches the remainder of the season.
CHANGE — NOTHING STAYS THE SAME: A number of changes have been made to Notre Dame’s schedule since it was originally released last fall. The most notable are three date changes. The home match with Texas has been moved up two days from Feb. 6 to Friday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m., while the home contest against Duke has been swapped with it, moving from Feb. 4 to Sunday, Feb. 6 at Noon (EST). Also, Notre Dame’s match at Virginia has been moved one day to Sunday, Feb. 27 at Noon (EST). In addition, there have been three other time changes, as home matches with Indiana (Jan. 22, 11 a.m.), North Carolina (Jan. 29, 2 p.m.), Florida State (Jan. 30, Noon), and Indianapolis (Feb. 13, 5:30 p.m.) have had their start times adjusted.
KEEPING UP WITH NOTRE DAME TENNIS: For the fastest results of Notre Dame tennis matches, call the Notre Dame sports hotline at (574) 631-3000 and choose #8. The hotline provides schedule and results information for varsity sports and serves as a supplement to the game recaps and weekly releases provided on the official athletic website at www.und.com. The hotline is the first medium updated with the results of each Notre Dame tennis match. In addition, media members and fans may be added to the sports information e-mail release list by contacting Bo Rottenborn at Rottenborn.2@nd.edu, who also can provide any information about the Irish tennis program.