Irish swing .500 against Big Ten competition
By RACHEL BIBER
Sports Writer
One thing the Irish men's tennis team has already learned the hard way this season is that every point counts.
No. 33 Notre Dame surrendered a bitter defeat to the 27th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers by the slimmest of margins Thursday before recovering nicely to defeat 32nd-ranked Ohio State on Saturday.
"I expected to win [against Indiana], I think the guys expected to win, and certainly we were in position to win in several matches," Irish head coach Bob Bayliss said. "When we look back on it we're all going to feel that we let it slip through our fingers. However, I felt that Ohio State was a level better than Indiana — but it was by far the best match we've played to date."
The Irish, who now stand at 3-1, dropped their first dual match of the season with the loss against the Hoosiers, and although the defeat was recorded in the loss column, the Irish could not have gotten any closer to victory
Notre Dame began the day with an 8-4 win by Casey Smith and Luis Haddock-Morales at No. 2 doubles, and looked to capture the doubles point and erase any thoughts of its 4-3 defeat against Indiana last season. But the Hoosiers swept the Irish in the remaining doubles matches, taking both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles in tiebreakers.
With a 6-4 lead in the tiebreaker of the No. 1 doubles match, Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico seemed to have clinched the doubles point for the Irish. Indiana's Ricardo Jordan and Rahman Smiley had other plans in mind for Notre Dame's 38th-ranked duo, capitalizing on a double fault by Taborga at match point to eventually knot the tiebreaker at 6-6 and seal the win 12-10.
After evening the score at 1-1 with an impressive win by Talarico at No. 4 singles, the Irish found themselves in a 3-1 hole with singles losses by 75th-ranked Taborga, who was weakened by an illness, and Haddock-Morales.
Notre Dame did not succumb to defeat easily against the Hoosiers, evening the score once again with wins by 95th-ranked Smith, who rallied for a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, win over 53rd-ranked Milan Rakvica at No. 1 singles, and Brian Farrell, who pulled out a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Bernard Tsepelman at No. 6 singles.
The hard-fought battle between the Irish and the Hoosiers came down to the No. 5 singles match, pitting Notre Dame's Matt Scott against Indiana's Zach Held. Without any lack of drama, Held was able to squeak by Scott, winning in a third set tiebreaker to take the match 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), and clinch the dual-match win for the Hoosiers.
Not letting the stinging defeat settle in their stomachs for long, the Irish regrouped for a 5-2 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes on the road.
"When you play high level competition you don't have time to feel sorry for yourself," Bayliss said. "There is a real sense of urgency. I think we did a great job of picking ourselves off the ground, and realizing what had to be done and going out and doing it."
Taborga and Talarico were able to redeem themselves at No. 1 doubles, coming back from a 4-6 deficit against the Buckeyes' Andrew Carlson and Jonathon Scale for an 8-6 win to clinch the doubles point for the Irish.
Smith and Haddock-Morales came up with the other Irish victory in doubles with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles, while Notre Dame's James Malhame and Scott suffered defeat in the No. 3 match.
Ohio State quickly jumped to a 2-1 lead with wins over Taborga and Talarico at the No. 2 and No. 3 singles matches respectively. Smith was able to get the Irish back on track, beating the Buckeyes' Chris Porter 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, improving his singles record to a perfect 4-0 on the year. Porter upended Smith 5-7, 6-0, 6-0, last year, giving testament to Smith's much improved game.
"To see Casey Smith emerge as a viable, and actually a very good number one player, has been a surprise and certainly a big boost to us," Bayliss said. "Casey's skills have improved. He has great speed and athleticism and he has the heart of a champion. The good thing about Casey is that he has a lot of upside, he has a lot of room to grow more than many of the guys. He still has a couple of levels that he can achieve if he keeps putting in the same kind of concentrated effort."
With the score tied at 2-2, significant support was given by the lower half of the Irish singles lineup with wins by Haddock-Morales at No. 4 singles and Farrell at No. 5 singles, which lead to Notre Dame victory. Scott rounded out the success for Notre Dame by winning at No. 6 singles, giving the Irish the 5-2 dual match triumph.
Notre Dame gets a chance to rest up for their next battle when they play host to fourth-ranked Duke on Saturday, Feb. 10.
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 29, 2001
