Men's Tennis: Irish outman opposition in season opener
By: RACHEL BIBER
Sports Writer
Responding positively to the news of its No. 7 preseason ranking, the men's tennis team opened its season on Saturday by blanking both No. 75 UC-Irvine and No. 64 Furman, posting 7-0 victories against each squad.
With support from the entire lineup, Notre Dame starts the season 2-0 for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Twelve different players notched victories for the Irish in doubles and singles action.
"We had a good week of practice here before everybody got back to school," senior Casey Smith said. "By the way I've seen everybody playing, I was kind of expecting everybody to come out strong like we did."
In their first match-up of the day against UC-Irvine, Notre Dame sped to an early opening lead with wins from 83rd-ranked Luis Haddock-Morales at No. 3 singles and 88th-ranked Smith at No. 2 singles. Aaron Talarico then notched a victory at No. 5 singles, while 95th-ranked Javier Taborga clinched the Irish win by defeating his UC-Irvine opponent at No. 1 singles.
Wins by Matt Scott and Andrew Laflin at the respective Nos. 4 and 6 positions secured the singles sweep for Notre Dame.
Evidenced by wins from each level of the Irish lineup, depth is a key attribute in recognizing Notre Dame as a national contender, leading to its early success and an optimistic outlook on the unfolding season.
"We think we have a very solid team," Taborga said. "We have so many guys that can play at the bottom of the lineup. I think all of the guys are starting to realize that every match is going to be tough, and we have to play really well in every position to win. I just hope that we can hold it up and keep on building as the year goes by, because the goal is the NCAAs."
The Irish had no difficulties keeping the wins coming against UC-Irvine, taking all three doubles matches to win the doubles point and complete the 7-0 win. The pairing of James Malhame and Ashok Raju won handily at No. 1, upsetting UC-Irvine's 27th-ranked team of Jonathan Endrikat and Brian Morton. The duo of Brent D'Amico and Brian Farrell and the team of Ben Hatten and Paul McNaughton won at the second and third positions respectively.
The easy wins for the Irish came to a dead halt in the opening doubles action against Furman in the second dual-match of the day.
Furman's John Chesworth and James Cameron, ranked 14th, stunned Notre Dame's sixth ranked Taborga and Smith at No. 1 doubles, beating the Irish duo 8-3. However, the Irish came back to clinch the doubles point and secure a 1-0 lead with wins from the team of Haddock-Morales and Talarico at No. 2 and the pairing of D'Amico and Malhame at No. 3.
Despite the early setback, the Irish proved to be an experienced squad — a characteristic Taborga identifies as a reason for their No. 7 ranking.
"I think the experience is one [reason for the No. 7 ranking]," Taborga said. "So if you take all the six guys that have played last year, we are more experienced than what we were. And if we got to be No. 10 with that team, than I think now we are a top 10 team, because we have built on what we had last year.
"It's a big challenge because if people think we are that high that means they are going to come after us harder than prior years. We just have to be ready to take that challenge," Taborga continued.
Notre Dame accepted such a challenge in the singles play against Furman, as each Irish player came off the court with a win. Farrell increased Notre Dame's lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 6, followed by Scott who downed his opponent at No. 5. Taborga clinched the second dual-match victory for the Irish of the day, winning at No. 2, while Smith triumphed at No. 1 and Haddock-Morales at No. 3.
Standing at 2-0 at the beginning of the much anticipated spring season, the Irish already know this team stands apart from teams in the past.
"I think there are a couple things that make us special," Smith said. "First, the fact that we have a lot of seniors on the team. We've been playing with each other for a long time, and there's a good chemistry there. Also, everybody is very hungry. We haven't been able to have some of the success that we've envisioned in the past, and because of that we are very hungry to realize our goals.
"And with the talent, the chemistry, and the desire — that makes us pretty strong."
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 21, 2002
