Mar. 13, 1997

Notre Dame Men’s Tennis Drops Alabama-Birmingham, 4-1

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The University of Notre Dame men’s tennis team defeated Alabama-Birmingham by a 4-1 score Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Blue-Gray National Classic. The Irish will meet No. 10-nationally ranked Virginia Commonwealth late Thursday night in the second round of the event.

Notre Dame, ranked No. 20 in the country, improves to 10-3 on the season while UAB is ranked No. 29. Freshman Ryan Sachire was victorious at No. 1 singles for the Irish and improved his record to 29-6 on the season and 12-2 in dual match play.

Other singles winners for Notre Dame were junior Jakub Pietrowski at No. 2, junior Danny Rothschild at No. 5 and sophomore Brian Patterson at No. 4. The doubles portion of the match was suspended when the Irish clinched the victory.

Notre Dame 4, UAB 1

Singles
No. 1 Ryan Sachire (N) def. Martin Woisetchlager, 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 Jakub Pietrowski (N) def. Kolie Vanzyl, 7-6, 7-6
No. 3 Anthony Parun (A) def. Ryan Simme, 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Brian Patterson (N) def. Christian Lenze, 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 Danny Rothschild (N) def. Yalin Bilgin, 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 Eric Enloe (N) vs. Mark Vrzal, susp.