May 21, 1997

Notre Dame’s Sachire Wins First Round at NCAA Tennis

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Notre Dame freshman Ryan Sachire won his first round match at the NCAA men’s tennis championships at UCLA. Sachire beat Daniel Anderson of Virginia Commonwealth 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second round. He will face the winner of the match between seventh-seeded Ryan Wolters of Stanford and Ashley Fisher of TCU.

Notre Dame sophomore Brian Patterson and junior Jakub Pietrowski will play their first round match in the double competition on Thursday against the third-seeded team of Tim Crichton and Tom Hamilton from Arkansas.

The three Irish players are each making their first appearances at the NCAA singles and doubles championship. Sachire is the first freshman under coach Bobby Bayliss to qualify for the NCAA individual championships. Five-time All-American David DiLucia was a sophomore when he first participated in the NCAA championships.