Irish look for wins minus Talarico
By RACHEL BIBER
Sports Writer
The 27th-ranked Irish hit the road this week, hoping to fend off defeat at Michigan State on Thursday and 47th-ranked Kentucky on Saturday.
Notre Dame is on the heels of a convincing win over Iowa last Sunday after falling to 5th-ranked Duke the day before.
The Irish improved to 5-2 with the weekend split, and hope to add two more wins on their current road trip.
Junior Casey Smith will continue his duties at the top of the Notre Dame lineup where he owns a 5-1 mark in singles. Smith picked up a huge win over Iowa's Tyler Cleveland on Sunday, and continues to be dominant for the Irish.
One question mark lingering for Notre Dame is the status of No. 1 doubles player and No. 4 singles player Aaron Talarico, who injured his ankle in a doubles win against Iowa. Talarico and doubles teammate Javier Taborga continue to rise in the national doubles rankings moving from 38 to 19 this week. The Irish should slide by the Spartans without Talarico's help, but his absence could cause a struggle against Kentucky.
"We don't get hurt at the bottom of our lineup when someone is out," Notre Dame head coach Bob Bayliss said. "But to say that we won't feel the loss of one of our top three or four players, and Aaron is certainly in the category, is silly. I think if we play well, we should be able to win at Michigan State without him, but it would be difficult to beat Kentucky without him."
Talarico's ankle might limit him to just the doubles portion of the matchup against Michigan State, while the ideal recovery would allow him see both doubles and singles action against the Wildcats.
"I'm not sure about Talarico's status," Bayliss said. "I hope he's ok. He's a big part of our team. One thought is maybe he'll be good enough to play doubles against Michigan State, maybe not. And hopefully with two more days rest he'll be able to play against Kentucky."
Despite Talarico's questionable status, the Irish are boasted by the return of senior Matt Daly, who was inserted in the doubles lineup last weekend after a long layoff due to shoulder surgery. Daly teamed up with James Malhame at No. 3 doubles to pick up a win against Iowa, while the duo was defeated by Duke.
"He had a fairly extensive surgery," Bayliss said. "But he is playing fine and hitting the ball great."
Notre Dame has a history of dominance against Michigan State, having fended off the Spartans since 1988. However, Michigan State comes into the face-off against Notre Dame riding a three match winning streak with recent victories over Western Illinois and Xavier, bringing its record to 5-1. Freshmen Eric Simonton and Chris Mitchell lead the Spartans into the end of their seven-match home stand, while they both successfully debuted in the respective No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions against Western Illinois.
The Wildcats are eager to get back to their home court after a challenging week on the road where they were defeated by No. 8 Illinois and upset by Harvard, but they recovered with a shutout win against Boston College to improve to 5-2 on the year.
"We're really excited to finally get back home and play for our fans," Kentucky coach Dennis Emery said, according to Kentucky's sports information. "The support of a home crowd can be an incredible boost."
Kentucky is headed by senior Indonesian native Edo Bawono who looks to pose a strong challenge for Smith at No. 1 singles. Bawono went on an unprecedented 12-0 run to start the fall season, while his string of wins included a 6-1, 6-2 defeat over Smith.
Both Michigan State and Kentucky have proven to be difficult locations for the Irish to succeed, making a healthy Notre Dame lineup critical to success. "Michigan State's place is also a tough place to play, which does concern me," Bayliss said. "And Kentucky is going to be pretty tough to beat there. We've never beaten them at Kentucky. They have a difficult place in which to play. We'll have to play our best to win."
All Sports Stories for Thursday, February 15, 2001
