Mens Tennis: Men seeking 1st home win
By: JOE LINDSLEY
Sports Writer
As the Irish prepare to host No. 41 Northwestern Saturday, it would be hard for them to forget the tendency of these two teams of late.
The past two years, Notre Dame defeated Northwestern, but in tightly contested matches. This season, Northwestern returns six of nine letter winners, while Notre Dame lost six to graduation.
Yet both the young Irish squad and the more experienced Wildcats had similar results against two of the same opponents this season. They both suffered narrow 4-3 defeats against Indiana, and they both dominated Wisconsin, 7-0.
"I expect we'll have our hands full but I'm expecting a very close match," Irish coach Bobby Bayliss said. "We are optimistic, guardedly optimistic."
Overall, the Wildcats, 5-2 on the season, have had a more successful start to their season, with their only losses coming against No. 14 Alabama and No. 40 Indiana. The Irish, on the other hand, struggled early on, and now stand at 3-5. Of late though, Notre Dame has been improving.
"Our inability to win the doubles point has really hurt us this year," Bayliss said. "We're really working on it. We played Michigan State really close in doubles."
Winning the doubles point could have come in handy for the Irish during close matches with Duke and Florida State, for example. Bayliss said that the doubles lineup is an area of major concern for the team.
"Between injuries and a lot of things that have happened, we just haven't been able to come up with [the right] combinations," he said.
The No. 1 doubles duo, junior tri-captain Matt Scott and sophomore Brent D'Amico has been successful compared with the No. 2 and No. 3 pairs. The question for the Irish is whether D'Amico and Scott should be split up, in an effort to spread the talent among the pairs, or whether the bottom of the lineup should just be allowed time to gain experience and to improve.
With the match against Northwestern looming tomorrow, the question of who will play with whom remains to be settled, at least in an earthly sense, according to Bayliss.
"Coming into this morning only God and I knew what the doubles lineup was going to be, and right now only one of us knows, and it's not I," Bayliss said.
Bayliss stresses the Irish are considering all of their options in hopes of finding the proper combination that could transform their losing record into a more favorable one.
"We really look at everything," he said. "We'll run a poll in The Observer as to what our doubles team should be."
Still, the three victories the Irish have had, and a narrow loss to Duke, have given the team confidence. Additionally, all of their victories have come on the road, and that reassures the team that they have the talent needed to win.
"We're a work in progress," Bayliss said.
According to Bayliss, one of the reasons why the Irish have yet to win at home is the caliber of the competition they have faced this season. This situation does not seem like it will change anytime soon, given that Saturday's match is at home against another tough squad.
But the Irish seem to be breaking out by gaining confidence through experience.
"We're beginning to get a little bit of confidence. We're starting to scrap and claw a little bit better," Bayliss said. "We've actually one a couple of close matches, which is a good feeling."
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 21, 2003
